BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, INTERIOR, S.D. —   Three hikers in their 20s who got lost in Badlands National Park Sunday were helped to safety Monday morning by the park’s Search and Rescue (SAR) Team.

Badlands spokesman Julie Johndreau says rangers received a 911 call about 6:00 Sunday night from the trio, two men and a woman, who were in the Sage Creek Wilderness Area south of Pinnacles Overlook.

Members of the SAR deployed to the Overlook and spotted the lost hikers 1 to 1½ miles to the south-southwest and successfully texted the trio…all from Illinois and Iowa.

Johndreau says that after learning the hikers had adequate food, water, and clothing for the night, rangers decided it would be safest for both the hikers and rescuers to wait until daylight to hike into the wilderness because trying to traverse the rough terrain in the dark posed unnecessary risk.

Rangers remained on scene at the overlook and kept in contact by text message through the night, then hiked into the rugged badlands terrain shortly after dawn and reached the lost hikers.

Johndreau says it took the group about 1-1/2 hours to hike back to the road, but all returned safely and with no injuries.