2 Day Adventure: Exploring Badlands National Park

If you are planning on staying in the park then you have four options:

Cedar Pass Lodge

The lodge offers cabin rentals that are on average $220 per night before taxes and fees. They have three cabin options: 2 Queens + Futon, Single King Duplex, 2 Queens. Each cabin costs the same. The cabins are open from April to October.

The Cedar Pass Lodge also offers the Cedar Pass Restaurant where you can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did not eat here during our visit to the Badlands, but the recommended dish to order is their Famous Indian Tacos.

Cedar Pass Campground

This is where we stayed and it was a great campground. There are 96 sites total, some sites are designated for RV camping with electric hookups. There are five site options to choose from: RV - non electric and tent sites both are on average $28 per night; tent group loop, RV - electric max 50’ and RV - electric max 75’ are on average $42 per night. The sites are open from April to October.

Sage Creek Campground

This campground is a free, first-come first-serve campground that has 22 sites. Motor homes, pull behind trailers, and other vehicles greater than 18 feet long are prohibited.

Back-country Camping

Back-country camping is permitted anywhere in the park as long as you are 0.5 miles from a road or trail. Check out the National Park Service website to see the Tips for Backcountry Camping in Badlands National Park.

We had two days in the park, so this is how we spent our time exploring:

Day One:

Before entering the park we explored the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and Visitor Center. If you like learning about the history of an area, then I recommend stopping and checking it out.

Unfortunately, while we were there the missile sites were closed. If you plan ahead you can see one of the decommissioned missiles in the ground and also get a tour of the Delta-01 Launch Control Center (which is located underground).

We entered the park in the afternoon and immediately was blown away by the rock formations. There are overlooks after you enter through the Northeast Entrance, and I highly recommend stopping and checking those out.

After taking many photos, we made our way to the Cedar Pass Campground where we got checked in and set up our tent site for the next two nights. It was super windy, so setting up our tent was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, we have a very sturdy SlumberJack tent, so we weren’t worried about it collapsing with the high winds.

Setting up camp made us hungry, so next up was dinner. We kept it simple by grilling hotdogs and had chips on the side. Once dinner was all cleaned up we decided to start exploring near our campground to find somewhere for watching the sunset.

There weren’t too many people around so we checked out the Window trail, which is only a 0.25 mile round trip and an easy walk. The path is all boardwalks and it leads to a view of the eroded canyon. It was a beautiful view with the shadows casting over the rocks from the sun getting ready to set.

We started to drive back towards the campground and stopped at one of the pull-offs to hike up a small hill and watch the sunset. It was STUNNING!

Day Two:

We woke up early to a beautiful sunrise, got ready for the day, and headed to the trailheads to get in a couple hikes before the day got too hot. The trails that we hiked were the Notch trail and the Door trail.

Oh! Did I mention that during our trip they had record high temperatures of 105 degrees Fahrenheit during September??

Watch for drop-offs and if in a narrow section be mindful of people traveling the opposite direction. You want to step off to the side in a safe place to let others pass by.

If you are afraid of heights, this is not the trail for you. I recommend wearing hiking boots since the rocks can be loose in spots. Also, don’t go on this trail during or after heavy rain as it will be very dangerous.

Door Trail

This trail is rated as both easy and moderate depending on the adventure you want to have. The Door trail is approximately a 0.75 mile out-and-back round trip if you go to the end of the trail for the moderate section.

If you choose the easy route, you will follow the path from the parking lot on the boardwalk leading to the break in the rock formations known as the Door. At the end of the boardwalk, there are benches and a nice viewing area of the Badlands. Here you can take in the views as long as you want before turning around to head back to the car. This part of the trail is also wheelchair accessible.

If you choose the moderate route, after the boardwalk you will continue down the stairs and at your own risk you will follow the 12 yellow markers along the tops of the rock formations until you reach the end. There is a sign at the end of the trail letting you know that you made it.

Take in the view before turning around to head back the way you came.

There are steep drop-offs, so wear proper footwear and watch your step. Also, bring water and wear a hat to help protect you from the sun.

After we finished both hikes it was around 10am and starting to already get really hot out. We went back to our campsite where we enjoyed a Mountain House breakfast. Ryan had the Breakfast Skillet while I had Biscuits and Gravy.

Then we made some lunch that we could enjoy while driving through the park.

Did I mention that during our visit there were record high temperatures?

This caused us to stay in the truck for most of the day and drive the scenic route through the park. We stopped at the overlooks and pull-offs to enjoy the view of the various types of rock formations.

Early afternoon we decided to go check out Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. If you are driving through any part of South Dakota you will see signs for this place advertising their FREE ICE WATER and 5 cent coffee!

In fact, there are 300 Wall Drug signs spreadout across South Dakota. Which makes you want to stop even more to check out what all of the advertising is about.

Wall Drug is definitely a tourist attraction and is filled with tons of small shops and things to do. With the heat, there were many people there just trying to get into the air conditioning and enjoy the free ice water.

We walked through most of the stores, getting lost a few times, before finding the cafe and getting ice cream. The ice cream was so good, but that might also be because it was SO hot outside. Either way, I recommend getting a cone with vanilla ice cream!

After spending a couple hours wandering around the shops, we headed back towards our campsite stopping at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to buy some souvenirs, fill up our water bottles at the fill station, and check out the fossil preparation lab.

The fossil lab is very interesting and you can watch an archeologist work on uncovering fossils found in the park.

Towards late afternoon, we heard that on the west entrance side of the park there was a chance of seeing sheep and other wildlife near sunset, so we had to go check it out.

We ended up seeing sheep alongside the road feeding and a couple mule deer buck in some tall grass.

With the sun setting, we started to make our way back towards our campsite. On the way, we made it to an overlook just in time to watch the sunset, but we didn't get a picture as we were taking in the views.

This was our final night in Badlands National Park, and it is a place that should be on everyone’s travel list. Even if you only want to make it a day trip or turn this itinerary into a week long vacation, there is something here for everyone to see.

Below is an interactive map of Badlands National Park showing you places to stay, things to see, and the various scenic routes you can explore.