About 38 million years ago, the Badlands Wilderness was a marshy jungle teeming with saber-toothed cats, small camels, giant turtles, and other long-extinct creatures. Their bones were buried in mud washed down from the Black Hills and beneath layers of gray and white volcanic ash. Over time, the jungle transformed into grassland, and eons of wind, rain, and frost sculpted the landscape into a moonscape of cliffs, gorges, mesas, soaring spires, sharp ridges, and fossil-rich canyons. To the Dakota Natives, this area was known as Mako Sica, meaning "bad lands to travel through." Before the park was established in 1939, early pioneers hurriedly filled their wagons with fossils as they migrated westward.

With an erosion rate of one inch per year, the Badlands are constantly changing due to the elements. This area represents the largest mixed-grass prairie wildland in the United States, home to deer, rattlesnakes, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and a large herd of buffalo. Backpacking opportunities abound, offering unrestricted camping in this little-used wilderness, where no established trails exist.

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Badlands Wilderness.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.

Location

Badlands National Park is located in southwestern South Dakota and can be easily accessed by car. Plane or bus service is available to Rapid City, South Dakota, located approximately 80 miles west of the park.

By Car
Interstate 90 (I-90) is located directly north of the park and provides access to the Badlands Loop Road. For those traveling west on I-90, take Exit 131 (Interior) and follow the signs directing vehicles south approximately three miles to the Northeast Entrance gate. For those traveling east on I-90, take Exit 110 at Wall, South Dakota. Follow signs directing vehicles south approximately seven miles to the Pinnacles Entrance of the park.

State Highway 44 provides an alternate, scenic access to the park and intersects Highway 377 in the town of Interior. Follow 377 two miles north to the Interior Entrance gate.

By Plane
Daily flights are available to the Rapid City Regional Airport and car rental services are available onsite. The airport is located approximately one hour west of the park, off of Highway 44.

By Bus
Greyhound Lines, Inc. has limited bus service to Rapid City. Car rental companies are available in Rapid City with delivery and pickup services.

Some bus tours are available through tour companies in Rapid City and the surrounding area.

By Public Transportation
No public transportation is available to the park.

Getting Around
A typical visit lasts three to five hours and includes the park movie, stops at four overlooks, and two walks. The Badlands Loop Road, accessed from Interstate 90, is a two-lane, paved surface. The Sage Creek Rim Road is gravel and may be impassable after heavy rains or snows. Five trails, varying from 1/4-mile to eight miles in length, explore park features. The remainder of the park is open to exploration using a topographic map and a compass.

Maps

Digital and paper maps are critical tools for wilderness visitors. Online maps can help you plan and prepare for your visit ahead of time. You can also carry digital maps with you on your GPS unit or other handheld GPS device. Having a paper map with you in the backcountry, as well as solid orienteering skills, however, ensures that you can still route-find in the event that your electronic device fails.

Online Maps

Interactive Map of the Badlands Wilderness
Google Earth

South Dakota Wildernesses

Printed Maps

Fetching MyTopo from Database

USGS Store

Rules & Regulations

Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is generally prohibited in all wilderness areas. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.

Wilderness-Specific Regulations

Learn more about why regulations may be necessary in wilderness.

Contacts

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 94-567

Date: October 20, 1976
Acreage: 64,250 acres

(No official title, designates National Park Service wildernesses) - Public Law 94-567 (10/20/1976) To designate certain lands within units of the National Park System as wilderness; to revise the boundaries of certain of these units; and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected Wilderness areas) visit our law library for 94-567 or special provisions for 94-567 or legislative history for 94-567.

Want to Volunteer for Wilderness?

People who volunteer their time to steward our wilderness areas are an essential part of wilderness management. Contact the following groups to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Groups are listed alphabetically by the state(s) in which the wilderness is located.

Badlands Wilderness

Viewing out over the badland landscape, pale grassland broken by protruding rock formations and low clouds.

Introduction

The United States Congress designated the Badlands Wilderness (map of the Badlands Wilderness) in 1976 and it now has a total of See Badlands Wilderness breakdown of 64,144 acres.

XClose

Wilderness Acreage Breakdown for the Badlands Wilderness

Administrative Unit

National Park Service

Midwest Region

Badlands National Park, South Dakota (64,144 Official acres).

Acreage Types

Legislated Acreage

Acreage shown is taken directly from wilderness legislation. This value is the initial acreage estimate that is usually determined in the mark-up committee and staff that write the legislative text and create the wilderness boundary legal descriptions. In the past, these totals were estimated by using graphic tools such as dot grids or by adding Public Land Survey sections and fractional sections to estimate the initial acreage. This is a valid acreage estimate pending final boundary adjustment. Boundary adjustments involve land exchanges and inholdings that are resolved before the final Map of Record is filed.

Typical wilderness legislation wording regarding mapping: As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the appropriate Secretary shall file a map and a boundary description of each area designated as wilderness by this Act with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives. Each map and description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that the appropriate Secretary is authorized to correct clerical and typographical errors in such boundary descriptions and maps.

Official Acreage

Responsibility for reporting wilderness acreage by each agency resides in the Lands or Realty divisions. This is often in the form of an annual lands report. The administering agency determines acreage by verifying changes that result from realignment of boundaries. Inholdings may or may not be excluded from acreage estimates (Forest Service acreage figures do not include inholdings). Once final boundary adjustments have been made and the final Map of Record has been filed, accurate computation of wilderness acreage is possible through Geographic Information System (GIS) procedures.

All of this Wilderness is located in South Dakota and is managed by the National Park Service.