Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park strives to provide quality curriculum-based educational materials and experiences for teachers, parents and students. Student tours may use the resources of Badlands to explore topics in earth science, life science, and social studies. Badlands National Park contains one of the most complete Oligocene fossil assemblages in North America, where the forces of deposition and erosion have shaped this beautiful and foreboding landscape. The park also contains one of the largest mixed-grass prairie ecosystems in North America and has hosted several successful wildlife restoration programs for the animals such as the black-footed ferret, bighorn sheep, swift fox and bison. Twenty-five percent of Badlands National Park is a designated wilderness area. Established in 1976, the Badlands Wilderness Area consists of 64,144 acres of the largest prairie wilderness in the United States, open to backpacking and exploration.

The Ben Reifel Visitor Center offers exceptional exhibits on geology, paleontology, the prairie ecosystem, and human history. These exhibits can be used as teaching tools or to reinforce concepts learned in the classroom. A 20-minute introductory video, Land of Stone and Light, is shown in the theater. Badlands National Park accepts reservations for ranger-guided field trips as staff is available. Groups with 26-50 students may be divided into two smaller groups in order to participate on a ranger-guided hike. There is much for group tours to discover in the Badlands.

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