Badlands Bombing Range, Military training site in Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.
The Badlands Bombing Range is a military training site covering extensive terrain marked by sharp buttes, deep gorges, and eroded rock formations across South Dakota. The landscape displays heavily layered rock strata in reddish and grayish-brown tones, shaped by wind and water over centuries.
The military took control of this land in 1942 during World War II for aerial bombing practice exercises on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Training operations ceased in 1944, yet the site remained under military control with unexploded ordnance still present today.
The Oglala Lakota people have strong ancestral ties to these lands, which remain central to their identity and spiritual practices today.
The area is open to visitors but demands extreme caution as unexploded ordnance exists in parts of the range. Do not stray from marked paths and report any suspicious objects immediately to the White River Visitor Center.
During training exercises, pilots used bright yellow 55-gallon drums and white titanothere fossils as target markers scattered across the range. These visible markers from above helped with navigation and allowed for precision bombing practice.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
