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| Badlands   | 
| Page Type: Album Image Type(s): Hiking, Scenery | Page By: Bob Sihler Created/Edited: Sep 25, 2006 / May 15, 2008 Object ID: 228918 Hits: 1184 Loading... Page Score: 89.23% - 15 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Amazing Color and FormThe Spanish called these places El Malpais, "the bad lands." French-Canadian trappers called them les mauvaises terres a traverser, the "bad lands to cross." The Sioux dubbed them mako sica, "land bad."
No wonder.
Regarding scenery, the American West is probably most famous for its ranges upon ranges of mountains. I have seen most of those ranges and spent a considerable amount of time in them, and there are good reasons that people return to them again and again and again.
But we sometimes overlook the badlands that spread across large portions of every Western state. Although some lie within famous national parks and monuments and are world-renowned, many others beckon from roadsides in uncelebrated glory. Badlands, perhaps the most appropriately named landforms there are, come in all shapes and colors, and they are in some ways far more visually dramatic than the mountains are. No, they are not as high or as monumental, but they are rugged, foreboding, and hauntingly beautiful. The "moonscapes" that frequently characterize badland terrain do indeed seem like alien worlds and turn some people away due to their seeming barrenness and inhospitability, but those who have explored the ridges and washes of these moonscapes know that secrets abound among them-- hardy flowers whose colors defy their harsh climate, animals with amazing adaptations, and endless formations seemingly created by a visionary touched with much brilliance and not a little insanity.
The badlands are at their best early and late in the day, but some of them are so colorful that they make for decent photographs all day long. They are probably at their very best when strong, low sunlight is hitting them while dark storm clouds loom behind. Snow on the badlands is an exciting and beautiful thing to see, and they are ghostly and mysterious under a full moon.
Go in. Explore.
Great LocationsWhile I do not profess this to be an all-inclusive list of badlands areas in the Western U.S. and ask forgiveness in advance if I leave out anyone's favorite place, I offer this list simply to give some ideas to those who are curious to see for themselves.
Arizona-- Petrified Forest National Park
California-- Death Valley National Park; Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Colorado-- Bookcliffs near Grand Junction; Little Bookcliffs near DeBeque
Idaho-- along the Salmon River between Salmon and Challis
Montana-- Missouri River Breaks; Makoshika State Park; Terry River area
Nebraska-- Toadstool Park near Chadron
New Mexico-- Bisti Badlands near Farmington; Angel Peak Badlands (east of Bisti); Tent Rocks National Monument between Albuquerque and Santa Fe
North Dakota-- Theodore Rosevelt National Park
Oregon-- John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Painted Hills Unit)
Nevada-- Cathedral Gorge State Park
South Dakota-- Badlands National Park, of course
Texas-- Big Bend National Park; Caprock Canyonlands area
Utah-- Bryce Canyon National Park; Capitol Reef National Park; Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument; San Rafael Swell; Bookcliffs area
Washington-- There almost have to be some in the eastern part of the state, but I haven't been out there yet. Someone please tell me!
Wyoming-- Great Divide Basin; Dubois area
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Badlands National Park > Badlands
