Exploring Badlands National Park: A Family’s First Visit

Badlands National Park was really amazing. One minute you’re driving through flat South Dakota prairie, and the next the earth just open up into a surreal landscape of spires, buttes, and eroded canyons that looks like another planet. This was at the end of our GO WEST family road trip through the Black Hills, and after a week of incredible parks, Badlands still was pretty amazing.

We visited in August as part of a wider Black Hills loop that included Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Devils Tower, and the South Dakota cave parks. If you’re planning a similar trip, I’d highly recommend using Rapid City as your hub and building Badlands into your plan. You can visit this National Park, Wall Drug and maybe – if you plan right – the minuteman missile National Monument.

Ben Reifel Visitor Center

The Ben Reifel Visitor Center is the main hub for the park and where you’ll want to begin any visit. It sits right at the base of the formations — you can see the buttes towering behind the parking lot before you even walk through the door.

Inside, the exhibits are genuinely well done. There’s a full natural history walkthrough covering the geology, paleontology, and ecology of the Badlands. The fossil displays are excellent too, and the Badlands are one of the richest fossil beds in the world, which will make any aged dinosaur hunter excited.

Plan to spend at least 30–45 minutes here before heading out. The rangers are helpful — ask them for current trail conditions and wildlife sighting locations. When we visited in August, bison had been spotted near the entrance sign.

Passport Stamp at Ben Reifel

The cancellation station is inside the visitor center and was busy when we arrived. Along with the standard cancellations stamp, there was a cool bonus stamp that features the layered buttes and a bison, really unique.

For more on building your stamp collection, check out my complete NPS Passport Stamp guide.

The Notch Trail: A Ladder, a Canyon, and Very Hot Wood

If you only have time for one hike at Badlands, make it the Notch Trail. It’s 1.5 miles round-trip and rated moderate to strenuous — and it earns that rating in the best possible way. It is popular, but is truly unique.

The trailhead sign is refreshingly honest: Rough Terrain. Wear Sturdy Boots. No Pets Allowed. Take all three seriously. The trail winds through a canyon before arriving at the main event — a long log ladder upward to the rock face. Most hikers go up the ladder, but we actually approached from a different direction and came down the ladder instead. Descending the steep wooden ladder in August sun, toward the canyon floor below was fun. It was one of the highlights of this visit for sure.

One detail nobody warns you about: the wood on that ladder gets scorching hot in the August sun. It was not unbearable, but be aware of it as you move up the rock face. Our kids handled it fine, but it caught a few adults around us off guard.

At the top, you’re rewarded with views across the White River Valley that are different from what you see from the Loop Road overlooks. The trail technically ends at a canyon overlook, but the whole route through the canyon bottom before the ladder is beautiful — interesting rock formations were all over, and a very real sense of being inside the landscape rather than just looking down at it from the road.

Driving Badlands Loop Road

The Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240) is the spine of the park — a 39-mile scenic drive with overlooks, pullouts, and short trails at numerous locations. In a full day, you can drive the entire loop comfortably with stops. You do not have to rush.

The Ancient Hunters Overlook was one of my favorites — interpretive signs explaining the history of people in the Badlands going back thousands of years, with the canyon spread out behind you. Easy stop, great payoff.

Wildlife its there if you know where to look on the route. We spotted bison grazing near several overlooks. Bighorn sheep have been reintroduced to the park and can sometimes be spotted on the rocky formations, though we didn’t catch any on this trip. We did see the rattlesnake warning signs at multiple overlooks and stayed on the trail. No encounters — just a healthy reminder to watch where you step.

The light in the Badlands changes dramatically throughout the day. If you can catch early morning or late afternoon, the colors in the layered formations — purples, pinks, tans, and greens — are at their most vivid. We were there midday in August and it was still stunning, but golden hour here must be something else.

The Mandatory Detour: Wall Drug

You cannot drive to Badlands without engaging with Wall Drug. I don’t care how many eye rolls you’ve loaded up in the car — and trust me, we had a few (mainly by me) — you are going to stop at Wall Drug. The signs start approximately 500 miles before you arrive and do not let up. It’s relentless, it’s cheesy, and it’s complete commercialism at its best.

Wall Drug is a sprawling roadside attraction and shopping complex in the town of Wall, just north of the park entrance. It started as a small drugstore in the 1930s offering free ice water to travelers and grew into a full-on tourist institution. Is it touristy? Absolutely. Did we buy things we didn’t need and take photos in front of a giant jackalope? Yes, yes we did. It’s worth 45 minutes of your time just for the experience. Go in with low expectations and an open sense of humor and you’ll have fun.

So close, but so far: Minuteman Missile NHS

Here’s my most important tip for anyone visiting Badlands: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is right across the street from the park, and be mindful of the operating hours.

We were there on a Tuesday. We found out the hard way.

Minuteman Missile NHS preserves an actual Cold War-era ICBM launch facility — a Delta-01 Launch Control Facility and a Delta-09 missile silo with a real Minuteman II missile visible through a glass hatch in the ground. It is one of the most unique NPS sites in the entire system, and it’s a five-minute drive from the Badlands entrance. We were flying out the next morning, so there was no recovery.

Roaming Monk Tip: This goes for all sites, always check the hours before you go. You never know if there is a special circumstance or off-season operating hours.

The site is part of the incredible concentration of NPS sites in South Dakota — plan enough days to get them all. Now I have to go back to South Dakota!

Planning Your Visit to Badlands National Park

Details you need to know

• How long do you need? One full day covers the Loop Road, a hike or two, and the visitor center. Two days lets you explore more trails and catch different light. Don’t short-change it with a half-day.
• Entrance fee: $35 per vehicle (covered by America the Beautiful pass). Well worth it.
• Best time to visit: Spring and fall for cooler temps and better light. Summer works but August is hot — bring more water than you think you need and start hiking early.
• Where to stay: The town of Wall is the closest option. Interior, SD (inside the park) has the Cedar Pass Lodge. Rapid City is the main hub if you’re doing the full Black Hills loop.
• With kids: Absolutely doable and highly recommended. The Notch Trail is manageable for older kids (10+) — just prep them for the ladder and the heat. The visitor center exhibits hold attention well for ages 7 and up.
• Combine it with: Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore, and Devils Tower are all within a 2-hour radius. See my posts on Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and Devils Tower National Monument to plan the full loop.

Frequently Asked Questions About Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park is the kind of place that earns its National Park designation. The landscape is unlike anything else you will see, the Notch Trail is genuinely thrilling, and the combination with the surrounding Black Hills parks makes for one of the best road trip clusters in the country. (Just check the Minuteman Missile hours before you go.) You’re welcome.