The Badlands Wall
The Badlands Wall constantly retreats north as it erodes and washes into the White River Valley below. The Wall, an intricately carved cliff, divides the upper from the lower prairie.The wall is more than sixty miles long. It is the geologic feature around which park boundaries were drawn. The Loop Road follows the Wall, sometimes dipping to the lower prairie, then climbing back to the rim.Anywhere a wagon could be worked up and down the Wall was called a pass by homesteaders. Getting a team and wagon through one of the steep, uneven passes was not to be undertaken lightly.Today, daily, thousands of people easily negotiate the passes in pickups and automobiles.Lower Photo
In the 1920s when some of the more successful homesteaders had cars, even they had problems with the passes. No one dared tackle Badlands roads in wet weather without a shovel at hand to dig Model-T's out of ruts and mudholes.
Marker can be reached from South Dakota Route 240, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
