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Scenic

Badlands National Park contains sedimentary rock formations, including buttes, pinnacles, and spires shaped over millions of years. Its adjacent grasslands serve as crucial habitat for regional wildlife and illustrate the park’s ecological significance since its 1978 establishment.

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Badlands National Park Buffalo Gap National Grasslands Custer State Park

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Storm clouds over a South Dakota ghost town — Storm clouds gather over the grasslands near Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The park, established in 1978, preserves a vast area of eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires formed by sedimentary rock. These geological formations represent millions of years of Earth's history, offering insights into ancient environments and fossil records. The surrounding grasslands are a vital ecosystem, supporting diverse wildlife and maintaining the unique landscape.

Tatanka Trading Post, a weathered white wooden building with gabled roof, stands in rural Scenic, South Dakota. — Scenic, South Dakota sits along the northern edge of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, about eight miles from an entrance to Badlands National Park. The town was platted in 1907 as a shipping point on the Chicago and North Western Railway line and later gained a measure of notoriety for a saloon that operated on reservation land, drawing visitors despite alcohol restrictions nearby. Tatanka Trading Post, its name drawn from the Lakota word for bison, operated as one of a small cluster of retail stops along Highway 44 selling goods and souvenirs to travelers passing through the area. Today the building is among the few structures still standing in Scenic, a town whose year-round population has fallen to only a handful of residents.

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