How to See Badlands National Park in One Day

Badlands National Park is one of the most underrated national parks in the United States. The terrain is so unique to anything we’ve ever seen before, it doesn’t even feel like you’re in America! The Badlands — which are located in southwestern South Dakota — were named by the Indigenous Lakota Tribe, who were the first to call it “mako sica” which literally translates to “land bad”. The Lakota called it that because of the lack of water, dry land, and no sign of civilization. Badlands National Park is completely desolate and feels like you’re exploring another planet. You can definitely explore the whole park in one day, and we will tell you everything you need to know and what spots you cannot miss!

Where to Stay to Visit The Badlands

There are a few options of where you can stay to visit Badlands National Park. You can stay in the biggest city nearby which is Rapid City, South Dakota. That’s what we did! It’s about an hour from The Badlands but the drive was super easy. You can read more about Rapid City and what we thought about it on our Rapid City blog post.

The other option is to stay closer to the park in the city of Wall, South Dakota. Wall is small, but it’s the closest city to the park and is known for being a layover point. Wall is famous for the road side attraction Wall Drug, which you will see signs for pretty much every 5 miles or so while driving through South Dakota. In our opinion? If you’re trying to see the park in one day then Rapid City is a better place to stay. It’s bigger, there are more accommodations, more restaurants, and more things to do/see.

How Much Does it Cost to Enter?

I believe the one day fee is around $30, but you plan on seeing any other National Parks within the year you are better off getting the Interagency Annual Pass for $80. It allows you into hundreds of National Parks across the Unites States for one year. We got that since we were also planning on visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton on this trip. You can purchase this pass at the gate of any park or go online and get it mailed to you before you leave on your trip. Trust us, the Interagency Pass is 100% worth it.

Badlands National Park One Day Itinerary

You’re going to want to drive the Badlands loop to see all of the overlooks. Some are not really worth stopping at so we listed our favorites for you below.

Big Badlands Overlook: This is one of the first overlooks you see when you enter the park, and in our opinion, it’s the most stunning. You can see how massive the park is from here and catch a great glimpse of the unique pinnacle landforms.
Panorama Point: At this overlook you can see down into the valley, and it offers a different perspective of the park than the one at Big Badlands.
Pinnacles Overlook: This is one of the overlooks where it looks like the park goes on for miles. If you happen to come around sunset, this is a great spot to watch the sun go down.
Big Foot Pass Overlook: This is one of the overlooks on the ground level so you can walk around and explore by foot, looking up at the gorgeous land masses. Beware of this area though because there could be rattlesnakes!
Badlands Wilderness Overlook: This is one of the overlooks where you might see some wildlife! We unfortunately didn’t see any here, but it’s possible to see Bison & a few other creatures. We actually saw Bison when we were entering the park so be sure to keep an eye out when you’re coming in.

Honestly, any overlook in Badlands National Park is amazing, these were just our favorite and ones we thought we worth stopping for. We also pulled over at some other pull off points in the park to get a different perspective for photos! We absolutely loved Badlands and it was one of our favorite national parks we’ve ever been to. If you want to see The Badlands from our POV make sure you watch our Badlands YouTube video where you show you everything you need to know!