Exploring the Badlands of South Dakota

Rebecca Jones
10.14.21

As far as national parks go, the Badlands in South Dakota aren’t really on many people’s wish list of places to see. But honestly, they should be. Exploring these rocks and grasslands was one of the highlights of my family’s recent vacation to the Mount Rushmore state.

Located an hour east of Rapid City, the North Unit of the Badlands is accessible from two points along Interstate 90. I suggest entering at Wall, SD and taking the Loop Road east from there, especially if you have kids. After driving the entire route, the Pinnacles Overlook near Wall was the scenic highlight of the road. Seeing this first ensures you will be able to spend time taking in the majesty and beauty without anyone asking why you’re getting out of the car again to look at some rocks. As a mom, trust me on this one.

At the entrance and sign to the park, you will see a large expanse of grassland to the west of the road. This area is home to a large colony of prairie dogs, which will delight any member of your family. We could have spent several minutes just watching them, and we took so many photos. Little did we know, we’d get to have a close encounter with the prairie dogs later in the day. More on that to come…

The Pinnacles are gorgeous and stretch to the horizon. Their striped appearance is due to millions of years of sediment deposits, from streams, volcanic ash, and gravel and rocks from the nearby Black Hills. The erosion process allows us to see all the layers of different rock types and gives the formations their unique look. This is a great overlook area, but due to the steep dropoff, there aren’t really a lot of places to get out and explore at this stop.

Driving along, you’ll come to the Yellow Mounds Overlook. This was probably my favorite area, due to the different colors. The yellow hue is created from the remains of the sea floor after the water dried up millions of years ago. Coupled with the rich greens and yellows from the grassland areas, this is one of the prettiest areas of the drive.

My family really enjoyed getting out of the car and exploring at several of the stops along the way. I was impressed with how easy it was to walk out to the overlook areas, what with the wooden walkways at each stop. We especially had a good time at the Fossil Exhibit Trail. There was quite a bit of raised walkway for those who didn’t want to go too far off trail, but we were also able to easily get off the trail and explore, climb, and crawl all over the rocks and formations.

There are several more challenging trails in the Badlands, including the Castle Trails, the Saddle Pass Trail, and the Medicine Root Trail. They are in basically the same area of the park, toward the eastern end of the loop. Each is a moderate or difficult trail, and the Castle and Saddle Pass Trails are each one way. This means you would need a car at each end of the trail, as there are no shuttles to take you back and forth.

Upon leaving the Badlands National Park, we came across the Prairie Homestead and Ranch Store. The large prairie dog statue caught our eyes first, but then we saw people out of their cars, feeding the prairie dogs by hand. Of course we had to turn around and see what it was about. For about $1 per bag, you can get up close and feed the prairie dogs! Due to an allergy, my kids chose the soybeans over the peanuts that the dogs really prefer, but it was fun to watch them have prairie dogs come right up to them and practically eat from their hands!

I’d love to tell you more about my vacation to the Black Hills area of South Dakota, or help you plan your own adventure. I can be reached at (325) 733-8399 or via email at rebecca@wishesfamilytravel.com. I hope to hear from you soon!