Badlands National Park is unsurprisingly home to South Dakota’s badlands. This rugged landscape is ideal for those wanting to get out and hike, but that’s not all there is here. Badlands National Park is full of wildlife ranging from buffalo to prairie dogs and even more in between. No trip to South Dakota would be complete without at least one day in Badlands National Park.
In this post, I’ll cover all of the top things to do at Badlands National Park. Plus at the end, I’ll give a suggested one day itinerary so you can make the most of your visit.
Things to Do at Badlands National Park
Big Badlands Overlook
If you enter from the east, this will be the first overlook you pass and I think it’s worth a stop. Big Badlands Overlook will give you your first glimpse of the badlands and what you will be seeing all day today.
And as someone who drove out here all the way from Lake Michigan, the scenery is a delightful change after the monotonous, seemingly never-ending Interstate 90 (that we drove for twelve hours!).
Door Trail
Just a short ways up the road from the Big Badlands Overlook is a large parking lot which is home to three trail heads. Together, these three trails total about two and a half miles. All three trails offer great views of the badlands, but all three range in difficulty.
I’m going to start with The Doors Trail, since that’s the first trail I hiked. This trail is just under a mile and was a great first hike. In fact, The Doors Trails remained one of my favorites throughout the day. It was an easy hike, but had a little bit of rock scrambling.
Plus it felt like a “choose your own adventure trail”. Posts marked the trail, but there wasn’t always a clearly defined to get your between the posts. I noticed this at another trail at Badlands National Park too (Saddle Pass, which I’ll discuss later).
The bottom line is this was a fun, short trail and a great warm up for your one day at Badlands National Park.
My Stats: I logged 0.9 miles and 39 feet of elevation gain over the course of 30 minutes (which includes stops for photos).
Windows Trail
This trail is so short that I barely even consider it a trail. It’s more of a short walk out to a view point. The views are nice, but weren’t terribly different from the Doors Trail. Plus, when we were here, a tour bus had just unloaded and this is where people were coming to take pictures. We didn’t stay long.
My Stats: This trail was 0.2 miles and had 10 feet of elevation. It took five minutes to do this trail.
The Notch Trail
The longest, and hardest, of this series of three trails is the Notch Trail. This trail has an adventurous element because at one point, you have to use a ladder to climb up a very steep cliff. The ladder is not very long, but it can be awkward, especially if you’re carrying things with you (such as a camera or hiking poles).
Once at the top of the ladder, you’ll hike along, doing a little rock scrambling as you work your way to a drastically different view of Badlands National Park.
When we visited, a family in front of us decided to turn around before reaching the end of the trail. They just assumed the scenery was all the same. I understand where they were coming from because for a lot of the trail, the scenery is the very similar. However, I do recommend continuing on all the way to the end of the trail. The view here is great and it will be different from everything else you see on the trail.
Was it my favorite view of the day? No. But it felt different than what we had seen so far, and that made it feel like a reward for making it to the end of the trail.
A few more notes on the ladder. You need to do the ladder one person at a time and this creates a bottleneck in the trail. While multiple people can climb the ladder at one time, they all need to be going the same direction.
Have some patience. If a group of people are coming down, wait until you start trying to go up (yes, I’m speaking directly to the woman who decided she couldn’t want for me to descend).
Additionally, I, as well as several people on the trail, all agreed that the ladder steps are more spread out toward the top of the ladder. Whether or not that’s true is debatable, but it certainly felt that way. Plus, the ladder rungs have the unique ability to feel further apart when you are descending. So, watch your step and go slow.
My Stats: I logged 1.3 miles with 131 feet of elevation gain. It took me 45 minutes, which includes stops for photos and time spent waiting for the ladder.
Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
Just before the Ben Riefel Visitor Center, there’s a short, half mile trail. The Cliff Shelf Nature Trail offers some nice views of both the badlands and the surrounding prairies. You’ll climb up a short distance and loop back around to your starting point.
Fun fact, if you hiked the Notch Trail, you’ll actually find yourself looking up at the end point as you hike this loop.
My Stats: I logged 0.6 miles and 75 feet of elevation gain. It took 20 minutes including stops for photos. Just as a note, my tracker got a little wonky here, so my stats aren’t as accurate as normal.
Saddle Pass
Saddle Pass is the most strenuous hike on this list. Therefore, it’s one that I’d consider cutting if you’re pressed for time with your day at Badlands National Park.
While I didn’t struggle as much with the elevation, or even how steep it is, I did struggle a bit on this hike. If you choose to do this, you should know that yes, the trail is steep and some rock scrambling is involved, but there’s also loose gravel and scree. While my mom fared ok, I just could not find my footing. After sliding with nearly every step, I finally gave up and slid down one steep part on my butt. It wasn’t pretty, but it did the job. Make sure that you have shoes with excellent grip if you choose to hike this trail.
Saddle Pass, like the Doors Trail, feels like a “choose your own adventure” type of a trail. There are posts marking the way, but it’s up to you to figure out how to get from point A to point B. In some instances, it’s obvious, but in other instances, you’ll need a little creativity.
The highlight of Saddle Pass is the views from the top, but once you reach the top, you have a choice. You can either return the way you came, or you can hike a loop trail. From the top of Saddle Pass, you can combine the Medicine Root Trail with the Castle Trail into a four mile loop. Just as a note, this area is completely exposed, with little shade. Since we were here during the afternoon, we only walked a fraction of the loop before turning around.
My Stats: I logged 2.13 miles and 272 feet of elevation gain. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Notes: Saddle Pass is only approximately 0.7 of the 2.13 miles that I logged, but it includes nearly all of the elevation gain. Additionally, you can walk more or less of the Medicine Root or Castle Trails than I did, so your total distance and time will vary based on how much hiking you do.
Fossil Exhibit Trail
The final trail at this park is the Fossil Exhibit Trail, which doesn’t feel like a trail. It’s a 0.25 mile loop that teaches you about fossils in the area. I’m not big on fossils, so I just focused on the views of the surrounding area.
Overlooks in the Western Section of the Park
It wouldn’t be a national park visit for me without stopping at some of viewpoints on the scenic drive. I stopped at most viewpoints, but admittedly I did skip some.
Since my mom and I entered the park from the east and worked our way west, we got to do the viewpoints at the end of the day. The benefit of this was that as we worked our way out of the park, we kept seeing great views. Plus, in my opinion, the views got better as we went.
If you start your day at Badlands National Park in the west, the views may feel less impressive as your day goes on.
White River Valley – The first view point on this list is nice, but in my opinion slides down in the rankings as you keep working west.
Bigfoot Pass – You’ll drive over a pass and get a chance to stop out for some nice views.
Panorama Point – Unsurprisingly, Panorama Point offers sweeping views of the surrounding Badlands.
Prairie Wind – This is a viewpoint that we didn’t fully stop at. Sometimes, just from the road, you can tell that a view point isn’t going to be worth it and Prairie Wind was that viewpoint for us. If you love views of prairies, by all means stop. But my mom and I live in rural Wisconsin so prairies aren’t really that special for us.
Burns Basin – At the time, this was our favorite overlook. It eventually got surpassed by other view points, but we enjoyed it.
Homestead – Compared to other view point options, I found this one to just be ok.
Conata Basin – Similar to Homestead, it’s just ok. Absolutely, you can stop, but if you’re in a time crunch, continue on.
Pinnacles – One of the benefits of driving from east to west is that you save the best viewpoint for last. If you only stop at one overlook, make it this one.
Sage Creek Road
From the Pinnacles Overlook, you can easily exit the park and head back to I-90. But if you aren’t ready to be done, you can drive Sage Creek Road. This gravel road is another scenic drive in the park that will take you to even more viewpoints. Plus, it has the added bonus of getting away from any crowds. Unsurprisingly, most people stick to the paved roads of the park.
Sage Creek Road is 25 miles and will lead you to Scenic, South Dakota. From there, it’s a 30 minute drive to join back to I-90.
Since the road is long, I’d consider skipping it if you only have one day at Badlands National Park. It uses a lot of time and I think there’s just so many other things you could do with that time.
How Much Time Do You Need at Badlands National Park
With one day in Badlands National Park, you can do everything on this list, but note it will be a busy day. Two days will allow you to go at a more relaxed pace and have more energy for hikes like Saddle Pass.
One Day in Badlands National Park
Here’s a sample itinerary, based on my own experience with one day at Badlands National Park.
9:00 – Arrive at Badlands National Park
9:30 – Door Trail
10:15 – Windows Trail
10:30 – Notch Trail
11:30 – Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
12:00 – Break for lunch – Pack a picnic and grab a table near the visitor center
1:00 – Saddle Pass – The rest of the day will depend on how much hiking you do after reaching the top of Saddle Pass. I will use my 2 mile hike as an estimate for the rest of this itinerary.
2:30 – Fossil Exhibit Trail
3:00 – Start of Scenic Drive and Overlooks
4:00 – Optional Sage Creek Road
When to Visit
Summers can be hot, but winters will be cold. For the best temperatures, look at shoulder season in late spring and in fall.
I visited in mid September and while temperatures were a touch warmer than I would have liked, we had great weather for our entire South Dakota trip.
Entrance Fees
Entrance to Badlands National Park is $30 per vehicle and the pass is valid for 7 days. The America the Beautiful Pass is also accepted.
Where to Stay
Badlands National Park is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so lodging can be tricky. You’ll be close enough to the small town of Wall, which has a handful of hotel options. Rapid City is larger, but is an hour drive away from the western entrance of the park.
What I did: We visited South Dakota on a road trip from Wisconsin. We spent the night in Murdo, SD. The next morning, we drove one hour to Badlands National Park, explored the park, and then drove one hour west to the small town of Keystone.
A Note on Wildlife
Drive carefully through the park. You’ll find all sorts of wildlife here and they have a mind of their own. At one point, we got stuck in a line of cars for about fifteen minutes while we waited for animals to decide which side of the road they wanted to be on.
Final Thoughts
Badlands National Park had more than I expected. The views were great and I appreciated having some hikes that gave you excellent views without being too strenuous.
Continue Your Adventure
More in South Dakota: Consider visiting South Dakota’s other national park at Wind Cave National Park. For more caves, visit nearby Jewel Cave National Monument. Plus, Custer State Park is nearby and a fantastic place to explore. And for an itinerary linking everything together, try my 5 Days in South Dakota Itinerary.
US National Parks: The United States is filled with amazing national parks. Start planning your trip with my Guide to US National Parks.