From the eastern entrance the route leads NW. over the broad, pale-pink ribbon of the graveled and scoria park highway. HELL'S HOLE (L), =4 m.=, was named for a burning coal mine once situated in this valley. The mine burned out, causing the earth to crumble and destroy a tiny lake which lay under the cliff. At =7 m.= three trails form a triangle on a level area adjacent to the LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER. Here it is proposed to develop a recreational center with full tourist accommodations, including cabins, store, lodge, and stables. At the north end of the proposed area is the old PEACEFUL VALLEY RANCH, which served tourists many years. It has been acquired by the park, and the ranch house and corrals are to be preserved as a recreational center. At Peaceful Valley Ranch are the junctions with an unimproved trail, a graveled truck trail, and an unmarked and indefinite horse trail. 1. Right from the ranch on the unimproved trail to PADDOCK CREEK, =0.4 m.=, which like all the creeks here is dry except in rainy seasons. Up the creek, one on the L. bank at =1 m.= and the other on the R. at =1.5 m.= are the mounds of two PRAIRIE-DOG TOWNS. 2. Right from the ranch on the truck trail which crosses JONES CREEK, =0.8 m.=, and turns E. just before reaching CATHEDRAL BUTTE, =2 m.=, an old landmark on the trail. Left from Cathedral Butte =0.5 m.= on an unimproved trail to WIND CANYON, a narrow, deep valley leading down to a broad elbow of the Little Missouri. Its name was suggested by the striking examples of erosion by winds, which, whipping at the buttes for centuries, have worn them into odd shapes. From Wind Canyon the trail passes NW. along the river to SHELL BUTTE, =0.8 m.=, a high butte into which the river has cut deeply, revealing large deposits of marine shells. East of Cathedral Butte on the main side route following the truck trail for about a mile and then NE. across JUEL CREEK, =3.3 m.=, to GOD'S GARDENS (R), =4.5 m.=, an unusually attractive stretch of butte and lowland, from which the road leads NW. across GOVERNMENT CREEK, =5.3 m.=, where to the R., one on either side of the creek, are two PRAIRIE-DOG TOWNS. At the crossing of Government Creek is the junction with an unimproved trail (_do not follow without guide_). Right on this trail =3 m.= to a BURNING COAL MINE, which is one of the largest in the Badlands. The burning of the coal causes cracks to form in the earth above the vein; one guide says he has brought water to a boil in 15 min. by placing it above one of these cracks. As the vein is consumed, the earth crumbles and falls, and the rains carry it away to the streams. Amid some of the finest Badlands scenery the truck trail continues in a general northwesterly direction to the north boundary of the park, =10 m.=