The Badlands are primarily located in southwestern South Dakota, United States, where Badlands National Park protects about 242,756 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and mixed grass prairie
. The park is situated mostly between the Cheyenne and White rivers, about 40 miles southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota
. The area includes three units: the North Unit with park headquarters, and the Stronghold and Palmer Creek units in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
. Beyond South Dakota, badlands terrain is found globally except Antarctica, characterized by eroded sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils forming steep slopes, gullies, and buttes
. Notable badlands locations worldwide include:
- Canada: Cheltenham Badlands in Ontario, Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan, and Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta
- Argentina: Valle de la Luna
- China: Zhangye National Geopark
- India: Chambal region and Garbeta area
- Italy: Calanchi formations in several regions
- New Zealand: Pūtangirua Pinnacles
- Spain: Bardenas Reales, Tabernas Desert, and others
- Turkey: Göreme National Park
- United States: Besides South Dakota, badlands are found in Montana, North Dakota (Theodore Roosevelt National Park), Arizona (Petrified Forest National Park), Utah, Nebraska, Wyoming, and California
In summary, the most famous and extensive badlands are in southwestern South Dakota at Badlands National Park, but similar landscapes occur in many parts of the world where erosion of soft sedimentary rocks has created rugged terrain
