Learn About the Park Badlands National Park U S. National Park Service

All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone (other fees, including timed entry or reservation fees, may apply). Depending on the type of entrance fee charged at a site, coversOne private vehicle feeorFour per person fees Covers entrance fees and standard amenity(day-use) fees at lands managed by Children under the age of 16don’t need an entrance pass. If you don’t qualify for a discounted America the Beautiful pass, werecommend choosing an entrance pass based on your trip plans.

Explore This Park

Learn more about the research that is conducted in the Badlands on the park’s Research Portal. Ever wonder how such a good place got named “Badlands?” Read here to find out who named the park and why they chose the name. The Badlands host an expanse mixed-grass prairie with plenty to explore. These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. An official website of the United States government

Annual Entrance – Park

Current conditions and alerts are posted as banners on the park website and can keep you updated on current closures, restrictions, or emergencies in the park. Pets are prohibited from hiking trails, public buildings (i.e. visitor centers), and backcountry areas, including the Badlands Wilderness Area, and areas with prairie dog colonies. Pets are only permitted in developed areas, such as campgrounds and picnic areas, and other areas open to motor vehicles, such as gravel and paved roadways, roadway corridors, and parking lots.

• Download the free NPS app for access to maps of every national park—that work both online and off!
• The Badlands host an expanse mixed-grass prairie with plenty to explore.
• Curious about the geologic formations of Badlands National Park?

How to Get an America the Beautiful Pass

Costs for vehicles with more than 15 passengers are listed below underOrganizations and Businesses. Seniors, military, visitors with a permanentdisability, and families with a 4th grader are eligible for a freeor discounted America the Beautiful pass. Download NPS brochure maps for this park and others! The Brule Formation, deposited million years ago, represents a cooler and drier time in geologic history. They start with the oldest layer at the bottom, then move upwards in space and time towards the youngest layer, which sits on top of the formations. The layers of the Badlands correspond with different moments in geologic time.

The buttes and spires of the park were formed through the geologic processes of deposition and erosion. Many of these activities can be done before coming to the park as a sneak-preview or after as a fun way to review what you saw and learned.Bringing a four-legged friend? Curious about the geologic formations of Badlands National Park? Official websites use .govA.gov website belongs to an official governmentorganization in the United States. It is insufficient to merely state or imply this on official letterhead.

Field Trip Requests and Academic Fee Waivers for Educational Groups

The Recreation Fee Authority (16 USC 6802 Sections 3 a and b) allows for fee waivers only for bona fide educational and/or scientific institutions that are using the park for educational purposes. Identify the pertinent park resources and/or facilities and detail how they are relevant to support the educational purpose of the visit (attach letter or describe). Describe and/or attach current official recognition or accreditation as an educational institution by a federal, state, or local government or other documentation attesting to educational status, such as an accreditation letter, educational tax-exempt letter. If you enter the park on a bicycle or on foot and are at least 16 yearsold, you need your own entrance pass. If you enter the park in a motorized vehicle, your entrance pass coversboth you and your passengers. Learn about a fewupcoming changesto entrance fees and passes for non-US residents andmotorcycles that begin on January 1, 2026.

America the Beautiful—the National Parks and Federal Recreational

The formations in our park contain sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, claystones, limestones, volcanic ash, and shale. There are also badlands formations found throughout the world in Canada, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, and Argentina. There are badlands formations all over country in places like Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska. You may have heard the term “badlands” used before, but not in reference to our park.

We recommend ordering at least three weeks in advance of your visit, or picking up a pass in person instead. Order receipts may not be used in place of a physical pass. Online orders are for physical passes, not digital passes, and may take up to three weeks to be processed and delivered. To receive your pass by mail, order online at theUSGS Online Store. Physical passes can be purchased or picked up at over 1,000 federal recreation sites. Passholders must showvalid photo identification (ID) with each pass.

For example, attach a course syllabus/description, course catalog, lesson plan, letter detailing the educational purpose, etc., and/or describe. Visitors 16 years of age or older (including students, chaperones, and teachers) must pay an entrance fee at this site. Nonresidents will pay the regular entrance fee and any applicable nonresident fees.

• Covers entrance fees and standard amenity(day-use) fees at lands managed by
• The occasional limestone lenses found in the park come from calcium-rich groundwater flowing through ancient lakes and precipitating out calcium carbonate, otherwise known as limestone.
• Children under the age of 16don’t need an entrance pass.
• Download NPS brochure maps for this park and others!
• Order receipts may not be used in place of a physical pass.

I hereby certify that the above detailed trip meets these requirements and therefore request that fees be waived. Would you like to request an academic fee waiver for your group? Academic institutions (including schools) may apply for an academic fee waiver to cover the cost of these visitors. A park representative will follow-up to confirm group details once this request has been received and reviewed. Beginning in 2026, free entrance on these days will be for US citizens and residents only.

There is only one layer of pure volcanic ash, called the Rockyford Ash, in the park. Volcanic ash found in the Badlands comes from eruptions in the Great Basin, a geologic province including states like Utah and Nevada. The occasional limestone lenses found in the park come from calcium-rich groundwater flowing through ancient lakes and precipitating out calcium carbonate, otherwise known as limestone. That’s because in addition to being a geographic term, describing Badlands National Park in South Dakota, this word is also a geologic term! Scientists estimate that in the next 500,000 years, the Badlands will have eroded completely – come visit the park while you can!

Pets must be kept on a leash no more than six feet in length at all times. If you’re bringing children with you, there is plenty of fun waiting for them in the park. Founded in 1959, Badlands Natural History Association is a not-for-profit organization established to support education and research efforts

Trips to Nearby Parks

The lowercase version of badlands is used to describe most terrains that look like the formations in our park. Deposition began about 75 million years ago with the formation of the Pierre Shale, the base of the geologic formations in the park. Download the NPS app to navigate the parks on the go. Share sensitive information only on official,secure websites. We are collecting this information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501) to provide park managers and educators the information needed to schedule and conduct education program activities.

If you already have an America the Beautiful—the NationalParks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, that’s the only entrancepass you need. Download the free NPS app for access to maps of every national park—that work both online and off! Consequently, there were also predators who made good use of the grazers, like nimravid, a cat-like animal with saber teeth.Above the Brule lies the Sharps Formation, the youngest geologic formation of the park at million years old.

The Badlands formations have a lifespan of approximately one million years. The mixed grass prairie is a transitional zone between the tall-grass prairie to the east and the short-grass prairie to the west. Located vegas casino in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires surrounded by a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. Sore feet from days of exploring? You can also use social media to get the latest information on park conditions — and have a little fun while you’re at it!