Badlands National Park

Original, hand-drawn story map and accompanying gifts of the Badlands National Park by renowned Illustrator and Xplorer Maps Co-Founder, Chris Robitaille.

First authorized as Badlands National Monument on March 4, 1929, it was not officially established until January 25, 1939 and was officially re-designated a national park on November 10, 1978. 

Encompassing almost 400,000 square miles, the rugged beauty and geologic deposits of the Badlands contain one of the world’s most significant fossil beds, drawing visitors from around the world. Sharply eroded buttes, steep canyons and magnificent spire dominate the landscape as bighorn sheep, bison, prairie dogs and the black-footed ferret (the most endangered land mammal in North America) inhabit the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. 

The South Unit, or Stronghold Unit, is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe and includes Red Shirt Table, the park's highest point at 3,340 feet.