Badlands - Prairie Dogs

After spending a night in the hotel in Wall, SD, we were able to drive into Badlands.  We really didn't know what to expect, but found a truly unique and amazing park.  Initially, it's just native prairie, but it quickly gives way to these amazing Sandstone spires, mounds, and valleys, with a wide variety of color.  The land here is apparently so soft that it can erode an inch a year!  In a half million years, Badlands will be no more.  We also found the campsites very nice, with great views.  We set up our tents early.  Sean filled the water bottles.

 

And Robbie enjoyed a snack.

 

Then we were off.  We checked out the visitors center - which had people cleaning fossils found in the park, and explained about a lot of the fossils found here.  You can trace the age of the land by the layer it sits on in the mountains, and it looks like it's common for visitors to report new fossil finds - often important and impressive ones!  Once Sean finished looking at all the toy fossil digging tools, we wanted to see what the park showed.  As always, we asked the rangers where to go - and they do a great job sending us the right way.  1st stop was a giant priarie dog town!  Sean loved these - you could hear them screaming and shouting to each other, and their holes stretched for a huge area.

 We lucked out too - as you can see, a pronghorn was strolling on through.

This really doesn't do the area justice, as the road cradles these dramatic scenes.  On one side were these prairie vistas with badlands in the background.

 

And to the other side, remarkable overviews of the Badlands!

Very cool.