Badlands Wilderness Facts for Kids

This page is about the badlands wilderness in South Dakota. For the badlands wilderness in Oregon, see Oregon Badlands Wilderness.

Quick facts for kids Badlands Wilderness
IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
Badlands Wilderness Location in the United States
Location	Pennington County, South Dakota, USA
Nearest city	Rapid City, SD
Area	64,144 acres (259.58 km²)
Established	1976
Governing body	National Park Service

The Badlands Wilderness is a special protected area in South Dakota, USA. It is completely inside Badlands National Park. The United States Congress created this wilderness in 1976. The National Park Service takes care of it.

This wilderness covers about 64,144 acres (260 square kilometers). It is one of the most untouched parts of the National Park. Here, you can see amazing animals like bison (also called buffalo), bighorn sheep, coyotes, and mule deer. It is a huge area of mixed-prairie grassland.

A satellite view of the park in false colors.

Exploring the Badlands Wilderness
- What You Can and Cannot Do
Images for kids
See also

Exploring the Badlands Wilderness

In the Badlands Wilderness, there are no marked trails. You can camp almost anywhere, as long as you have the right permit. This wilderness is known for being one of the largest undisturbed prairie areas left in the United States.

What You Can and Cannot Do

Wilderness areas in the U.S. are very strict about keeping nature wild. This means you cannot use motorized vehicles like cars or motorcycles. Even bicycles are not allowed.

The rules for wilderness areas come from the 1964 Wilderness Act. This law helps protect these special places. Because of this act, no roads or buildings are built here. Also, activities like logging (cutting down trees) or mining are not allowed. The main goal is to keep the land as natural as possible.

Since the National Park Service manages this area, hunting is not permitted. However, in some other wilderness areas managed by different groups, hunting might be allowed during certain seasons.