Overview & Activities

Badlands National Park is cool.  Like, really cool.  The Badlands are temporary, and shrink through erosion at a rate of roughly an inch per year.  If you are reading this, you are lucky enough to exist at a time when the Badlands are still here, and you can visit them.  They are located in South Dakota close to the Black Hills and Rapid City.

Badlands National Park is divided into two units: North and South.  You will almost certainly spend your time in the North Unit, which is managed by the National Park Service. 

Badlands is a great park for scenic drives, wildlife viewing, and scenic overlooks.  The hiking is excellent and iconic but limited in scope. 

Our Experience At Badlands

My wife and I spent two days in the north unit of Badlands National Park, which we felt was the perfect length to take in the scenery. 

Day 1 at Badlands

After flying in to Rapid City, we drove to Wall and experienced Wall Drug and some of the attractions in town before making our way into the park in the early afternoon. 

Starting in the park, we drove a very short way to the trailhead for the Door, Window, and Notch Trails.  Hiking the Door and Window Trails, we were blown away by the scenery.  Coming from Florida, we had never seen anything like what we saw at Badlands.

We hiked the Notch Trail and climbed the ladder into what seemed like another world.  Be careful, there may be a back-up of people climbing and descending the ladder.  It is safer for everybody to go one at a time.

It started to get late, so we drove west to a few of the overlooks as the sun set.  Near Bigfoot Pass Overlook, we took Bigfoot Rd north to I-90.  Don’t do this.  The road was muddy, and our rental car had street tires.  We took our time, and luckily we were able to dodge all of the cows in the road on our way back to the highway.  We checked into our hotel and hit the sack.

Day 2 at Badlands

The second day, we started at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, which had great exhibits about the history and geology of the Badlands.  It was packed, but the stickers were cool, so we collected our stamp and waited in line. Watch your speed around the visitor center especially, as there are downhill stretches where you may accumulate speed, and the park rangers will pull you over.

We made our way to the Castle Trail and were impressed by the desolate beauty of the area.  It was really cool to see where the grass melted away into Badlands.  We saw deer on our hike, and not a lot of people. 

The majority of people will hike the Notch trail and avoid the longer Castle Trail.  The Castle Trail is out and back at around 10 miles, but we only completed 7 miles as due to mud we skipped the last mile and a half.  We saw flowers and cactuses, both unexpected.

Castle Trail was excellent and we will definitely repeat it on future trips.

Back in The Car

After our hike, we traveled from overlook to overlook, taking pictures and admiring the bison and prairie dogs.  We tried in vain to find a black-footed ferret, an endangered creature that lives off of prairie dogs.

The format of the badlands change depending on where in the park you are. We stopped at each overlook in the park, and would definitely recommend that you do the same.

Traveling west from the visitor center on 240, we continued our journey through the park on Sagecreek Rim Road, which is a gravel road.  We found fewer people on this gravel road and more bison and prairie dogs.  There were an incredible number of prairie dogs at Robert’s Prairie Dog Town.  We loved this less populated part of the North Unit.

Continuing on Sage Creek Rd will take you out of the park, but be careful if it is muddy and your rental car is like ours was.  You may find yourself sliding down the muddy parts of the road.  We took 44 up through Scenic and back towards Rapid City and the Black Hills.

What We Would Do Differently

When we planned our trip, we saw rain in the forecast, so we purchased and brought raincoats with us.  Rain to me means that you get wet.  Rain in the Badlands and South Dakota in general may just mean a light sprinkle, where you do not even need a raincoat as it evaporates as fast as it falls.  When we repeat this trip, I will check the expected quantity or precipitation, not just weather or not there is precipitation expected.

On our next trip to the Badlands, if there is any possibility the roads will be wet, I will get a bigger SUV or truck, preferably with better tires or 4WD.  You will be fine if you stay on paved roads and off of the dirt and gravel, but I am not good at that.  I like to explore a little further off the beaten path.  Having a more capable vehicle will also help depending on where you travel in the Black Hills, as the east side is less developed.

Where To Eat Near Badlands

There are not a lot of food options available near Badlands National Park.  The closest food we found was at the town of Wall.  The major player in Wall is Wall Drug, and you will enjoy the experience eating there with your free ice water and $0.05 coffee, and we really liked the bison hot dog there.  There is more food available in Rapid City and the Black Hills, but both of those are far away.  I would recommend bringing a bag lunch like uncrustables so that you do not have to leave the park.

Lodging Near Badlands

Camping is available in the park, and there are some cabins and inns sort of nearby Badlands, and of course there is lodging in Rapid City.  You could stay in Wall, but we stayed in Kadoka, SD (Remember that town from Armageddon?)  Kadoka only houses around 500 people and is the kind of place where you drive down main street and see folks driving around with their dogs on side by sides.

We stayed at a motel named Grandpa Joe’s Place, which we found to be both affordable and excellent.  The rooms felt vintage and were impossibly clean. Not believing that our room could be so perfectly clean, we searched for any dust, anywhere, and were not able to find any.  They did not serve breakfast, but we brought food we could reheat in the microwave.

Tips For Visiting Badlands

We did our trip in May, and it was cold out.  Plan to dress warmly and be prepared for precipitation.  I thought May was a great time to go there to avoid major crowds, and I would go at the same time on a return trip.

The less populated the area in Badlands, the more wildlife you are likely to see.  We saw Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorns, Bison, and Prairie Dogs on our trip.

The South Unit of Badlands is run by the Oglala Lakota Tribe.  The South Unit has the White River Visitor Center, which is open seasonally.  If you are interested in a more remote and primitive experience, I would focus on the South Unit.

Try to visit the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, SD if you visit on a weekday.  It was closed when we were in town but they had really neat displays of the grasslands outside. They are open Monday-Thursday from 8:00 AM-4:30PM.

Summary

This trip was special for us because it was our first National Park-centric trip together.  We absolutely loved Badlands and cannot wait to take our kids there one day.  It is one of those places that pictures do not do justice, and you owe it to yourself to visit.

Other Sights Near Badlands

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site – This is very close to Badlands and is a great place to go to learn about the Cold War and Mutually Assured Destruction.

Wind Cave National Park – Great for cave tours to see boxwork as well as hiking above ground.

Custer State Park – Bison, Donkeys, National Treasure 2, scenic drives, and access to the highest mountain east of the Rockies.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial – An American classic.  You should see Crazy Horse while you are in the area.

Jewel Cave National Monument – This cave is not talked about very much but is even more impressive than Wind Cave.  You have to see it to understand.

The Black Hills – A national forest sprinkled with awesome small towns and NPS sites.

Devil’s Tower – A giant rock in the middle of nowhere, but that you should see on a trip to the Black Hills area.