The best way to view Badlands National Park (sorry, Edward Abbey) is via the comfort of your very own vehicle. Obviously, you should pull over, get out, explore, meditate, pray, take in the sights, and enjoy the landscape or wildlife at every single opportunity that is provided. Allow quite a few hours for this journey, but truthfully, a whole day should be used.

Thankfully, there are a lot of opportunities to pull over and admire the beauty of Badlands National Park from the two sorta combined roads of Badlands Loop and Sage Creek Rim. I count at least 17 pull-offs, lookouts, and view points on the two roads from the Northeast Entrance to the town of Scenic at the Western edge of the northern half of the park. In my opinion, you should stop at every single one of them and take in the view.

From the East side to the West, you’ve got, just to name a few of the stops, pull-offs, trailheads, and lookouts: Big Badlands Overlook (my picture was taken there by a stranger, thank you stranger, as seen below), Window/Notch Trailhead, Cliff Shelf Nature Trail, Fossil Exhibit Trail, White River Valley Overlook, Bigfoot Pass Overlook, Panorama Point, Prairie Wind Overlook, Burns Basin Overlook, Homestead Overlook, Conata basin Overlook, Yellow Mounds Overlook, Conata picnic area, Ancient Hunters Overlook, Pinnacles Overlook, Hay Butte Overlook, Badlands Wildernesss Overlook, Roberts Prairie Dog Town, Sage Creek Basin Overlook, Sage Creek Campground, and others. Again, you should stop at every one of them, read the plaques, enjoy the view, and breathe in the ancient landscape.

You are VERY likely to see some wildlife such as Bison or Bighorn Sheep, especially at the much less travelled and dirt road section of the Sage Creek Rim Road, so be mindful! If you’re interested in hearing a historical podcast episode over the amazing Bison, give mine a listen! At the western edge, in Scenic, there is the cool Longhorn Saloon and the Tatanka Trading Post with its Bison mural.