Badlands National Park is famous for dramatic landscapes, fossils and crazy weather

This park is a geological wonder in South Dakota, with eroded buttes, spires and layered rock formations in hues of red and gold at sunrise and sunset. The park is also a haven for fossils, preserving one of the richest fossil beds in the world. The weather is dramatic and harsh here, and conditions can change on a dime with thunderstorms rolling in at a moment’s notice. Over three days here, temperatures varied from a low of 51 to a high of 95, and from sunshine to torrential rains and lightning.