Badlands National Park

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

HAPPY 48th ANNIVERSARY to US

Last but not least we went to visit Badlands National Park located approximately 80 miles east of Rapid City, SD. The park area consists of 244,000 acres, about 1/10 the size of Yellowstone. It is home to many wildlife (see picture of prairie dogs) and plants in its vast green prairie. However in this wilderness are towering spires some 100-200 feet high, flat top mounds and deep canyons made from deposits of sand, slit and clay that have been cemented into solid form. The spires and mounds immediately reminded me of sand castles on a beach on a larger scale. You are allowed to walk and climb all over the mounds and spires, and we did, (see Eleanor). There have been many fossils found in this area as the mounds/spires have slowly eroded over many years.

There is much road work being done in this park as well as in other parks such as Yellowstone. Much of the cost is obtained through the federal government's TARP, (1 trillion dollar make work program). Large signs display this fact. It's too bad the jobs aren't permanent and able to help our economy.