Rapid City Badlands National Park Adventure

Standard Badlands
The serrated spires, weather-beaten buttes and cavernous gorges of the North Unit of the Badlands National Park offer unique scenery. It's home to a diverse variety of wildlife; prairie dogs, coyote, deer, bighorn sheep and antelope.

We will stop at the Ben Reifel Center (museum), the famous Wall Drug Store (famous old tourist trap that is worth the stop) and visit the new Minuteman National Historic Site. Remember "Duck and Cover."  

Meeting Point

Rapid City

Rapid City, SD, USA

Hotels and BnB's

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

1300 N Elk Vale Rd, Rapid City, SD 57703, USA

What's included:

• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Local guide
• National Park fees
• All taxes, fees and handling charges

What to expect:

Duration: 7 hours

Delta-09 Missile Silo

Interstate 90 Exit 116, Wall, 57790, South Dakota

Our first stop is the Delta-09 silo located in the Badlands.
“Minuteman-land is eerie. On the surface, no weapon is visible. But beneath the empty prairies and forested hills the gyroscopes are eternally spinning; these are the master navigators of jam-proof guidance systems, each ready to steer holocaustal destruction to a pre-selected target.”
~ John Hubbell, “The Missile That Closed The Gap,” Readers' Digest, October 1962.

20 minutes

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

24545 Cottonwood Rd, Philip, 57567-7002, South Dakota

Before entering the park, we visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Here are exhibits from the Cold War of the 50's and 60's. If you can remember those days, it will bring back the chilling 'duck and cover' drills that school children practiced.

30 minutes

Door Trail

South Dakota

The Door Trail is a popular trail that provides spectacular views of rugged badlands geology.
The park features many trails that are ADA accessible via boardwalks. The Door Trail is wheelchair-accessible ¼ mile boardwalk that leads through a break in the Badlands Wall known as “the Door” to a panoramic view of the Badlands. From here the maintained trail ends.

Open-Top-Tours offers handicap van tours here at no additional cost.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Ben Reifel Visitor Center

Cedar Pass Badlands Loop Road Hwy 240, South Dakota

Ben Reifel Visitor Center is the main North Unit facility of the park. You can stop and talk with rangers, explore the museum and check out the Fossil Preparation Lab exhibits. Also available is the Badlands Natural History Association bookstore.

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Fossil Exhibit Trail

South Dakota

The Fossil Exhibit Trail is a fully accessible boardwalk featuring fossil replicas and exhibits of extinct creatures that once lived in the area. The exhibits are tactile, so you are free to touch them.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Pinnacles Overlook

Vista Point, South Dakota

The Pinnacles is considered the best of the many overlooks. It has sweeping views and faces South, the view displays the expanse of the Sage Creek Wilderness area. On clear days, the Black Hills are visible on the horizon. Bison might be visible in the distance, in the valley below or the upper prairie to the northwest. This overlook is also a popular spot for Bighorn sheep. This is also a lambing area for Bighorn sheep in the spring, so it’s not unusual to see lambs frolicing on the rocky slopes of the Badlands.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Roberts Prairie Dog Town

Sage Creek Rim Road, South Dakota

The last stop in the Badlands National Park. This stop provides a perfect view of the largest prairie-dog town in the accessible areas of Badlands. Other than the mounds of dirt where the prairie dogs have made their homes, the first thing you will likely notice is the high-pitched squeaks and noises coming from the Prairie dogs. They have one of the most develop means of communication . . . especially when in danger.
*Prairie dogs are cute, but they can also carry the plague so keep your distance and view from afar!

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Wall Drug

510 Main Street, Wall, 57790-0401, South Dakota

The final stop will be at the Wall Drug Store, a unique tourist attraction that offers shopping for anything you may think of. Here you can get Free Ice Water and 5-cent coffee. Try the homemade ice-cream or grab some of the excellent doughnuts to go.

30 minutes