Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. Sixty-four thousand acres are designated official wilderness, and include the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America. The Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes the sites of 1890s Ghost Dances. Established as Badlands National Monument in 1939, the area was re-designated "National Park" in 1978. More than 11,000 years of human history pales next to the eons-old paleontological resources. Badlands National Park contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, 23 to 35 million years old. The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig are available for study in the Badlands formations.

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General Information

Visitation

There are approximately 1.3 million visitors per year; highest from mid-June through September; lowest from mid-November through March.

Location

Interior, South Dakota

Address

Badlands National Park
P. O. Box 6
Interior, South Dakota 57750

Telephone

(605) 433-5361

Operating Hours & Seasons

The park is open 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Entrance fees are collected year-round.

Directions

From Interstate 90, take exit 131 (Cactus Flat) or exit 110 (Wall). Follow signs to Badlands National Park.

Transportation

There is no public transportation to or in the park. Bus connections can be made in Wall, South Dakota (seven miles from exit 110, from I-90). The nearest airport is Rapid City, South Dakota, 80 miles west of the park.

Fees, Costs & Rates

$10 per vehicle for seven days; $5 per bicycle or motorcycle, plus $5 per passenger. Inquire for commercial vehicle rates.

Golden Eagle Passport

The Golden Eagle Passport is an entrance pass to any national park, monument, historical site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge that charges an entrance fee. It is a great convenience for those who plan on visiting several different areas that charge special fees. It is valid for one year from the purchase date. A Golden Eagle Passport may be purchased for $50 at any National Park Service entrance fee area or by mail. To order by mail, send check or money order (no cash, please) to:

National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Room 138
Washington, DC 20242
Attention: Golden Eagle Passport

Where entry is by private vehicle, the Golden Eagle Passport will admit the passholder as well as any passengers. Where entry by private vehicle is not possible, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Eagle Passport will not reduce use fees, such as those for camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or cave tours. It covers entrance fees only.

Golden Age Passport

The Golden Age Passport is a lifetime entrance pass for those United States residents 62 years or older. These may be purchased at any National Park Service entrance fee area for a one-time processing fee of $10. The Golden Age Passport cannot be purchased by mail or telephone. Proof of age and citizenship or permanent residence must be shown at the time of purchase.

The Golden Age Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. When entrance is not via private vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder as well as children, spouse, and parents.

The Golden Age Pass grants a 50% discount to the holder on any federal use fees charged for things such as camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or tours. It does not, however, reduce the price of special recreation permit fees or fees for concessions.

Golden Access Passport

The Golden Access Passport is a free entrance pass to any national park, monument, historic site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge for those who are blind or permanently disabled. The Golden Access passport may be obtained at any National Park Service entrance fee area. Proof of a medically determined disability and eligibility for receiving benefits under federal law is necessary at purchase.

The Golden Access Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. Where entrance is not by vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Access Passport also provides a 50% discount on any federal use fees charged for services and facilities. It does not cover special recreation permit fees or fees charged for concessions.

All passes described above are non-transferable.

Facilities & Opportunities

Visitor Center & Exhibits

Ben Reifel Visitor Center, located at Cedar Pass, has exhibits, sales area, film and park headquarters. White River Visitor Center, located in the Stronghold District, is open June through August.

Trails & Roads

The 30-mile Loop Drive is accessed from Interstate 90 and is a two-lane, paved surface. The 30-mile Sage Creek Road is gravel. Five trails, varying from .25 mile to 8 miles in length, explore park features.

Programs & Activities

Walks, talks and slide programs are offered from mid-June through Labor Day. Check park newspaper for schedule.

Lodging & Camping Facilities

Cedar Pass Lodge is open mid-April through mid-October. Cedar Pass Campground charges $10 per night with a 14-night limit during summer. The rate is $8 per night in winter.

Food & Supplies

Cedar Pass Lodge has a restaurant open mid-April through mid- October. Supplies are available on limited basis in Interior (3 miles from park).

Other Concessions & NPS-Managed Visitor Facilities and Opportunities

Badlands Natural History Association has educational material. There is one licensed horse packer. Contact the park for details.

Handicap Accessibility

Fossil Exhibit Trail is .25 mile and wheelchair accessible. An open-captioned version of "Buried Fossils, Living Prairie" is available. Accessibility guide to park free upon request.

Special Needs

Access to Stronghold Unit is limited due to private road access and road conditions.

Recommended Activities & Park Use

Explore Cliff Shelf Nature Trail (.5 mile) or Fossil Exhibit Trail (.25 mile). Take the 10-mile round trip drive to Roberts Prairie Dog Town (from Loop Road). The road is not paved.

Reservations & Permits

Reservations are required for group campsites and school group visits. Commercial filming permits are required.

Basic Visit Recommendations

A typical visit lasts three-to-five hours, and it includes the park movie and two walks.

Special Events & Programs

Check at the visitor center between June 15 and August 25 for a full program schedule. Reduced schedule offered August 26 through Labor Day.

Visitor Impacts

Check at visitor center for road conditions and weather forecast. No open campfires are allowed.

Adjacent Visitor Attractions

Black Hills National Forest, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Additional Information

Volunteer Opportunities: Contact the park volunteer coordinator for information on volunteering and internships. Call (605) 433-5240.

Artist in Residence Program: Write the A.I.R. coordinator.

Curricula-based program: In-park activities can be scheduled from October 1 through May 15. Contact education specialist at (605) 433-5242.

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History

For centuries people have viewed South Dakota's celebrated Badlands with a mix of dread and fascination. The Lakota knew the place as "mako sica." Early French trappers called the area "les mauvaises terres a traverser." Both mean "bad lands."

Conservation writer Freeman Tilden described the region as "peaks and valleys of delicately banded colors - colors that shift in the sunshine... and a thousand tints that color charts do not show. In the early morning and evening, when shadows are cast upon the infinite peaks or on a bright moonlit night when the whole region seems a part of another world, the Badlands will be an experience not easily forgotten." Paleontologist Thaddeus Culbertson has another reaction: "Fancy yourself on the hottest day in summer in the hottest spot of such a place without water - without an animal and scarce an insect astir - without a single flower to speak pleasant things to you and you will have some idea of the utter loneliness of the Bad Lands."

The peaks, gullies, buttes and wide prairies of the Badlands can be challenging to cross, yet they have long attracted the interest and praise of travelers. "I've been about the world a lot, and pretty much over our own country," wrote architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935, "but I was totally unprepared for that revelation called the Dakota Bad Lands....What I saw gave me an indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere - a distant architecture, ethereal, an endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it."

The Badlands are a place of extremes. In the summer, the climate is hot and with violent lightning storms and wildlife and wildflowers abound. The winter months are cold and snowy, with winds that come unhindered from the north. The emptiness of the plains is full of traces of ancient life. One may see eagles hunt, wings outstretched over grassland that seems to go on forever; or experience the quietness, the near absence of human noise.

All fossils, rocks, plants and animals must remain where you find them. There is a rich and varied plant community here, including the largest remaining mixed-grass prairie in North America. Wildlife includes coyotes, butterflies, turtles, vultures, snakes, bluebirds, bison and prairie dogs.

The Shaping of the Land & Life

In the Distant Past

Approximately 75 million years ago, the climate was warmer than it is now and a shallow sea covered much of the region we know as the Great Plains. Stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada and from western Iowa to western Wyoming, this sea teemed with life. In today's Badlands the bottom of that sea appears as a grayish-black sedimentary rock called the Pierre (pronounced "peer") shale. This layer is an incredibly rich source of fossils created when creatures died and sank to the bottom of the sea where they became fossilized. Within the park, the fossilized remains of a variety of animals have been found. Baculites, an extinct cephalopod, had a squid-like body with a long cylindrical shell tightly coiled at the one end. Inside the shell were individual chambers containing either gas or liquid for buoyancy control.

Outside the park, the Pierre shale has yielded abundant remains of ancient fish such as mosasaurs, giant marine lizards; pterosaurs, flying reptiles; and a diving bird similar to a modern loon. Why have the rocks inside the park, yielded so few marine creatures with backbones? Questions like these puzzle paleontologists and earth scientists who continue to search in hope of answering some of the questions about the park's rich past.

Land Emerges

As time passed, the push and shove of continental plates led to an active period of mountain-building in the ancestral Rocky Mountains. This caused the land under the inland sea to rise, and in turn, the sea retreated and drained away. In time, the area we know as the Badlands was exposed to air and sunshine, yet it looked nothing like the landscape that we are familiar with today.

The climate was humid and warm and rainfall was abundant. A subtropical forest developed and flourished for millions of years. Eventually, the climate grew cooler and drier and the forest gave way, first to savannah, and later to grasslands.

Today, after a heavy rainstorm in the Badlands, vivid red bands stand out against the buff tones of the buttes. Geologists and paleontologists say these are fossilized soils, which make up much of the Badlands rocks. Fossil soils can reveal a great deal about the climate history of the Badlands and also impart much of the colorful banding to Badlands rocks. Additionally, the loose, crumbling rocks formed from these ancient soils hold one of the greatest collections of fossil mammals on Earth.

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Reservation Information

Reservations are required for group campsites and school group visits. Commercial filming permits are required.

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