About Badlands National Park: The forces of wind and water have sculpted the soil at Badlands National Park to reveal magical formations that glow in the golden light of sunrise or sunset in shades of red and purple. Badlands is well known for its namesake eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires, but the 244,000 acre park also features the largest area of protected mixed-grass prairie in the country. This is where you can find a herd of over 600 American Buffalo grazing, some of which are 2,000 pounds. The Fossil Exhibit Trail features fossils dating from the late Eocene and Oligocene epochs (the Age of Mammels).