The Story Of How North Dakota's Painted Canyons Were Formed Is Downright Fascinating
By Leah|Published November 29, 2020
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Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
One of the most iconic landscapes in North Dakota is that of the badlands in the west. The rugged buttes form a unique view that isn’t quite the same as the badlands of other states – it’s special in a way. When people think of the ND badlands, they probably have images of roaming bison, the Little Missouri River snaking through, and the iconic colorful stripes that earned them the nickname of the “painted canyons.” These stripes aren’t just pretty to look at, they also tell a story. Learn about the history of the painted canyons of North Dakota right here:
The North Dakota badlands truly are a magnificent sight - something that photographs just can't fully capture and are best appreciated in person.
If you want to hear the story of these "painted canyons" and how their stripes formed, you'll have to go back 65 million years to the Paleocene Epoch - the period just after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The landscape was changing all over the continent, with volcanos erupting, mountain ranges like the Rockies forming, and tons of sediments being moved across the lands by prehistoric rivers. Those layers of sediment settled in places like the badlands to create colorful layers.
Over time, more layers built up of various materials - ash from the volcanoes, mud, silt, and sand settling in the swampy area here that came to be as millions of years passed.
Yes, believe it or not, before it was the dry plains it is now, this area was a swamp! You can find evidence of this through the petrified tree trunks and the many prehistoric crocodile fossils that have been unearthed in the badlands.
The settling layers didn't make the hills we see today, it was the next stage of its creation - erosion - that stripped the land away to reveal the colorful bands underneath.
After many more eons passed and we reach present day, you can explore the area and see this story painted on buttes, each layer representing a different period when certain types of material settled, then were washed away. It's incredibly impressive when you really think about it!
Now, the North Dakota badlands are the home to many animals, the inspiration to the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, and the recreational paradise that draws in thousands of visitors to hike, bike, and camp in every year.
You can learn more about visiting the badlands at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park by clicking here. Have you seen this beautiful place for yourself yet? It’s certainly a bucket-list-worthy destination. Here are more of the top North Dakota places you should visit at least once in your lifetime.
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