badlands

The Badlands were on the top of some lists of favorite National Parks I saw before we made our way there. It's pretty amazing how they seemingly pop out of the flat land around them. There is a definite impact when you are able to walk around in the fields of rock. It feels like you are in a different world. The mountain goats really are able to do some amazing climbing to perch on the rocks. The painted rock area was just beautiful especially as the sun peaked out. We were grateful for the mild cloudy weather when we took the hike out of those rocks though. The boys earned their 25th junior ranger badge that day, and the ranger said that is more than he has ;)