Badlands
National Park
About Badlands
Visited – August 2020 (#29 of 63)
Established (as NP) November 1978
244K acres (about 1/9th of Yellowstone)
Where are the Badlands: Western South Dakota, 60 miles east of Rapid City.
Recommendations
Don’t miss: Hike among the stark badlands by the Door/Window trails and drive Sage Creek Road to have the best chance of spotting wildlife. If you’re in an RV, the dispersed camping just outside the Pinnacles Entrance was fantastic (views and wildlife).
When to visit: Spring, summer, and fall are all in play.
How long to stay: While you could do the park in one day, two days including an overnight to see the amazing night sky is well worth it.
Definitely check out the Photo Gallery of our best pictures.
Photo Gallery
See the namesake colorful badlands, bright Milky Way views, and a variety of wildlife.
Link to NPS Info
Click to visit the park’s website with maps, history, and lots of great info on things to do and places to see.
Trip Report
Read about our adventure to Badlands…..
Rugged landscapes, animals galore, awesome night skies, and some cool (and free) camping just outside the park.
Badlands Blog Posts
Badlands Trip Report
Badlands is definitely a park for photographers. Our planned 2 day stay turned into a nearly 4 day search for as many dramatic daytime and nighttime shots as we could discover. And we landed some of our all-time favorite shots. Yes it’s desolate, but when you look...