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Badlands National Park

Location & practical

Banded Cliffs, Open Prairie and Dark Skies

  • A wall of banded clay that erodes about an inch a year.
  • The largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States.
  • Certified an International Dark Sky Park in July 2026.
  • National park
  • 180–480 minutes

Interstate 90 crosses flat prairie, and then, without much warning, the ground gives way to a serrated wall of banded clay in grey, pink and red. The Loop Road follows the top of it, past more than a dozen overlooks, and for many visitors the drive is most of the visit.

Each band is a different climate. The grey claystone at the base was laid down between 37 and 34 million years ago on a floodplain that the park compares to the Everglades. The pinker layers above record a cooler, drier savannah crossed by the odd river. The cutting only began about 500,000 years ago, so this is a young landscape made of very old sediment, and the park estimates that it loses roughly an inch a year, against an inch every 10,000 years for the Black Hills granite to the west. Treat that as a rough average rather than a law, but the point stands: this is scenery on a short lease.

Getting out of the car is the better half. At the Door and Window parking area, a boardwalk leads through a gap in the wall, and the Notch Trail follows a canyon to a log ladder and a ledge above the White River Valley; the park does not recommend it to anyone who dislikes heights. Back at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, a working fossil lab lets you watch bones being cleaned. Along the Fossil Exhibit Trail you get replicas instead, because nothing may be taken from the ground here.

The prairie matters as much as the rock. The park holds the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States, and the gravel Sage Creek Rim Road crosses it to reach Roberts Prairie Dog Town and the bison, reintroduced in 1963 from Theodore Roosevelt National Park and now more than a thousand strong.

The south of the park asks for a different manner. The South Unit lies inside the Pine Ridge Reservation and is managed jointly with the Oglala Lakota. Stronghold Table, where one of the last Ghost Dances took place in 1890, shortly before the Wounded Knee massacre, is here, along with a former air force gunnery range. Far fewer people come, the visitor center opens seasonally, and some roads need a high clearance vehicle.

Plan around the weather. Summers can be very hot, shade is scarce and afternoon thunderstorms are common, so the sensible day starts early.

Good to know.

Location
South Dakota, USA
Open map & directions ↗
Parking
Parking is available at overlooks, trailheads and the visitor centers. Use overlooks and pull outs rather than stopping on the road.
Getting around
Car required
Arriving
Both main entrances are off Interstate 90: the Pinnacles Entrance at exit 110, near Wall, and the Northeast Entrance at exit 131, closest to Interior and the Ben Reifel Visitor Center (25216 Ben Reifel Road, Interior). The Loop Road, SD 240, links the two.
Pets
Pets are allowed on paved and gravel roads and in developed areas such as campgrounds and picnic areas, on a leash of no more than six feet. They are not allowed on trails, in the Badlands Wilderness, in public buildings or in prairie dog colonies. Service animals may use trails and buildings, but not prairie dog colonies.
Accessibility
The Fossil Exhibit Trail is a fully accessible boardwalk, as is the boardwalk section of the Door Trail, and most Loop Road overlooks have wheelchair accessible boardwalks. The Notch Trail includes a ladder, and the Castle and Saddle Pass trails are unpaved.
Travelling with children
Junior Ranger booklets are available at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center.

Worth knowing

  • Hours: The park is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Visitor center hours vary by season and are given in Mountain Time.
  • Admission: $30 per private vehicle, $25 per motorcycle and $15 per person on foot or bicycle, each valid for seven days. Entrance fees are collected year round.
  • Time needed: Allow three to four hours for the Loop Road with stops, plus about 90 minutes for Sage Creek Rim Road. A full day is better.
  • Summer: Temperatures often pass 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), shade is scarce, and afternoon thunderstorms bring lightning and slick mud. Walk early and carry more water than seems necessary.
  • Winter and rain: Roads can close in snow or extreme weather, and the gravel roads can be impassable after heavy rain. Check conditions before you drive.
  • Wildlife: Keep well back from bison and bighorn sheep, and watch for prairie rattlesnakes among the rocks.
  • Dogs: Dogs are allowed on roads and in campgrounds, but not on any trail. Cedar Pass Lodge does not take pets.
  • Sleeping: Cedar Pass Lodge is the only lodging inside the park, and it is seasonal. Otherwise there are two campgrounds, Cedar Pass and the free Sage Creek.
  • South Unit: This part of the park lies on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Go with respect, and ask at the White River Visitor Center, which is open seasonally, before heading out.
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