Badlands National Park looks like another planet: a maze of banded buttes, spires, and eroded canyons rising out of the South Dakota mixed-grass prairie. The good news for hikers is that the park has an unusual open-hiking policy, meaning you can leave the marked trails and wander much of the terrain. Still, the established routes are the best way to get oriented, and most cluster along the Badlands Loop Road near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Here are the Badlands National Park hikes worth your time, plus how to fit them into a bigger trip via our 10-day South Dakota wilderness itinerary.
The Notch Trail: The Park's Signature Hike
The Notch Trail is the hike everyone remembers, mostly because of the log-and-cable ladder bolted to a steep canyon wall about halfway in. After the ladder, the path follows a ledge to the Notch, a gap in the wall with a sweeping view over the White River Valley. It is roughly 1.5 miles round trip and rated moderate, but the ladder and the exposed ledge make it a poor choice for anyone afraid of heights or for very young kids.
Door, Window, and Castle Trails
These three share the same parking area off the Loop Road and make a perfect first stop:
- Door Trail (0.75 mile round trip): a boardwalk passes through a natural break, the Door, into a moonscape of badlands you can explore on your own
- Window Trail (0.25 mile): a short, accessible path to a framed overlook of an eroded canyon
- Castle Trail (about 10 miles round trip): the park's longest marked trail, a mostly flat traverse along the base of the formations between the Door area and the Fossil Exhibit Trail
Saddle Pass and the Medicine Root Loop
For a longer prairie-and-badlands combination, link the Saddle Pass Trail, a short steep scramble up the wall, with the Medicine Root Loop, which rolls across open grassland where you have a real chance of seeing bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. The full loop runs about 4 miles. The clay here turns to slick, ankle-deep mud when wet, so save Saddle Pass for dry days.
Fossil Exhibit Trail
The Fossil Exhibit Trail is a quarter-mile accessible boardwalk with replicas and signs explaining the ancient seabed and the saber-toothed cats, three-toed horses, and rhino relatives that once lived here. It is a great primer before exploring the badlands on foot, and an easy stop for travelers of all abilities.
Off-Trail and the Sage Creek Wilderness
Because the park allows off-trail travel, experienced hikers can head into the remote Sage Creek Wilderness in the park's western unit, a roadless area of rolling prairie and badlands with free-roaming bison and reintroduced black-footed ferrets. There are no marked trails, so bring a map, a compass or GPS, and plenty of water, and never approach bison.
When to Hike the Badlands
Spring and fall are by far the best times. Summer afternoons routinely top 100 degrees on the shadeless formations, and the clay becomes dangerously slick after thunderstorms. Aim for May, June, September, or October, and hike in the early morning or evening when the low light turns the rock layers pink, gold, and lavender. Always carry water, watch for rattlesnakes on sunny ledges, and check the forecast, since flash flooding can fill the canyons fast.
