Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Head through the Wild West to visit Badlands National Park on your South Dakota Road Trip. This amazing National Park is full of otherworldly landscapes and crazy rock formations. It will make you feel as though you’re on another planet.

Where is Badlands National Park?

You will reach the dramatic landscapes of Badlands National Park in South Dakota, just 1.5 hours drive away from Mount Rushmore, 1 hour and 40 minutes drive from The Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park and 4.5 hours from Cowboy-town Cheyenne.

What to do in Badlands National Park?

There are tonnes of different hiking trails and routes to take through the park for all level of expertise, the most popular is the Badlands Loop Road which passes numerous vista points and trailheads, some near prairie dog “towns”! The Badlands loop drive takes just over an hour to complete, though you’ll want a couple of hours spent here to allow for photo stops en route.

Top Tip for Badlands…

Go for the views but stay for the sunset! Some great spots to view Badlands National Park include Conata Basin Overlook, Pinnacles Overlook and Norbeck Pass, each of these make for great sunset views. If you are on the road in a convertible then pack up a picnic, park up safely and pop the top down, that will make for the perfect viewing platform!