Directions to Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park is located in South Dakota, around 75 miles to the east of Rapid City. The red dot on the map will give you a general idea, but it isn’t really much use if you want to know how to actually get there. Okay, this is what to do.

Badlands National Park Address List

As with many of the National Parks (and a lot of other places) there’s more than one entrance to Badlands National Park. Here are the entrance points with their addresses, just for starters.

Badlands National Park HQ – 25216 Ben Reifel Road, Interior, SD 57750
Badlands National Park Pinnacles Entrance – (I-90, Exit 110) 24240 Hwy 240, Wall, SD 57790
Badlands National Park Northeast Entrance – (I-90, Exit 131) 21020 SD Hwy 240, Interior, SD 57750
Badlands National Park Interior Entrance – 20640 SD Hwy 377, Interior, SD 57750

Driving to Badlands National Park

Travelling to Badlands National Park by car is pretty easy, basically you’ve gotta’ head for Interstate 90 which is directly north of the park, providing access to Highway 240 – the Badlands Loop Road.

Travelling west on I-90 – take Exit 131 then follow the signs south for around three miles which will take you to the Northeast entrance of Badlands National Park.
Travelling east on I-90 – take Exit 110 at Wall, then follow the signs south for around seven miles which will take you to the Pinnacles entrance of Badlands National Park.
There is another way (isn’t there always) – if you’d prefer to take the “scenic route” to Badlands National Park, drive along State Highway 44 to where it intersects with Hwy 377 in Interior, then follow Hwy 377 for a couple of miles north until you reach the Interior entrance to Badlands National Park.

Well, that route looks pretty scenic to me.

Flying to Badlands National Park

If you live that little too far away to contemplate driving to Badlands National Park but still want to visit, no problem, you can fly to the Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) which is only around 70 miles away to the west, then hire a car at the airport for the hours drive to actually reach the park.

Travelling by Bus to Badlands National Park

There’s also a limited bus service from Rapid City provided by Greyhound Lines, Inc. There are a few other bus tours which are also available from Rapid City, although public transportation is not available directly to Badlands National Park.

Getting Around at Badlands National Park

Okay, so now that you’ve arrived at Badlands National Park, what do you need to know about getting around? The roads, trails and routes, so to speak.

The Badlands Loop Road, or Hwy 240 is accessed via I-90. This is a two lane, paved road running through the North unit of Badlands National Park.
The Sage Creek Rim Road (590) travels along the north rim of the wilderness area. This gravel road is sometimes closed due to snow or heavy rain – you have been warned.
The Sheep Mountain Table Road is on the Pennington County Road 589, around four miles to the South of Scenic, SD. This road is strictly only suitable for vehicles with high clearance, and even then is only passable when it’s dry, it’s completely impassable if it’s wet or covered in snow.

Jeez, what a view!