Medora in Billings County, North Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

North Dakota Badlands

Photographed by Michael Stroud, June 1992

1. North Dakota Badlands Marker

Inscription.
The badlands you see from here were so named because they were "badlands" to travel over before modern roads were built. Rain, wind and running water have carved these hills. A thick series of shale and sandstone layers, all of these rocks are a part of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene Age). Once part of the High Plains, this area has been deeply eroded. Flash floods which follow every storm are still cutting away the rock layers.

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.

Location. 46° 58′ N, 103° 27′ W. Marker is in Medora, North Dakota, in Billings County. It is on Scenic Loop Drive, on the right when traveling east. located in Medora, just off Interstate 94 (exits 24 & 27) Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Medora ND 58645, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on North Dakota’s Missouri Plateau.

It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor,

on the prairies,

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and on the Northern Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Building From Hard Times (approx. 1.7 miles away); Beef Corral Bottom (approx. 2.1 miles away); Historic Medora—Boom and Bust (approx. 4.9 miles away); On Track to Adventure (approx. 4.9 miles away); Coal Mining (approx. 5 miles away); St. Mary’s Catholic Church (approx. 5 miles away); Von Hoffman House (approx. 5 miles away); Stephen Tyng Mather (approx. 5 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Medora.

Other markers no longer nearby. Wind Canyon – Carved by Wind and Water – Marred by Man (was approx. 2.3 miles away but has been confirmed missing); River Woodland (was approx. 4.1 miles away but has been confirmed missing); Historic Medora (was approx. 4.9 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Also see . . .
1. North Dakota's Badlands - North Dakota Notes.

Erosion has worn away all but the hardest materials, leaving the maze of buttes and canyons. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Michael Stroud, June 1992

2. Erosion has worn away all but the hardest materials, leaving the maze of buttes and canyons.

Rugged badlands carved from rocks ranging in age from Late Cretaceous through Eocene occur along the Little Missouri River in western North Dakota, USA. (Submitted on January 19, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)

2. Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Badlands. National Park Service site for the park. (Submitted on January 19, 2008, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)