Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park protects 242,756 acres of eroded buttes, spires and mixed-grass prairie in southwestern South Dakota. The Lakota called the area mako sica, which the Park Service translates as "bad lands". It became a national monument in 1939 and a national park in 1978.

In 2025 Badlands had 1,139,361 recreation visits, with July the busiest month. We checked every figure below on 27 October 2026 on the park's own pages, Recreation.gov, the lodge's site and NOAA's normals.

What are Badlands' North Unit and South Unit?

Badlands National Park has two parts: the North Unit, crossed by the Loop Road and Sage Creek Rim Road, and the South Unit, which no road goes through. The visitor centre, the lodge and every marked trail are in the North Unit.

The South Unit, 133,300 acres, is in the Park Service's words "owned by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and managed by the National Park Service under an agreement with the Tribe". The land lies on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and was added in 1976. The Park Service itself notes that the agreement has been contentious among Pine Ridge residents.

Most of the South Unit lies within a former aerial gunnery range, taken from the reservation in 1942. Report anything that looks like unexploded ordnance, and do not touch it. The only ways in are the dirt road up Sheep Mountain Table, where four-wheel drive is recommended even in dry weather, or backcountry hiking. Backcountry camping is not allowed there.

The White River Visitor Center, in the South Unit, opens seasonally, roughly from late May to October. It is 55 miles from the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, and the park had not published its 2026 closing date.

Why does Badlands take only cards at its gates?

Badlands has collected fees without cash since 1 March 2023, so its three entrance stations, Northeast, Pinnacles and Interior, take only credit and debit cards. A pass can also be bought in advance on Recreation.gov. The park is open 24 hours a day, and fees are collected all year.

A private car pays $30 for seven days, a motorcycle $25 and a walker or cyclist $15; under-16s enter free. Badlands is not on the 2026 list of eleven parks with a $100 surcharge for non-residents, so two adults from abroad in one car pay $30. You need no entry reservation or timed ticket.

The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass pays off only on a trip that also enters surcharge parks. The $55 Badlands annual pass is sold only to US citizens and residents, and from 2026 so are the fee-free days. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains the choice.

How long are the Badlands Loop Road and Sage Creek Rim Road?

The Badlands Loop Road, SD 240, is about 38 to 39 miles by our own routing, from Wall to I-90 Exit 131; the Park Service prints no length. The two-lane paved road is fit for all vehicles but has several steep passes. The park suggests one to two hours with stops.

The Loop Road's overlooks run east to west from Big Badlands Overlook to Pinnacles Overlook. Between them are White River Valley, Bigfoot Pass, Panorama Point, Prairie Wind, Burns Basin, Homestead, Conata Basin, Yellow Mounds and Ancient Hunters. Most are wheelchair-accessible boardwalks. Cell service is spotty, so pick up a map at an entrance station.

Sage Creek Rim Road, SD 590, is a gravel road through the Sage Creek Wilderness, leaving the Loop Road just north of Pinnacles Overlook. Bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs often show up, and Roberts Prairie Dog Town has its own overlook. Our own routing puts Sage Creek Campground 13 miles and about 50 minutes along it.

Sage Creek Rim Road can be rough after storms and may close during or after heavy rain or snow. Road information is on (605) 433-5361. Plague was confirmed as the cause of a prairie dog die-off in the park in May 2024. The park's 2022 wilderness report says it had lost 72% of its prairie dog colonies in ten years.

When are the Ben Reifel Visitor Center and its fossil lab open?

The Ben Reifel Visitor Center at Cedar Pass is open all year: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in spring and autumn, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter. The park does not give the dates when each season starts. The centre takes its name from Benjamin Reifel, the first congressman elected with Lakota heritage.

Inside are exhibits, a bookshop and the 25-minute film The Land of Stone and Light, shown on request in winter. In the Fossil Preparation Lab, visitors watch park paleontologists clean fossils. In 2026 the lab was scheduled from 23 May to 31 October, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Park Service calls Badlands "one of the world's richest fossil beds", and counts more than 250 vertebrate species in its rocks. Ancient horses and rhinos lived here, but no dinosaurs have been found. The rocks erode about an inch a year. Collecting fossils, rocks or plants is illegal.

Which trails start along the Badlands Wall near Cedar Pass?

All of Badlands' marked trails start within a few miles of the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. The distances below are round trip, from the park's hiking page updated in September 2026.

An older park page, updated in April 2026, gives different figures for most trails: 0.26 mile for the Door, 1.25 for the Notch and 0.86 for Cliff Shelf. We use the newer page.

Badlands has an open hike policy, so walkers may leave the trails and explore wherever they can go safely. The park warns that formations tend to be easier to climb up than down. Carry two quarts of water per person for every two hours. Pets are not allowed on trails.

Backcountry campers must pitch at least half a mile from any road or trail, out of sight of the road, and sign one of the backcountry registers. Campfires are banned, and the backcountry water is not drinkable even when filtered.

Is the Notch Trail open after its ladder repair?

The Notch Trail has been closed since 12:01 a.m. on 31 August 2026, "until further notice", to repair a section of its ladder that had become a safety hazard. The closure covers the trail and everything within 100 feet of it.

On 27 October 2026 we found no reopening notice. The park's newest news item was still the closure, its alerts did not mention the trail, and its trail pages carried no closure note. Ask at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center or call (605) 433-5361 before planning on it.

When open, the trail climbs a ladder and follows a ledge to a view over the White River Valley. The Park Service calls it the park's most popular trail, with the most injuries. The park does not recommend it to anyone afraid of heights, and warns that it is treacherous during or after heavy rain. The trail was also closed in September 2024, for loose rocks at the base of the ladder.

How close may you get to Badlands bison and bighorn sheep?

Badlands visitors on foot must stay at least 100 feet (30 m) from bison, bighorn sheep, deer and pronghorn, under the superintendent's compendium. One photo caption on the safety page says 100 yards, but the regulation says feet. The park adds that if an animal notices you, you are too close.

Bison were brought back to Badlands in 1963, and a 2020 park page puts the herd at around 1,200. Bison can run faster than 30 mph. Bighorn sheep were brought in from 1964, starting with 22 animals from Pikes Peak in Colorado, and number about 250 on a page of the same year.

The prairie rattlesnake is the park's only rattlesnake and South Dakota's only venomous snake. Rattlesnakes shelter under boardwalks, stairs and tall grass, and warm themselves on paved roads at night. Falls are the most common injury in the park, mostly due to the wrong footwear.

Where can you sleep in Badlands once the lodge closes?

Badlands' only lodging, Cedar Pass Lodge, opens from 15 April to 15 October, so on 27 October 2026 it had been closed for twelve days. Its restaurant is the only place to buy food in the park. Since 1 November 2025 the lodge and campground have been run by Explor Badlands, which replaced Aramark; it takes bookings on staybadlands.com.

The Park Service's campground page still calls Cedar Pass "open year-round with limited availability in the winter". Recreation.gov calls it seasonal and shows its standard sites closed until March, so plan on that. Neither publishes nightly prices. At Sage Creek, RVs and trailers over 18 feet are banned, and an active prairie dog colony shares the campground.

What changed when Badlands became a Dark Sky Park?

Badlands National Park was certified as an International Dark Sky Park by Dark Sky International in July 2026, after work that began in 2018. The park announced it on 17 July, the first day of that year's Badlands Astronomy Festival, which began in 2012.

The 2026 festival ran from 17 to 19 July. The 30-minute Night Sky Program at the Cedar Pass Campground Amphitheater started at 9:30 p.m. in June and July, 9 p.m. in August and 8:30 p.m. in September. On 27 October 2026 no 2027 festival dates had been published.

How hot does Badlands get in July?

Badlands is hot in July: NOAA's normals for Interior 3 NE, the station at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, give an average high of 91°F. The station averages 53 days a year at 90°F or more and 11 at 100°F or more.

The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. May is the wettest month, with 3.62 inches, and about 38 inches of snow fall in a year. The Park Service records extremes from 116°F to −40°F and advises a gallon of water a day in summer. Summer storms often turn violent, and the buttes turn very slippery when wet.

How do you reach Badlands from Rapid City and I-90?

Badlands National Park lies 75 miles east of Rapid City by the Park Service's figures, and two I-90 exits lead to it. Westbound drivers leave at Exit 131, about three miles from the Northeast Entrance. Eastbound drivers leave at Exit 110 in Wall, about seven miles from the Pinnacles Entrance.

The White River figures are the Park Service's; the rest are our own routing. Do not rely on GPS in the park, and expect no phone signal in most of it. Rapid City Regional Airport flies all year to Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Minneapolis–St Paul, Las Vegas and Phoenix-Mesa, with rental counters near baggage claim.

Badlands is on Mountain Time, like Rapid City, and clocks went back on 1 November 2026. The park is one of the stops in our guide to South Dakota, with Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and the Black Hills caves. The other national park in South Dakota is Wind Cave National Park.