Last of the Badlands

24 Aug 06 - I'm sure you are tired of the Badlands by now but I remember reading about them in the Westerns I read as a young boy (and later) as a place where the outlaws could go and be safe from the sheriff and it was intriguing for me to experience them! I don't know how true to life the novels were but it is certainly a place you would not want to go into on a horse without knowing them! The 'white' stone is apparently volcanic ash - the visitor center film tells you it is up to 30 deep in places! You are never too old to learn - I never knew the ash fell this far away and this thick. They believe it killed most if not all the wildlife - makes St. Helen's effect seem minor!!! Yet it contains grasslands also (and a water hole on occasion). The park is some 244,000 acres and appears to do a good job of letting us experience the Badlands.