Locations
Some of the best-known badland formations can be found in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., Makoshika State Park in Montana, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and Badlands National Park in South Dakota together form a series of extensive badland formations. Another popular area of badland formations is Toadstool Geologic Park in the Oglala National Grassland of northwestern Nebraska. Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah are also badlands settings. A small badland called Hell's Half-Acre is present in Natrona County, Wyoming. Additional badlands also exist in various places throughout southwest Wyoming, such as near Pinedale and in the Bridger Valley near the towns of Lyman and Mountain View, near the high Uintah Mountains.
The Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan, Canada, gained notoriety as a hideout for outlaws. There is a large badland area in Alberta, Canada, particularly in the valley of the Red Deer River where Dinosaur Provincial Park is located as well as in Drumheller, Alberta where The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology is located.
A well-known badlands formation in New Zealand, the Putangirua Pinnacles – formed by the erosion of the conglomerate of an old alluvial fan – are located at the head of a small valley near the southern tip of the North island.
The Bardenas Reales near Tudela, and Tabernas Desert in Tabernas, Almería, Spain, are examples in Europe.
Although most badland scenery is natural, there are some examples produced by mining, such as the Roman gold mine of Las Médulas in northern Spain. An example of badlands produced by poor farming practices is the Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon, Ontario.
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