PRAIRIE DOG TOWN WALK OFFERED AT BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK DURING FOCUS ON WILDLIFE WEEK

Chief of Resource Education Marianne Mills announces availability of a ranger-led prairie dog town walk during Focus on Wildlife Week from August 3 through 9, 2003. The walk will last 45 minutes and starts at 9:30 a.m. Those interested in attending should meet the ranger at Roberts Prairie Dog Town, located five miles west of the junction of the Badlands Loop Road and the Sage Creek Rim Road. The five mile drive from the Loop Road is on gravel road. Attendees should bring water, wear hiking boots with ankle support, a hat and sunscreen, and bring water, a snack, and a jacket. If recent rain leaves extensive mud, a 20 minute talk will be substituted for the walk. The talk will be given at the Roberts Prairie Dog Town bulletin board.

Badlands National Park is open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Current hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The primary visitor center, the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, is located at park headquarters in the Cedar Pass area, two miles east of the town of Interior, South Dakota. Entrance fees are collected at the Pinnacles, Interior, and Northeast Entrance Stations. There are no additional fees to attend ranger programs. The Cedar Pass Campground, located 800 meters west of the Visitor Center, is available to campers with a nightly rate of $10 per site per night. Cedar Pass Campground offers sheltered picnic tables, in ground grills, flush toilets, and cold running water. Sage Creek Campground, located 30 miles from park headquarters along the unpaved Sage Creek Road, is a free campground and provides sheltered picnic tables and vault toilets. Campers are reminded that no open fires are permitted in Badlands National Park at any time. Fires must be contained in a grill or stove.