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Badlands National Park in South Dakota was once a hunting ground for Lakota Indians and a site for Native American rituals. It became a national monument before being designated a national park in 1978. The park’s unique landscape includes eroded hillocks and pinnacles, as well as grassy prairies. The black-footed ferret, an endangered species, can be found there. The park’s history includes the Wounded Knee Massacre and use as a shooting range during World War II. The weather is unpredictable and can be dangerous if visitors are not prepared.
Badlands National Park is a protected wildlife area in the US state of South Dakota managed and maintained by the US National Park Service. It wasn’t designated a national park until 1978; before that it was considered a national monument. Even earlier, it was a shooting range and a place for rituals performed by Native Americans. Badlands National Park was also a hunting ground for Lakota Indians for centuries before European settlers discovered the area. The park is notable for its unique landscape which includes eroded hillocks and pinnacles, as well as grassy prairies. The black-footed ferret is found in the park and is an endangered protected species that is one of the most endangered mammals in North America.
Badlands National Park’s history as a distinct protected entity has not been without bloodshed and fighting. The Wounded Knee Massacre, in which nearly three hundred Sioux Indians were massacred by the United States Army, took place just a few miles from the park boundary, and many of the events leading up to this massacre took place in the area that would become a National Park of the gullies. This area was home to many Native American tribes until they were forced off the land and onto reservations when European settlers moved into the territory.
During World War II, some of the land that would become Badlands National Park was seized by the US government and used as a shooting range. Armaments fired at target aircraft overhead, and bombs or other weapons were tested by aircraft intended for combat. Today, many shell casings and other shrapnel can be found in the park, scattered from the tests that have been done in this area. Many families that had settled on the land during that era had to be relocated to avoid injury or death from falling shrapnel and shell casings.
The weather at Badlands National Park can be particularly unpredictable. Strong winds are common throughout the year, and temperatures can reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in the summer. In the winter, it is very likely to snow and temperatures can drop as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius). The weather is known to change quickly and without warning, and injury or death is possible in the park if a visitor is not prepared for all weather conditions.
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