Badlands Camping, Interior, South Dakota, Vacation Sightseeing

Badlands Camping, Interior, South Dakota,
Vacation Sightseeing

The Badlands National Park In the southwest corner of South Dakota about 60
miles east of Rapid City and Mount Rushmore offers RV and tent camping at
two locations.
Cedar Pass Campground, on the eastern end of the loop road, is near the Ben
Reifel Visitor Center. Sage Creek Campgrounds is located deeper within the
park at the western end. Both campgrounds are within some stunning landscapes
and great views.
Cedar Pass campgrounds is located on the loop road with its frequent
pull-outs. The Loop Road traverses the eroded landscape of stratified layers of
variously colored deposits that spreads over a huge area of grasslands.
Enter from Route I-90, the east coast to west coast interstate highway at either the
east end or west end of the park. At the east entrance you find helicopter rides.

At the west end you find the town of Wall, an old western town worth a visit.
The east, west loop road covers just a small portion of the immense Badlands
National Park.

Cedar Pass Campground:

Badlands National Park offers Tent and RV
camping for $15 per night. at the park's Ceder Pass
Campground.
Cedar Pass has an RV Dump station with a fee of
$1.00 for those passing through.
($15 per vehicle entrance fee for park entrance)

The Cedar Pass campground has a Self-pay kiosk
that accepts credit cards or correct change for the first
come campsites. The sites are small, undeveloped
sites with no electric or shade. trees at the sites.
Water and bathroom facilities are located at a central
building within the campgrounds
Drive through the campground, pick an unoccupied
site, pay at the kiosk, and clip your receipt to the post.
(open year round)
Group sites are available with reservation.
Private campgrounds are nearby in the town of Interior.

From the parks overlooks and viewpoints you can see wild
animals grazing in the flat grassland below. Binoculars
help to see them as they keep their distance from the road
except in early morning or at dusk when they are more apt
to be on the move.
Lynx or bobcat work the roadsides for road kill and a large
Prairie dog town lies on both sides of the road at about the
midpoint of the loop road.

RV vacationers use the park as a convenient stopover
on the way west or east on route 90; the park's loop
road is an east/west road. Bikers on the way to the first
week in August rally at Sturgis ND make the park a
stop on the way. ( $10 entrance fee for Motorcycle)
( $7 for hiker or biker)

In the 1870s homesteads covered the land below the
overlooks. Most were abandoned and consolidated
into large farms or are now parkland. Just before
the east entrance to the park, a typical
homestead still stands as a museum and is a
worthwhile stop to learn about the history of the area.

The Badlands Loop Road opens up great views and has vista points, overlooks, and hiking trail heads
along its route.

The east west loop
road runs about 40
miles between the east
and west exits on I-90

Badlands National Park Camping
Camping is available at two locations in the park:

Cedar Pass Campgrounds

Cedar Pass Campgrounds is near the Eastern Park
entrance off Highway I-90

Sage Creek Campgrounds,

Sage Creek Campgrounds located near the west exit of
the park.

Private Campground

There is a private campground nine miles from the
Visitor Center,east entrance in the Town of Interior. (9
miles to KOA)

How to Reach the Badlands:

Air

The nearest large city is Rapid City South
Dakota. Air service reaches Rapid City from
hubs in Denver and Chicago.

Auto

Rental cars are available at the airport. From
Rapid City take scenic Route 44 east to Interior
and the National Park campground or take
Route route 90 east to Wall and find the Park
entrance and loop road.

Best Time To Visit Badlands South Dakota: May to
October   40 f at night 65 f days
The weather is perfect June, July, August but the mid day
temperature can reach over 100 f.    Cool in May and
September, Cold and winter snows October to April
Total snow 2 feet per year.   June is a wet month.   July
and August can have thunderstorms with hail.

Sage Creek Campground:

Sage Creek Campground has no water or
other amenities. It has pit toilets and dirt
road access but is open to RVs (difficult
road for large RV)
The stay limit is 14 days for both
campgrounds. Sage Creek has no fee
Wilderness camping (back country Camping)
is allowed in the park. Open fires are not.
Use of a stove is recommended.
Campers should set up at least 1/2 mile from
a road.
The vast Sage Creek wilderness area is
recommended by park officials for back
country camping. Campers should register
although the wilderness camping is without
fee.
Sage Creek primitive campground is 20
miles from the town of Wall.

Many wild animals inhabit the
park, common sights being
the prong horn antelope, the
mule deer, and in certain
sections of the park, the wild
buffalo. Buffalo were
reintroduced and now number
800 animals. The animal
pictured above is a captive
animal in a coral about a half
way between the cedar Pass
campground and the village of
Interior.

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Badlands Camping, Interior, South Dakota
offers Vacation Sightseeing in the Badlands.
Camping gives great access to Sightseeing on
the viewpoints above the Badlands National
Park's grasslands where animals graze.