Discover Badlands National Park
Some landscapes are beautiful. Others look like nature decided to break all the rules.
Welcome to Badlands National Park, a spectacular wilderness in southwestern South Dakota where jagged rock formations, colorful cliffs, and rolling prairies create scenery unlike almost anywhere else in America.
Covering approximately 244,000 acres, the park is also home to remarkable fossil deposits and wildlife, offering a fascinating glimpse into both ancient history and the living Great Plains.
Badlands Loop Road: A Drive Through Another World
Few road trips offer scenery quite like Badlands Loop Road.
This spectacular stretch of Highway 240 winds through dramatic formations, with scenic overlooks revealing enormous valleys, layered cliffs, and seemingly endless prairie landscapes.
Big Badlands Overlook is particularly memorable at sunrise, while Pinnacles Overlook offers spectacular views in the warm light of late afternoon.
Bring your camera. You'll probably stop more often than you planned.
Door Trail and Notch Trail: Explore the Badlands Up Close
For visitors wanting to experience the landscape beyond the roadside viewpoints, these two trails offer different adventures.
The relatively easy Door Trail leads through an opening in the Badlands Wall, revealing a remarkable panorama of eroded formations.
The more challenging Notch Trail features a wooden ladder and narrow ledges before reaching a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the White River Valley.
It's an unforgettable hike for those comfortable with heights.
Yellow Mounds: Nature's Colorful Canvas
Who says the Badlands are simply shades of brown?
At Yellow Mounds Overlook, layers of yellow, purple, red, and gray create one of the park's most colorful landscapes.
These remarkable formations reveal different chapters of geological history, making the overlook a wonderful destination for photography and curious explorers alike.
Sage Creek: Where the Wild Things Roam
Beyond the dramatic rock formations lies another side of the Badlands.
The Sage Creek area offers opportunities to observe American bison, prairie dogs, and other wildlife against sweeping grassland scenery.
There's something extraordinary about seeing a bison wandering through this landscape, reminding visitors that the Great Plains remain wonderfully wild.
Always admire wildlife from a safe distance.
Keep Your Badlands Memories Close
Whether your favorite memory is a sunrise photograph, an adventurous hike, or an unforgettable wildlife encounter, the Badlands leave you with stories worth sharing.
A GTK QR Tile connects a physical keepsake to your existing online photographs, travel stories, and favorite experiences, or brings them together on your complimentary GTK QR Page.
A small reminder of a place that's anything but ordinary.
Get To Know People & What They Know About Badlands National Park
GTK® is an independent editorial initiative celebrating individuality, expression, connection, and the things people know.
From paleontologists and wildlife researchers to photographers, conservationists, and Indigenous communities whose histories are intertwined with the Great Plains, the Badlands inspire remarkable knowledge and human experiences.
We believe these stories and perspectives deserve to be discovered, shared, and remembered.
Visit GTK.us to discover more about people and what they know.
