Visiting Badlands National Park with Little Kids

Exploring Badlands National Park with my kids was at the absolute top of my list of things to do on our South Dakota road trip this summer.

All the pictures I had seen of the landscape were stunning - even otherworldly. It looked so different from the rest of the midwest that I was just itching to photograph it , hike it, explore it.

I’ve also really been enjoying learning more about the U.S. National Parks in recent years, and since this is one of the few within driving distance of our home in Wisconsin (if you can count 10 hours as “within driving distance), it was one of the top parks on my list.

Unfortunately, our visit was cut a little shorter than I wanted it to be due to a few factors:

We made it the last stop on our trip on the way home, which meant we had a 10 hour drive ahead of us, and
it was over 90 degrees on the day we visited, and our kids were exhausted, hot, and irritable.

I’ll admit that I was a little bummed about not giving the experience the full time it deserved, but I just decided in my mind that it just means we’ll have to come back again when the kids are a little older so we can try some of the more challenging hikes, see a sunrise or sunset, and really take our time.

We visited Badlands National Park with 4 young children ages 8, 5, 4, and 1 at the time of our visit, so I’ll share with you my top tips for experiencing the park with kids and the best things to do while you’re there.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

What to Know Before You Visit Badlands National Park

There is a $30 per vehicle fee for visiting the park. You can pay at the Northeast Entrance (which is near Ben Reifel Visitor Center), the Pinnacles Entrance (which is what we used coming from Rapid City), or the Interior Entrance from the south. Your pass is good for 7 days.
There are restrooms at the Visitor’s Center, but also at several of the trailheads and overlooks.
Cell reception was pretty patchy within the park. Grab a map at the Visitor’s Center and make sure you have your directions dowloaded to your phone ahead of time!
Bring sunscreen, hats, lots of water, lots of snacks that won’t melt in the sun (apple slices, non-chocolatey granola bars, trail mix, fruit pouches, crackers, etc) and/or a good cooler. There is little to no shade around the park, and it gets quite warm in summer.
How far is Badlands from Rapid City? It’s about an hour away, so if you’re planning to make Rapid City your home base, this is a great place to visit from there.
Bring binoculars for wildlife spotting!

Where to Stay on Your Visit to Badlands National Park

There are several options for lodging in and around the park:

Rent a cabin at Cedar Pass Lodge, the only lodging within the park itself.
There are 2 designated campgrounds inside the park: Cedar Pass Campgrounds and Sage Creek campgrounds. Cedar Pass has paid sites you can reserve ahead of time. Sage Creek is free, but it’s first-come first-serve, and does not permit trailers, motorhomes, or RVs longer than 18 ft. Read more about the Badlands National Park campgrounds here.
Backcountry camping is also permitted in the park as long as you are at least .5 miles from a trail or road and not visible.
Outside the park, there are a few options for hotels.
We stayed at an Airbnb in Rapid City and got up early to visit Badlands on the way back to our home in Wisconsin. As I mentioned above, I regret doing it this way because it limited our time in the park with a long drive hanging over our heads, AND it means we entered the park at Pinnacles. I would rather have entered the park at the Northeast Entrance so we could stop at the Visitor Center before starting our adventure. Wall Drug is also near Pinnacles, and we wanted to visit that after the park, so we had to backtrack quite a bit to get there before heading home. Not good planning on our part! Next time I think I would try to book a site at Cedar Pass, but that will definitely require better planning.

Planning Your Visit to Badlands with Little Kids

Stop at the Visitor Center for a Junior Ranger Booklet

Ben Reifel Visitor Center is located several miles south of exit 131 off of Interstate 90. Enter through the Northeast Entrance to get there.

This is where you can stop to talk to a park ranger, ask questions, pick up a Junior Ranger Booklet for your kids, and use the restrooms before embarking on your adventure.

This is also located in the Cedar Pass area where the Lodge and campgrounds are located.

Most of the trails we did with the kids are within a very short drive of the Visitor Center as well!

Take a Scenic Drive

One of our favorite activities during our time in Badlands NP was driving the Badlands Loop Road through the park. The two-lane highway winds through some of the most scenic places in the park, which is why there are 15 scenic overlooks along the way.

At first we got out at every single overlook to marvel and take photos, but after a while we decided to be a little more selective about how often we stopped.

Our favorite overlooks were Pinnacles and Conata Basin overlooks. I believe the Conata Basin overlook was where we saw a mountain goat mama feeding her baby and it was such an incredible experience!

Fossil Exhibit Trail

The Fossil Exhibit Trail is incredibly short and easy at .25 miles round trip, but you can stop and read about the different fossils found in the area at the exhibits along the boardwalk.

Badlands National Park has an open hike policy, which means you are allowed to go off trail and even climb on the rocks (at your own risk, of course). There are lots of cool rock formations around the Fossil Exhibit Trail, so after you do the short walk around the boardwalk, feel free to do some exploring!

This trail is a wheelchair and stroller accessible boardwalk path.

Note: nearby is the Castle Trail, so if you want a little more of a challenge at this point, you can wander over to that trailhead. That trail is 10 miles so I wouldn’t recommend it to young families unless you’re incredible hikers, but apparently it’s not too far of a walk to get to some beautiful spots.

Window Trail

So you can hardly call the Window Trail a trail, because it’s only a quarter-mile out and back walk. It shares a trailhead with both the Door Trail and the Notch Trail.

The boardwalk will take you to a gap, or a “window”, in the Badlands Wall which will give you an incredible view of the canyon below.

This is a perfect spot to walk with your kids for some photos!

Door Trail

kids hanging in badlands national park.jpg

After you walk back to the parking lot from the Window Trail, you’ll see a sign for the Door Trail trailhead. This one also starts on a boardwalk, but it takes you to a natural break in the Badlands Wall, the “door” to the other side.

As the boardwalk ends you have the option to descend a few stairs to continue the hike on a flat dirt trail through the canyon.

You can also let kids explore and climb the sandstone rock formations around them, which my kids really enjoyed. As I mentioned, it was super hot that day - around 95 degrees, so I had to basically bribe them to do this trail with me. They complained the entire time we were on the boardwalk, but as soon as we got down to the canyon, they left me in the dust play in the badlands!

This is also a great trail for families with young children!

Do Some Climbing

The cool thing about Badlands National Park is that it has an Open Hike policy, which means you are allowed to hike off-trail.

With little kids I probably wouldn’t go too far off the trail, but it is fun to let kids explore all the rock formations that are just off the beaten path near the marked trails.

Letting them climb some of the small rock formations is a chance for them to test their skill and balance and gain confidence. Just remember you’re doing this at your own risk and it’s important to keep an eye out for steep drop-offs.

Search for Wildlife

Within Badlands National Park you might spot bighorn sheep, bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn, birds of prey, and even rattlesnakes. Be sure to bring along some binoculars for the kids so they can search far and wide at the overlooks and on the hiking trails.

We spotted a herd of bison just outside the park near the Pinnacles Entrance, and a few bighorn sheep from the overlooks along the scenic drive.

There were prairie dogs everywhere along the side of the rode, too!

Thankfully we didn’t come across any rattlesnakes!

The Badlands National Park website says this about where to find wildlife:

Bison are best seen from Sage Creek Rim Road, which overlooks the Badlands Wilderness Area where they live. Bighorn Sheepare often seen on the rocky precipices of Pinnacles Overlook and in Cedar Pass areas like Castle Trail and Big Badlands Overlook. Prairie dog towns exist throughout the park and can be viewed from the road at Burns Basin Overlook, Roberts Prairie Dog Town, and Sage Creek Campground. Locations for other wildlife (such as deer, coyotes, or snakes) are variable, so keep your eyes peeled – they may be just around the corner!
- Badlands NPS website

Visit Wall Drug

Near the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park is the city of Wall, SD where you can stop at the famous Wall Drug.

Wall Drug bills itself as a tourist destination and an oasis for travelers. You can get free water, a 5 cent cup of coffee, any souvenir you could possibly imagine, food, candy, art, and more.

It’s a great place to stop after your visit to Badlands National Park to get a bite to eat and let the kids pick out a souvenir. And, of course, you have to let them take a picture on the giant jackalope!

Here’s my disclaimer, though: go in with low expectations. It’s SUPER crowded, and it’s basically just a giant building with a bunch of stores. You can make of it what you want - if you go in with a good attitude knowing it’s a kitschy tourist trap and all in good fun, you’ll have a blast!

If you go in expecting something epic and iconic…well, you may be disappointed.

I think it’s a fun way to mark your visit with an obligatory photo - even if it’s just to say you’ve done it!

Badlands National Park is great for visiting with little kids!

With plenty of short and easy trails, scenic drives, and wildlife sightings, this is the place to go if you like road trips and you’re itching to see a truly unique part of the country.

As a Midwesterner, I truly appreciate having this special place within a day’s drive. I mean it when I say I can’t wait to go back!