Badlands Gunnery Range

This land was used as a bombing range from the 1940s until the 1960s.

NPS Photo / Serena Rosales

Quick Facts

Location:

Porcupine, SD

Significance:

Much of the South Unit of Badlands National Park was at one time used as a practice bombing range for WWII pilots.

Amenities

1 listed

Scenic View/Photo Spot

During World War II, a large portion of the Pine Ridge Reservation was seized by the Department of the Army for use as a practice bombing range. From 1942 to 1945, this area was used for air-to-air and air-to-ground firing practice as well as precision and demolition bombing exercises. After the war, the South Dakota National Guard used portions of the bombing range as an artillery range. In 1968, the United States Air Force declared most of the range as excess property. 2,500 of the original 341,726 acres are retained by the Air Force, but are no longer used.