Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States 22 Jul 2025

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States

As the sun sets over Badlands National Park, the landscape transforms into a stunning display of colour. The national park, located in southwestern South Dakota, features a dramatic terrain of eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires carved by millennia of wind and water. Spanning over 379 square miles, the park is divided into three main units: the North Unit, home to the visitor centre and scenic Badlands Loop Road; and the Stronghold and Palmer Creek units. The park"s dramatic terrain is the result of sedimentary rock layers eroding at a rate of about one inch per year, revealing colourful bands of volcanic ash, silt and clay. These formations are not only visually striking but also rich in fossils, including remains from the Oligocene Epoch (about 33.9 to 23 million years ago), such as ancient horses, camels and sabre-toothed cats.

© Petr Bednarik/Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock Photo

palette

Today in History

Want to hang about?
A legendary islet

More Desktop Wallpapers:

27 Jun 2025Splendid leaf frog
3 Oct 2025Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
5 Mar 2025Khao Sok National Park in Thailand
25 Apr 2025World Penguin Day
2 Jan 2025Ardez village, Graubunden, Switzerland
Want to hang about?
8 Dec 2025Christmas lights on buildings of Domaso, Lake Como, Italy
Aug 26, 2023Museum Night in Berlin
17 May 2024Endangered Species Day
12 Mar 2024Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA
28 Apr 2024El Capitan, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, USA
17 May 2025A delta in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy
10 Jun 2024The city of Osaka at night, Japan
8 Feb 2025Medieval towers in Mestia, Upper Svaneti, Georgia
4 May 2024Brighton Festival
A warm hug in the icy north
29 Sep 2024West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Connecticut, USA
Butterfly, fly away
A flashy, frigid waterfowl
26 Mar 2024Vinh Hy Bay, Vietnam
World Population Day
20 Jan 2024Macaroni penguins
Crystal clear
11 Feb 2024Folegandros Island, Cyclades, Greece
Swedish wilderness
15 Sep 2024Stockholm Public Library, Sweden
20 Feb 2024Kinder Scout, England
9 Sep 2025Eurasian red squirrel, Switzerland
19 Mar 2024Cave Dale and Peveril Castle, Derbyshire
Lighting the way