If you are planning a trip to South Dakota, one of your stops MUST be Badlands National Park. Josh and I visited May 2021 with our boys (ages 2, 7, 9), my parents (60s), and my aunt (80s). We all loved the Badlands, and it definitely has great activities for kids and adults of all ages! My 9-year-old said the Badlands were his absolute FAVORITE part of our South Dakota vacation.
Let me use our experience to help you plan a great day (or two!) in the Badlands. It’s an awesome place to explore, see lots of wildlife, and climb!
If you need more tips for your South Dakota trip, visit my Exciting South Dakota Vacation with Kids: A Full 4 Day Travel Itinerary post!
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the basics you need to know
How long should I plan to visit and how long is the Badlands Loop?
I’d plan on a full day in the Badlands – you’ll be glad you did! The loop is 39 miles and could theoretically be driven in a couple hours. However, you’ll want to plan plenty of time for getting out of your vehicle at the many overlooks to get a better view of this amazing park. I’d also highly recommend a hike and some exploring – there are options for all activity levels!
How much does it cost?
The price of admission is WELL worth it. It’s easily a full day of entertainment for the whole family and you can even visit multiple days on one admission. As of 2021, admission into the park is $30/vehicle which is good for 7 days.
ben reifel visitor center (park headquarters)
We did most of this day backwards from how I have it laid out in this post, but based on what I learned from the trip my recommendation would be to start your trip from the Northeast Entrance. I’d suggest first stopping at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. You can grab a park map, souvenirs, stamp your National Park Passport book, and get any advice for your day from the helpful park rangers.
Our boys got their National Park passports stamped here and we picked up quite a few souvenirs for ourselves and family back home.
hike a badlands trail
Notch Trail
The most exciting part of the day for me was hiking the popular Notch Trail. My mom and aunt stayed back with our 2-year-old, and Josh, my dad, our 9 and 7 year olds, and I set off on the 1.5 mile out-and-back hike. The first part of the hike was easy until we got to the ladder! And past that, there were some very sharp drop-offs with narrow paths that had my dad pretty nervous with the boys 🙂
For those reasons, I would not recommend taking very young kids or anyone afraid of heights on this hike. Active kids maybe 7 and older or so should do just fine with a little help from adults. Our boys did great on the hike, but did need some help getting down the ladder on our return trip.
The reward at the end of the hike is an amazing view!
We all LOVED hiking the Notch. It’s difficult enough to be exciting, but still has a lot of area for kids to run and explore. During part of the hike, our boys were pretending they were mountain lions and antelope, stalking each other from behind the rocks 🙂
Other Hiking Options in the Badlands
For the less active crowd or those with young kids, there are two other great hike options at the same parking lot as Notch Trail. The Door Trail is a 0.75 mile partially accessible trail to explore the Badlands on foot. The Window Trail is fully wheelchair accessible and an easy 0.25 out-and-back hike.
pick some stops along the loop
Pack a Picnic Lunch
There is a restaurant at Cedar Pass Lodge near the east entrance next door to the Ben Reifel visitor center, but after you start into the main part of the park there are no dining options. I would recommend packing a picnic lunch and stopping at one of two picnic areas.
Bigfoot Pass Overlook and Conta both have picnic areas; we chose to stop at Conata. Conta offered shaded picnic tables (I assume the same is true of Bigfoot Pass), and after lunch we took the opportunity to climb around on the rocks nearby.
Fossil Exhibit Trail
The best place we found for our boys to climb around the rock formations of the Badlands was at the Fossil Exhibit Trail. The actual trail is 0.25 miles and is wheelchair accessible. Along the path are information stations about fossils they have found in the area. However, the real fun is getting off the beaten path and making your own paths up the rocky formations!
Crazy story for our visit on the Fossil Trail – we ran into co-workers from back home in Indiana! With all the places to visit in South Dakota and all of the pull-offs just within the park itself, what are the odds of that?!
Badlands Overlooks
All the great overlooks are shown on the map you picked up at the visitor center. We stopped at a couple, but our favorite was Pinnacles. It has a great view of the Badlands, and also has a high likelihood of spotting big horn sheep making rock climbing look way too easy over to your left.
Note for parents: Keep track of kiddos at this stop, and physically HOLD ON to the little ones. There is a guardrail along some of the overlook, but it definitely has some VERY high and very steep drop-offs.
wildlife of the badlands
The Badlands are a great spot to view some of South Dakota’s most famous wildlife! On our trip we hit the mother lode: we saw bison up close, bighorn sheep along the road and also at Pinnacles Overlook, prairie dogs, and pronghorn antelope.
If you’ve made it to the end of the paved section of the loop just past Pinnacles and want a lesser-traveled experience with a higher likelihood of seeing more animals, continue along Sage Creek Rim Road. We drove this dirt road and this is where we saw the bison close to the roadway and the bighorn sheep pictured below.
The Last Thing You Need to Know About Visiting badlands national park
The Badlands are a MUST DO for your South Dakota family road trip vacation. The landscape from your car along the loop is magnificent, but the best day is pulling over to explore on foot with your kids. I promise you will all love it!
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Have you been to the Badlands? Drop a comment below with your favorite part of the park!