A Good Find at the Badlands
That time we went hunting for fossils… and found some!
July 26 - 28, 2025
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
“The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10
In a distance of just over 100 miles, the rolling green hills of Sundance Wyoming morphed into a barren, sandy desert. The truck’s thermometer clocked 114 (!) as we approached our campsite near Badlands National Park.
Hot and tired from our packed week, we set up the RV and willed the ACs to do their thing and cool down the hundred-degree rig.
We had everything we needed… except shade. So thankful when 30+ mph gusts pumped through the area that evening dropping temps much faster than our RV ACs could.
We convinced the kids to head to the visitor center, which was 10 minutes away and closing within the hour, to grab Junior Ranger packets and come up with a plan for our one full day in the park.
Learning about fossils in the lab
At the Visitor Center, we spoke with park rangers who shared that there was a second type of Junior Ranger badge available at this park, the Junior Paleontologist. Sadie, our very avid badge collector, was intrigued about adding even more swag to her brag board. She picked up the second booklet for herself and her brother.
Within the booklet, she learned about the Fossil Preparation Lab on site at the Visitor Center where park rangers and paleontologists excavate and identify fossils found in the park.
The next day when we returned to the Visitor Center for the kids to get their badges, Sadie disappeared to the Fossil Lab. Following her there, we saw the glass cases of fossils—some whole skeletons—of prehistoric sea creatures and land mammals that used to inhabit the area. In addition to the fossils, what caught Sadie’s eye was the wall of pictures of visitors from just this year, 2025, who had found fossils in the park, had them confirmed by park staff, and got their pictures posted on the wall (plus a special badge).
Scientists in the lab shared that each year about 450 visitors find fossils in the park. They shared tips for finding them. I could hear in Sadie’s voice that she was determined to join the 2025 cohort of Badlands fossil finders.
Nick and I convinced the kids to hold off on their fossil-finding dreams long enough to do a short hike during the cooler morning hours. (Cool is relative. It was 95 degrees by 10 a.m.!). We hiked a few trails to lookouts of incredible views—rock towers as far as the eye can see. I continued my recent trend of taking too many pictures.
The Search Begins
With the hike done and temperatures leaning past 100, we opted to see the rest of the park from the truck—and just maybe we’d try our luck searching for fossils. Some of the interesting things we learned about the Badlands assisted our search:
All I see is “Oreo”
The Badlands rock formations are quite brittle and are eroding at a rate of about 1” per year. This doesn’t sound like much, but consider that in an 80-year lifespan, this means shrinkage of 7 feet! At this rate, the Badlands formations will eventually erode completely.
In the early 1800s, American settlers were offered homestead lands here. But the lands were so difficult to live on during the brutal summers and brutal winters, pretty much everyone abandoned their efforts deeming the land uninhabitable.
About 60 million years ago, this area was an ocean. No dinosaurs have been found on land in the park, but what has been found are fossils of prehistoric sea creatures.
About 33 to 30 million years ago, after the ocean receded, the remaining savannah was inhabited by small herbivores called oreodonts. New species of oreodonts are still being discovered in the park—one as recently as 2016 by a visitor. Based on how many fossils have been found, the theory is that this area must have been packed with them.
If you find a fossil, you’re not supposed to remove it. You’re supposed to take a picture, note its location and GPS coordinates, and share the info with the lab. Often where one fossil is visible, others are lurking nearby, and fossils can be damaged if not excavated properly.
Desperate attempt to shade our picnic
Nick saw “Roberts Prairie Dog Town” on the map and so we drove quite a few extra miles on an unpaved road just to get this picture…
Armed with fossil info, we drove well into the park and found a pull-off that looked less traveled than most. We walked about 100 feet from the parking lot heading down several washed out trenches.
Trying our fossil-finding luck at a random pull-out deep in the park
Within 10-15 minutes, I spotted a small white square that fit the description at the lab—a different color and material than the rocks surrounding it. A few minutes later, Sadie found something that was also different looking than the surrounding rocks. We were pretty sure we had found something different enough, so we took photos and GPS coordinates to share with the lab.
After a few hours of exploring the park, we returned to the Fossil Lab, and all of Sadie’s fossil-finding dreams came true. The paleontologist confirmed the fossil I found was likely a vertebra of an oreodont. The fossil Sadie found was likely a patella. Both were estimated to be 30-32 million years old (!).
A park ranger gave our kids their special badges and took our family’s photo for the fossil-finder wall, where Team Roberts will live in Badlands fossil-finding infamy (until 2026).
One Last Great Find
After a well-deserved dip in the pool and campsite dinner, we drove back into the park hoping to catch a Badlands sunset.
These bright orange skies added up to one last great find for our time in the Badlands.
Roberts on the Road
For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.
With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.
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