America's Cowboy Country

Badlands National Park is a national park in southwestern South Dakota that protects 242,756 acres of chiseled spires, deep canyons and prairie grassland in the state. The name comes from the difficult travels over the rough terrain said to be ‘bad land.’ The geologic deposits here contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Today, bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and black footed ferrets live here.

Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota. The park is South Dakota’s first and largest state park. The park covers an area of over 71,000 acres and features many wild animals. The park is famous for its scenery and picturesque drives and is home to a famous herd of 1500 free roaming bison, as well as elk, deer, mountain goats, and mountain lions.

Crazy Horse Memorial, the world’s largest mountain sculpture now in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The nine-story-high face of Crazy Horse, a visionary leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life, was completed in 1998 when work shifted to the 22-story-high massive horse’s head. The work was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski at the request of Native Americans. Korczak determined that the memorial would be more than just a sculpture…it would be a humanitarian project telling present and future generations the story of Native American peoples by collecting and preserving outstanding examples of Indian culture and heritage. Visitors to the memorial can view the progress of the sculpture as well as tour an Indian museum, cultural center, the sculptor’s studio and orientation center. Although Korczak died in 1982, his wife, Ruth, and their family continue the project working with the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.

Mount Rushmore is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore features 60 foot sculptures of the heads of four U.S. Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The faces were sculpted between 1934 and 1939. Mt. Rushmore attracts more than 2 million people annually.

It's a wonderland with the world's largest collection of geysers! Yellowstone is a National Park primarily located in the state of Wyoming, but it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It was established as a national park on March 1st, 1872. Yellowstone is said to be the first national park in the world. The park is famous for its wildlife and geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, which is one of the most popular features of the park. Yellowstone comprises an area of 3,468.4 square miles featuring lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges.

Jackson Hole, originally called Jackson’s Hole, is a valley located in Wyoming. The word “Hole” derives from language used by early trappers or mountain men who primarily entered the valley from the north and east and had to descend along relatively steep slopes, giving the sensation of entering a hole. These low-lying valleys are surrounded by mountains and contain rivers and streams which were good habitat for beaver and other fur-bearing animals.

Rising above a scene offering extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and Alpine terrain, the Teton Range stands monument to the people who fought to protect it. The stunning beauty and abundant wildlife and vegetation found here have drawn visitors for more than 11,000 years.