Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park protects one of the most dramatic and surreal landscapes in America — a vast maze of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, spires and canyons banded in stripes of red, orange, yellow and gray, rising abruptly from the mixed-grass prairie of southwestern South Dakota. The eroded formations, ever-changing in the light, create an otherworldly, almost lunar scene.

Beyond the striking rock, the park protects one of the largest mixed-grass prairies in the country, home to bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn and the reintroduced black-footed ferret, and one of the world’s richest fossil beds, where the bones of ancient mammals weather out of the rock. A scenic loop road, trails, overlooks and dark night skies draw visitors. Stark, colorful and full of life, Badlands National Park is a treasured natural icon of South Dakota.

The Badlands Loop Road winds past dramatic overlooks of the eroded formations, with trails like the Notch, Door, Window and the ladder-climbing Saddle Pass leading among the buttes, plus open hiking (allowed across much of the park), wildlife watching on the prairie, fossil exhibits, camping, and superb stargazing under dark skies. Driving the loop, hiking among the formations and watching the prairie wildlife are the signature draws. The combination of surreal eroded rock, abundant wildlife and rich fossils makes Badlands a uniquely fascinating destination.

Spring and fall offer the most comfortable temperatures and beautiful light on the formations, while summer is hot (often over 100°F) with afternoon thunderstorms, and winter is cold and stark but quiet and dramatic. The eroded buttes glow most vividly at sunrise and sunset, the prime times for photography, and the dark skies are superb year-round. Spring and fall for comfortable exploring and the golden hours are the highlights — come in the milder seasons, time visits for sunrise or sunset, and stay for the stargazing.

The Badlands have been home and hunting ground to Native peoples for thousands of years, most recently the Lakota (Sioux), who named the rugged land ‘mako sica’ (bad lands); the park’s South Unit lies within the Pine Ridge Reservation and is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota. The area was a famous fossil-hunting ground in the 19th century and protected as a national monument in 1939, becoming a national park in 1978. Badlands National Park preserves this surreal landscape, its fossils, its prairie wildlife and its deep Lakota heritage, a treasured icon of South Dakota.

The Badlands formations are layers of sediment — ancient sea muds, river floodplains and volcanic ash, deposited over tens of millions of years — that have been rapidly eroded by water and wind into the dramatic banded buttes, spires and gullies. The colorful stripes mark different layers and ancient soils. The badlands are eroding quickly (about an inch a year), constantly revealing fossils and reshaping the landscape, and will eventually erode away entirely. The layered sediments, the rapid erosion and the exposed fossil beds created this surreal, ever-changing landscape.

Badlands protects abundant prairie wildlife — bison roam the grasslands, along with pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mule and white-tailed deer, coyotes, prairie dogs (whose towns dot the prairie), and the endangered black-footed ferret, reintroduced here in one of America’s great wildlife-recovery stories, plus rattlesnakes, raptors and grassland birds. The mixed-grass prairie and the buttes support a rich community. Badlands offers superb wildlife watching, with bison, bighorn sheep, prairie-dog towns and the rare black-footed ferret among the highlights of this living prairie.

Badlands protects one of the largest remaining mixed-grass prairies in the United States alongside its eroded formations — a grassland ecosystem of native grasses and wildflowers supporting bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs and the endangered black-footed ferret, with the buttes and their fossils telling the story of ancient ecosystems. The prairie and its keystone species (bison and prairie dogs) are vital and increasingly rare. Protecting the prairie, the wildlife (including the recovering ferret) and the fossil beds sustains both the ecology and the surreal grandeur of the Badlands.

Badlands National Park holds a treasured place among the icons of South Dakota — a surreal, banded moonscape of eroded buttes rising from the prairie, rich with fossils and wildlife, and deeply significant to the Lakota people, whose Pine Ridge Reservation embraces the park’s South Unit, co-managed with the Oglala Lakota. Its stark beauty and the great prairie it protects embody the wild Great Plains. Badlands is a cherished natural and cultural icon of South Dakota, one of the most dramatic landscapes in America.

Badlands National Park is in southwestern South Dakota, off Interstate 90 (exits near Wall and Cactus Flat), about an hour east of Rapid City. An entrance fee applies. The Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240) connects the I-90 exits through the North Unit, with the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, overlooks, trails and a campground; the remote South Unit lies within the Pine Ridge Reservation. The town of Wall (with the famous Wall Drug) is nearby. Summer heat is intense. Check the National Park Service for fees, hours and conditions before visiting.

The National Park Service, with the Oglala Lakota in the South Unit, protects the Badlands’ prairie, wildlife and fossils. Visitors help by keeping a safe distance from bison and all wildlife (bison are dangerous), never collecting fossils or rocks (report fossil finds), staying aware on the open terrain, protecting the fragile prairie and soils, packing out everything, and following all rules. The prairie, the recovering black-footed ferret and the fossils are sensitive. Protecting the grassland, the wildlife and the fossil beds sustains both the ecology and the grandeur of the Badlands.

Badlands summers are very hot with little shade — carry plenty of water and sun protection, and watch for heat illness and sudden, violent thunderstorms with lightning and flash floods. Keep a safe distance from bison (which are large, fast and dangerous) and watch for prairie rattlesnakes. The eroded formations are steep, crumbly and slippery; stay on trails or sturdy ground and keep back from edges, and use caution on ladder trails. Respect the heat, the need for water, the storms, the bison and the unstable, steep terrain.

An entrance fee applies. Keep at least 100 feet from bison and bighorn sheep and do not approach or feed any wildlife. Collecting fossils, rocks, plants or artifacts is prohibited (report fossils to rangers). Open hiking is allowed in much of the park, but stay off closed areas and respect the fragile soils. Camp only in designated campgrounds or with a backcountry permit. Pets are restricted to developed areas. Drones are prohibited. Pack out all trash. Check the National Park Service for fees, rules and conditions before visiting.

The town of Wall (home of the famous Wall Drug) just off I-90, Rapid City and the Black Hills (with Mount Rushmore) an hour west, the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site nearby, and the vast prairie of western South Dakota lie near the park. The Great Plains and the Black Hills define the region. Badlands anchors a dramatic prairie region of South Dakota, a centerpiece of a Great Plains adventure, easily combined with the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug and the Minuteman Missile site.

Drive the Badlands Loop Road and stop at the overlooks at sunrise or sunset, when the banded buttes glow — and hike among the formations on trails like the Notch, Door and Window, or strike out on the open terrain. Carry far more water than you expect (summers are brutally hot with no shade), watch for bison (keep your distance) and rattlesnakes, and stay for the superb dark-sky stargazing. Combine your visit with the Black Hills, Wall Drug and the Minuteman Missile site nearby.