A "Homecooking" sign, perched on the side of a gravel road in southwestern South Dakota, stops me ... buttes draw 900,000 people a year to Badlands National Park, the heart of the landscape.

Beecroft derives unquantifiably rich scenic value from the stunning South Dakota horizons, including weightless drone shots through the vast, corrugated folds of the Badlands. But it's the tough ...