Badlands Loop Road, Badlands National Park

Badlands Loop Road, also known as South Dakota Highway 240, runs about 31 miles through Badlands National Park, connecting Interstate 90 near Wall to the town of Interior. The route cuts through the park's namesake formations — layered buttes, pinnacles, and spires of sediment deposited over roughly 75 million years and carved by erosion over the last half-million years. The National Park Service maintains several overlooks along the road, including Pinnacles and Yellow Mounds, giving travelers close access to the eroded terrain without leaving the pavement. Badlands National Park itself covers 244,000 acres, including the 64,000-acre Badlands Wilderness Area, one of the largest prairie wildernesses in the country.

Photo taken in July 2019.