Badlands National Park

The Badlands in South Dakota were designated a national park on Nov 10, 1978. The Park encompasses some 240,000 acres of eroded buttes and pinacles as well as the largest mixed-grass prairie in the U.S. The Badlands also contains one of the world’s richest mammalian fossil beds. Extinct rhino, horse, and saber-toothed cat are found there. I got to Badlands National Park in June 1991 and again in Sept 2019.

Entrance Sign 1991

Entrance Sign 2019

Badlands National Park 2019

Cedar Pass Area

The Cedar Pass area is located at the east end of the park and includes most of the park facilities. The Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Cedar Pass Campground, and Cedar Pass Lodge are located here. The Northeast and Interior park entrances access the Cedar Pass area.

Cedar Pass Lodge

Cedar Pass Lodge lobby

Gift shop

Ben Reifel Visitor Center

Museum display

"George Jetson" picnic shelters
near visitor center

Cedar Pass Campground

Steph and my Northface VE 24
Cedar Pass Campground (1991)

Steph in campsite 22
Cedar Pass Campground (2019)

Hiking Trails in the Cedar Pass Area

There are several trails in the Cedar Pass Area varying in length from a quarter mile to ten miles and in difficulty from easy to strenuous. The trails described below are short and easy.

Door Trail

The Door Trail is an easy one mile out and back trail. For the first quarter mile a boardwalk leads through an opening in the Badlands Wall ("the Door") to a viewing platform just on the other side. From this point the hike continues into the badlands on a primitive trail guided by trail markers and cairns.

Boardwalk and viewing platform

On the trail

View from Door Trail (1991)

Terrain along Door Trail (2019)

Window Trail

The Window Trail is a quarter mile out and back and easy. This trail leads to a break in the Badlands Wall ("the Window") that offers a view of a badlands canyon containing many eroded formations.

Window Trail view (1991)

Canyon view from the Window (2019)

Window Trail view (2019)

Notch Trail

The notch trail is 1.5 miles out and back and is rated as moderate. The trail leads through a canyon and then up a ladder and along a ledge the "the notch" with expansive views of the White River Valley to the south.

View of Notch Trail (1991)

View South from the "notch" in Notch Trail

View of Cliff Shelf area and the park road (1991)

Cliff Shelf Nature Trail

This trail is a one-half mile round trip loop rated as moderate. It gains about 200 ft in elevation. The trail follows boardwalks and stairs through a juniper forest.

View south toward Pine Ridge Reservation (1991)

View from Cliff Shelf Nature Trail (1991)

Cliff Shelf Nature Trail (2019)

Fossil Exhibit Trail

Many of the bands of sedimentary rocks that form the Badlands today were laid down in the Oligocene epoch that lasted from 35 to 23 million years ago. Primitive mammals predominated during this period, and the Badlands is one of the richest sources of mammal fossils in the world. The Fossil Exhibit Trail is an easy, hadicapped accessible quarter mile round trip trail with many exhibits of Badlands fossils along the way

Fossil Exhibit Trail boardwalk

Cast of a Nimravid skull, a mammal very much like,
but not related to a true saber-tooth cat.

Cast of Hesperocyon,
an early member of the dog family

Cast of leg bone and jaw from
Mesohippus, a primitive 3-toed horse

Jaw of a Titanothere, a large herbivore
resembling a rhinoceros, but not related.

Display of fauna in various rock formations

Badlands Loop Road

Badlands Loop Road is located along SD Highway 240 accessed from Interstate 90 to the north, or SD Highways 44 and 377 to the south. The road follows the contours of the Badlands Escarpment for 32 miles, and there are 14 overlooks along the way providing spectacular views of the Badlands. The drive takes one to two hours, depending on how much time is spent at the overlooks. Take snacks, drinks, and cameras. Eight of the overlooks are presented below.

Pinnacles Overlook