South Dakota’s Badlands National Park turns 40

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Badlands National Park is ‘over the hill’. The Badlands celebrates a milestone

Badlands National Park, found in the Midwest American state of South Dakota, was officially designated a national park on this day in 1940, ensuring 98,000 hectares of picturesque landscape are protected, for all to enjoy. It first gained the nickname ‘badlands’ from the Lakota people (a Native American tribe), a nod to the extreme temperatures, lack of water, and rocky terrain. But it’s not all rugged land here. The national park includes prairies as well — home to bison, deer, and the endangered black-footed ferret, nicknamed ‘prairie bandit.’