Saturday, January 7, 2012

Kadoka, Gateway to Badlands National Park

Badlands, USAImage via WikipediaKadoka, from the Lakota word Hadoka meaning "hole in the wall", has been called the Gateway to the Badlands, and with good reason. Bridging a crest from the interstate, your eyes are suddenly dazzled by a landscape dominated by blazing white eroded buttes and spires.

It can be a little disconcerting, but it's beautiful. Kadoka is the only place where the Badlands formations are all this color. Definitely a sight to see!

The Badlands formations are caused by the erosion of rocks from what is known as the White River Group. Millions of years ago, the Badlands were covered by a shallow inland sea that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico into North Dakota.

This inland sea caused the formation of mudstone, sandstone and limestone layers throughout the northern Great Plains over many eons. When the shallow inland sea retreated, these softer layers of rock (softer than the Pierre Shale they overlie) began to be eroded by the strong winds that still buffet the plains year-round. That erosion has led to the other-worldly look of the Badlands, a place that looks like few others on earth.

Want to learn more? Read on here
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Visiting the Remote Badlands South Unit

BadlandsImage by merriehaskell via FlickrBadlands National Park, under control of the National Park Service is the part of the Badlands that most tourists see.

Half of the Badlands is under the control of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. This is the undeveloped area of the Badlands referred to as the South Unit.

The South Unit is beautiful, and treacherous. With the exception of a dirt (sometimes mud) road near Sheep Mountain, there are no developed areas or easily spotted trails.

The drive over Sheep Mountain is beautiful, but if you're planning on hiking here, make sure you are very experienced and well prepared.

Want to learn more? Read on here
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