Badlands National Park is known for its rugged geology, amazing paleontology, and funny one-star reviews that say there is nothing to do here. We disagree. You may have heard the term “badlands” before, but not in reference to this park. That’s because in addition to being a geographic term, describing Badlands National Park in South Dakota, this word is also a geologic term. Geology rocks! The lowercase version of badlands is used to describe most terrains that look like the formations in this park and up the road in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park. They are typically characterized by soft sedimentary rocks that erode easily. The formations in the park are the result of two simple processes: deposition (process of rocks gradually building up) and erosion. The Badlands formations have a lifespan of approximately one million years. They erode at about one inch per year. Scientists estimate that in the next 500,000 years, the Badlands will have eroded completely. We eager...