The Badlands are primarily located in southwestern South Dakota, USA, where Badlands National Park protects about 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and mixed grass prairie
. The park is situated roughly 75 miles east of Rapid City, South Dakota
. More broadly, badlands as a type of terrain are found on every continent except Antarctica. They occur where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded, creating steep slopes, ravines, gullies, buttes, and hoodoos
. Notable badlands locations worldwide include:
- Argentina (Valle de la Luna)
- Canada (Cheltenham Badlands in Ontario, Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan, Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta)
- China (Zhangye National Geopark)
- India (Garbeta, Chambal region)
- Italy (Aliano, Crete Senesi, Civita di Bagnoregio)
- New Zealand (Pūtangirua Pinnacles)
- Spain (Bardenas Reales, Tabernas Desert)
- Turkey (Göreme National Park)
- United States (Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Makoshika State Park in Montana, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and others)
Thus, while the most famous Badlands are in South Dakota, badlands landscapes occur in many parts of the world characterized by eroded sedimentary rock formations.
