Badlands National Park is a national park in southwestern South Dakota that protects 379 square miles of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The area contains the richest deposits of Oligocene mammals known, giving us a glimpse of the area’s residents 33 million years ago.
Prairie Homestead
Near the entrance to the Badlands National Park is an original sod house that was inhabited until 1959. Note that the ends of the sod can be seen in the upper wall behind the frying pans in the kitchen. The bedroom is behind the kitchen and both have dirt floors while the parlor with the couch has a wood floor. The chicken coop protects the chickens from the elements and predators. A prairie dog can be seen in the chicken house.
