Top 8 Things to Do in Badlands National Park! (Vanlife/SUV Camping Adventures)

In this video I visit South Dakota's Badlands National Park for the first time and see the park's greatest sights!

DATE FILMED: September 2020

GPS COORDINATES, etc.
1. Door Trail: 43.763583, -101.926660
2. Notch Trail: 43.760074, -101.928196
3a. Cliff Shelf (Couldn't do it because of road construction): 43.750420, -101.931040
3b. Window Trail: 43.760221, -101.927965
4. Saddle Pass Trail: 43.758087, -101.974391
5. Panorama Point: 43.795517, -102.060725
6. Yellow Mounds Overlook: 43.843519, -102.194518
7. Pinnacles Overlook: 43.869206, -102.234685
8. Roberts Prairie Dog Town: 43.905210, -102.306998
Bonus: White River Valley Overlook: 43.789030, -102.033081

OTHER LINKS

#badlands #badlandsnationalpark #southdakota

[mkkrafts]

I love hiking with you! Thank you for not putting music in your videos because I love the sounds of wind and birds just as if I were really there.

[sonny]

I love using Dirt In My Shoes to plan my National Park trips! Glad you found her website.

[TheDenisedrake]

I like how you do longer more difficult hikes, but also will not ignore the short "touristy" hikes. People complain about crowds at touristy places, but those have fantastic views and are usually worth a look. Thank you!

[richardmcfadden]

Thank you so much. I am disabled so I now do my hiking by riding on your shoulders.

[phyllisbonner]

Always wanted to go to the badlands. Now went with you.

[jacquelynhill]

Thank you from those of us who have handicap issues. Love the ability to see Mother Nature through your “vision”!

[RuggedRunnerOverland]

Nice to see you finally visited Badlands National Park, it's easily in my top 10 National Parks that I've visited, maybe even top 5. I'm surprised you didn't stop at the fossil exhibit trail though. The notch trail was one of my favorite hikes in the park, but for me what made my visit special was backpacking into the Badlands wilderness area for a couple of nights. It was such an unforgettable experience to be out on the rolling prairie with amazing views of the Badlands wall to the north and east with the Black Hills faintly visible to the west, dark starry skies with colorful sunrises and sunsets. If you get the chance to visit again, i definitely recommend spending a night out in the wilderness...I started my overnight backpacking trip from the Sage Creek campground, where there were bison and prairie dogs all around, was even lucky enough to spot some big horn sheep during my visit to the park.

[Jaxumalta]

Omg that little prairie dog falling over at the end was sooo cute!

[richard_n]

Badlands is hands down my favorite park that I've been too. The desolate beauty is something you rarely see elsewhere. When you do some of the hikes, you feel like you could be on a different planet. I've been there 4 times and loved every visit.

[leedonehower]

What a difference 20 years makes! We were last in Badlands in 2000 and had one of the first digital cameras that held only 12 images on the card. Plenty of pull-over vistas, but no improved trails as you showed in your video. But it was great seeing it again with your excellent videography, especially the sound of the birds in the background and the soft roar of the prairie wind! I first visited Badlands in 1970 when it was just a National Monument.

[farmermark]

Love your channel, and the badlands for sure. Stopped there twice last August, going to and coming home from Yellowstone and the Tetons. Stayed at the NW end of the park several miles down Sage Creek Rd. at Sage Creek campground which is free on a first come, first serve basis. No water but good pit toilets and around 20 or so campsites set in a large oval shape with a prairie dog town in the middle and excellent stargazing at night. Very quiet campground after dark for sure. Woke up to prairie dogs right next to my picnic table, and there was a bison casually meandering through some of the sites. Very cool spot to camp in the badlands and the drive to it was fine on a fairly well maintained gravel road.

[Muhreea]

Super helpful! I’m visiting South Dakota tomorrow and hopefully I get to visit the badlands.

[MSSchub]

I visited the Badlands Park for the first time this year. The park is so vast and beautiful. Amazing sunrise and sunsets.

[larrydraper]

Enjoyable video. I was there in June 2019 for the first time and really enjoyed the landscape. Tip for the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail that was closed to you. At the start of the trail there is a path to the left and a path straight ahead. Most people take the straight path. I like the left path as it goes thru the trees first and is shaded. There are many stairs on the straight path that you have to climb but if you take the left trail you will go down those stairs on the return trip. Down is much easier than up for us old geezers.

[cia]

Amazing remnants of the worldwide flood! Thanks for this wonderful video!

[richardb.]

I blew through the Badlands in 2017 coming from seeing the total solar eclipse in Nebraska, and on my way to Yellowstone. Something that stood out for me was that the Yellow Mounds area pops with a rainbow of color during the golden hour at sunset. If I had it to do over, I'd easily spend an entire day there. Hope to visit again in the future.

[marthadiaz]

I LOVE THE FACT THAT THIS WAS IN 2020 AND THIS IS A 20:20 MINUTES LONG VID

[TheJBirch]

Great video, Tristan! Have been through the park a few times, but I can remember one great trip where I got to sit it the door of my tent at night and watch lightning in the distance. Unforgettable.

[kathryncurtis]

Thanks for all your technical info. It's very helpful for my Lupus damaged joints. This way I can plan properly and not guess and wear myself out likely ending in a hospital vacation.

[farrendavis]

Great video! we actually drove right by this National Park on our way to Mt Rushmore and Big Springs. the kids called this vacation to a family reunion in Northwestern Nebraska the "never ending journey" so we missed alot of sight seeing that i would have like to have done. we should have at least stopped at some of the overlooks. thanks again for the videos!