Badlands National Park: Weekend Road Trip!

April 12, 2021

Badlands National Park: Weekend Road Trip!

It started when Mary (one of my roommates) looked at us and said, "Hey, whatcha doing this weekend?" Next thing, three of us are on a seven-hour drive to South Dakota.

We found a cheap hotel ($54 a person total) in Kadoka, SD. This was about a half-hour drive from the park. We spent two nights there having left on a Friday evening and stayed until Sunday morning.

This was a very Covid and budget-friendly trip. The Badlands National Park did not require any reservations (unlike Rocky Mountain National Park) and we packed all our food to save money. The structures are amazing and the park truly transforms throughout the day.

Here's what we did on our trip!

Day 1:

Drove from St. Paul, MN to Kadoka, SD
We arrived at about 2:00 am

Day 2:

The Door Trail in the morning
Drove through the park, stopping at every lookout
Drove down Sage Creek Road to find all of the wildlife! This did not disappoint
Stopped at Conata picnic area for lunch (sandwiches, veggies, fruit, protein bars, etc.)
Saddle Pass Trail in the afternoon
Drove around slowly through the park listening to good music with good company
Drove down Big Foot Road to find hundreds of prairie dogs
Pinnacles Overlook to watch the sunset

Day 3:

Woke up to drink coffee and watch the sunrise in the park at the Big Badlands Overlook
Headed back home to St. Paul, MN!

Tips (built by all of us on the trip):

Having gone in March, the weather was either going to be warm or cold depending upon if we still were on the tail end of winter or jumping into spring. It ended up being pleasant with one exception: THE WIND! Day 2 had a wind advisory that left it SO hard to hike or even just go for short walks. Even so, we still found a lot of wonderful things to do! We debated leaving the park to come back in the evening for sunset, but even just driving through the park was well worth the stay.
Dress in layers, even if the forecast is warm, the wind can be chilly and hats and gloves would have been lovely.
The park is all direct sun, definitely bring more than enough sunscreen.
You can plan out your days, but because of how mapped the park is and contained in a loop, it was much easier to stop along the way and make a plan as we went.
Bring jugs of water!!!
The gas stations along the way are...interesting. Some "low prices" are cash only.
It was a lot more driving and less hiking than we expected.
Go beyond just the outlook areas. Many areas are designated for just climbing around, do it! There are many rocks to explore, little cacti to find, and fun areas to slide down.
The weekend was the perfect amount of time to be there. Wall drug is the nearest attraction besides driving beyond the park to the city, and then Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. If you're making a week-long trip to the whole area, only allot 1-2 days in the park to make more time for all the other things to see!