Near Interstate 90 2 miles east of Main Street (State Highway 63), on the right when traveling east.
The prairie town of De Smet was the childhood home of children's book author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The town was the backdrop for several of Wilder's books. Each July, a live, outdoor pageant is held to depict one of her books. — — Map (db m161869) HM
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 167, 4 miles west of State Highway 63.
On May 24, 2012, the South Dakota DOT's Transportation Commission officially declared Interstate 90 from the Minnesota border to the Wyoming border as South Dakota's segment of the National Purple Heart Trail. The Purple Heart Trail was . . . — — Map (db m113087) HM
On Main Street (State Highway 63) 0.2 miles north of State Highway 248, on the right when traveling south.
Tom Berry was the first of three Governors elected from West of the Missouri River since statehood in 1889.
Berry with his wife, Lorena McLain, (1879-1963), are buried in the family plot in the Belvidere Cemetery ½ mile north of this marker. . . . — — Map (db m184634) HM
Peacekeepers used in this missile field served in two
primary roles: providing armed response in an 'Area
Security' (backup) role, and serving as armed convoy
escort vehicles.
In the first role, Fire Teams in Peacekeeper . . . — — Map (db m314365) HM WM
The land you see before you is a vast prairie, once home
to herds of bison, bighorn sheep, and deer. Coteries of
prairie dogs dug their holes, and packs of coyotes and
wolves hunted jackrabbits and other game.
Today, much of the prairie of . . . — — Map (db m314350) HM
This vehicle, best known to the US Air Force as the
PEACEKEEPER, was a five-ton (4535.9 kg) lightly-armored
truck, using a late 1970s-model Dodge pickup chassis, and
originally powered by a 360 cu.in. (approx. 5.9 liter) V-8 engine.
In . . . — — Map (db m314366) HM
Someday, an ultimate class of warriors will evolve,
too strong to be contested. They will win battles
without having to fight, so that at last, the day
may be won without shedding a single drop of blood.
—adapted from Sun Tzu, . . . — — Map (db m314363) HM WM
This trail features seven types of animals that once lived in the area now known as Badlands National Park. Each of these lineages met a different fate as the climate changed. Some moved, some adapted to the changes, and some are now extinct. . . . — — Map (db m114175) HM
Thousands of years ago a massive block of stone
broke loose from the cliff above because of water
working down through the softer surrounding
rock. It fell with such force that it compacted this
area, changing the underlying layers to less . . . — — Map (db m312438) HM
In the days when oreodonts walked this land, the rock layer before you was not rock but the muddy bottom of a streambed. Over time, those sediments hardened into the thick horizontal band of grayish red stone you see here.
Thin ribbons of . . . — — Map (db m137007) HM
Water is scarce in the Badlands, which get less than 16 inches of precipitation per year. The bowl-like Cliff Shelf where you stand provides more moisture than commonly found in this desolate land.
Drawn to this spot for more than 11,000 . . . — — Map (db m137125) HM
Rock layers in Badlands National Park contain fossils that show a dramatic cooling and drying of global climate over millions of years. The oldest rock layers contain marine fossils, roughly 70 million years old, from when this area was . . . — — Map (db m113124) HM
On State Highway 240 0.9 miles south of Interstate 90, on the right when traveling south.
Camps NP-2: 8 miles S of Wall on SD 240, 13 miles W (1 mile W of Sage Creek); and NP-3: 3/4 mile S. of Cedar Pass Visitor Center. Company: 2754 (NP-2) -- 11/1/39 - 10/24/41; (NP-3) -- 10/24/41 - 3/25/42. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a . . . — — Map (db m45287) HM
Oredonts were common throughout the Badlands, but became extinct. Their fossil remains provide evidence of their lives and habitat. Fossils can develop over time when animal or plant remains are quickly covered in sediment and replaced by . . . — — Map (db m113122) HM
"I've been about the world a lot and pretty much
over our country, but I was totally unprepared
for that revelation called the Dakota Bad Lands."
Frank Lloyd Wright September 28, 1935
Visitors first saw the White River . . . — — Map (db m314339) HM
Dogs have changed and adapted over millions of years. Members of the dog lineage gradually evolved in to the wolf by growing longer, stronger legs and a shorter tail. This increased size led to increased strength and power to hunt food and . . . — — Map (db m113177) HM
Mako sica - Lakota
Les mauvaises terres
The Badlands
When the Lakota looked on the land around you, they saw the Paha ska (white hills)-a place of bountiful hunting. Historically used for transitory camps, the Paha . . . — — Map (db m137121) HM
These rocks were deposited millions of years ago when rivers and wind spread silt, sand, and ash across the landscape. About 500,000 years ago, ancient rivers began eroding this area, leading to the present day landscape. Modern rivers, rain, . . . — — Map (db m113126) HM
Prehistoric alligators lived in swampy conditions, as they do today.
Physically, alligators have changed mostly in size over the last several million years. Modern alligators are larger, growing up to 14 feet long. Ancient alligators grew . . . — — Map (db m113092) HM
On Badlands Loop Road (State Highway 240), on the right when traveling north.
"In the evening all the guests were invited into the
dining room and Ben Millard gave a talk about the
Badlands. He told them even though it was hot, they
would have to reach for the blanket before morning."
Mary (Allburn) . . . — — Map (db m312437) HM
On Badlands Loop Road (State Highway 240), on the right when traveling north.
"In the evening all the guests were invited into the
dining room and Ben Millard gave a talk about the
Badlands. He told them even though it was hot, they
would have to reach for the blanket before morning."
Mary (Allburn) . . . — — Map (db m314347) HM
Near State Highway 240, on the left when traveling south.
The Badlands Wall constantly retreats north as it erodes and washes into the White River Valley below. The Wall, an intricately carved cliff, divides the upper from the lower prairie.The wall is more than sixty miles long. It is the geologic feature . . . — — Map (db m45289) HM
A few hundred yards to the west, turn left on the sage Creek Rim Road for Roberts Prairie Dog Town and the Sage Creek Primitive Campground. Wildlife, particularly bison, is often seen near this gravel road.
The Sage Creek Rim Road . . . — — Map (db m113127) HM
The French trappers called them les mauvaises terres a traverser - bad lands to travel across. Now good roads make travel easy in the Badlands, one of the strangest and most spectacular landscapes in North America.
Watch for wayside . . . — — Map (db m312452) HM
Here you stand between wilderness and civilization. In the distance before you lie Interstate 90 and a neighboring ranch. Behind you, beyond the Loop Road, Badlands Wilderness Area stretches out across 64,000 acres.
The prairie around you was . . . — — Map (db m282002) HM
The discovery of this specimen led to the golden age of paleontology in North America. After acquiring this fossil from fur traders, Dr. Hiram Prout wrote about it in 1846. His description captured the attention of scientists. At that time, . . . — — Map (db m113176) HM
On A Street at 4th Avenue, on the left when traveling west on A Street.
I was born of wagons west. The oldest town in the badlands.
I've known drought and winter's fierce storms. Three times fire has swept my streets. Yet, my rodeos were known through out the west. Yakima Knute - Stroud - Earl Thode. Champions . . . — — Map (db m312449) HM
On State Highway 240 1.3 miles south of Interstate 90, on the right when traveling south.
Edgar I. Brown, born in 1854, came here with wife, Alice, and son, Charles, to homestead in the Badlands when he was 55. Their first and only home was a side hill, sod wall, dirt roofed house. About it they built up a humble homestead. Intact today, . . . — — Map (db m45288) HM
Ammonite fossils found in the park are evidence that this area was under water 75 million years ago. Some ammonites could grow to more that three feet across and served as a food source for giant mosasaurs and other predators.
The Western . . . — — Map (db m113115) HM
Your fossil discovery begins a scientific process. Every detail is important, even the area around the find. A fossil and its surroundings reveal what types of plants and animals existed and how they lived, died, and changed.
The . . . — — Map (db m113123) HM
On State Highway 240, on the right when traveling west.
Finding the pass too steep and rough for wagon traffic, homesteaders on the way to Interior parked their rigs at the top—then walked or coaxed their horses down.
How steep is Saddle Pass Trail?
Find out for yourself. Half an hour will . . . — — Map (db m237670) HM
On Badlands Loop (State Highway 240), on the right when traveling south. Reported missing.
...for years, countless travellers had driven across Interstate 90 in western South Dakota, en route to Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, or Yellowstone National Park,...within sight of nearly a dozen nuclear missile sites.... Tim Pavek, . . . — — Map (db m34295) HM
Fossils can reveal how animals lived and died, and what their environment was like. Evidence from one of the park's nimravid fossils offers crime-scene clues. The size and location of the holes in the forehead of this fossil match the knife-like . . . — — Map (db m113121) HM
Horses have adapted in North America over millions of years. As woodlands changed to grasslands, the dog-sized, primitive horses gradually evolved into the lineage that led to the modern-day horse.
Mesohippus was the first three-toed . . . — — Map (db m113091) HM
