ROAD TRIPS Great Outdoors BADLANDS AND BONES LOOP OVERLOOKS As you drive past ragged ridgelines, sawtooth spires and native grasslands, pull over at any (or all!) of 16 designated overlooks. Tip: Daybreak and dusk are best for observing the signature color striations of this lunar-like landscape. Mammoth Site MILES 39 ROUTE S.D. Highway 240 between Cactus Flat and Wall BEN REIFEL VISITOR CENTER Visit this center at Badlands National Park headquarters for exhibits and an overview of park amenities. Want to launch a hike from the center? Ask a ranger which trail is right for you. Each showcases a different aspect of the Badlands’ singular landscape. RANGER PROGRAMS By day, the Badlands terrain presents a visual feast. By night, the stars command attention. Inquire into Night Sky Viewing programs led by Badlands National Park rangers May through September. For star-gazers, the remoteness of this region is heaven. Wall EXIT 110 Play Paleontologist 240 90 EXIT 131 Ben Reifel Visitor Center Badlands National Park Badlands Loop Long before humans explored South Dakota, dinosaurs roamed the land. Explore the evidence— and maybe make your own fi nd—at attractions concentrated in the Black Hills and Badlands. In summer, reserve a spot on a Junior Paleontologist Excavation at Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, where the largest concentration of woolly and Columbian mam-moths on the planet has been unearthed. Then, view mounted skeletons of dinosaurs, mammals, marine reptiles and fi sh at the free Museum of Geology at Rapid City’s South Dakota School of Mines and Technology . East of Rapid City, paleontologists are still discovering fossils today at Badlands National Park . Watch professionals at work in the on-site lab. 22 // #HiFromSD
South Dakota Vacation Guide South Dakota Vacation Guide 2019: Page 22
