Lightning Rod Pinnacle Group at Sunset, Badlands National Park

(Click image to enlarge)

The setting sun makes this sharply eroded group of pinnacles stand out in dramatic relief against a cloudless sky in Badlands National Park. The park protects 242,756 acres (98240 Ha) of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. Part of this area is a 64,144 acre (25958 Ha) designated wilderness area. This wilderness is one site where black-footed ferrets, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, was reintroduced. The U.S. National Park Service manages the park, with the South Unit being co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe.