Many summers were spent visiting the Black Hills, but this was my first time seeing The Badlands in person. On this trip back to see family, one afternoon, my mom and I piled the kids into the car and we drove out to see what we would find.
Upon entering the park, we were surrounded by 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and deep gorges blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. We slowly wound our way along the two lane highway (highway 240), with each turn revealing a sight more breathtaking than the last, losing count of the numerous times we pulled over at viewpoints and along the side of the road to take in all of the surreal beauty.