On our recent trip to South Dakota we waited until the last day full day (which also happened to be Mother’s Day) to do the things I was most excited about: the Notch, Door and Window Trails in Badlands National Park. These three trails are incredibly scenic, all are relatively to extremely easy and, most conveniently, all three trails are in the same parking area! These ended up being my three favorite things in the park and I thought it was perfect to share about the three of them in one convenient post.
Quick Info About Badlands National Park
Cost to Enter Badlands National Park: $30 for a private vehicle, $25 for a motorcycle and $15 for pedestrian. Entrance here is included in an America the Beautiful Annual National Park Pass!
Best Known For: The mazes of badland formations that give the park its name!
Where to Stay: The best location is within the park itself. The lodge is the closest place to stay to the most popular hikes. If you’re camping, I highly recommend the Badlands/White River KOA. It was 15 minutes from the Visitor Center and had some entertainment on site as well.
Nearest Town: Wall is definitely the nearest town. That said, it’s still a decent drive from the Badlands, but it’s the closest actual town with accommodation and food options. Plus, Wall Drug is there.
Be Aware of Wildlife: Badlands National Park is known for its wildlife. They’re amazing to observe, but remember that some can be dangerous: bison and big horn sheep are big and can be dangerous if they charge – give them their space. There are also rattlesnakes in park – there are lots of signs posted about this in areas that they’re known to be.
Do They Have a Junior Ranger Program? Yes! Their ranger book here was lovely and Charleigh got her Junior Ranger Badge here!
Notch Trail – Badlands National Park
Trail Length: 1.5 miles total, roundtrip – out and back trail
Trail Difficulty: Moderately easy, definitely the most difficult of the three.
Trail Need-to-Know: This trail includes a ladder that somewhat steeply goes up the edge of a cliff. It isn’t exceptionally difficult but could be tricky if you have difficulty with balance or are afraid of heights.
Is it Kid Friendly? My 4-year-old killed it with hand-holding on steep sections and close watch on the ladder. I think it’s dependent on the kid, though. CJ is a super capable hiker because we do it all the time. Liam was carried in a Deuter.
Which Trailhead? If you’re facing away from the cars in the parking lot, it’s the furthest trailhead to the right.
The Notch Trail stands at my current favorite in the park. It’s a beautiful trail in general, but the adventure of going up the ladder, especially with Charleigh, stole the show as a highlight. The trail starts off the boardwalk path and goes into a primitive path almost from the get-go. The badlands here are really chalky and gray in color, but there are also patches of brush within the canyon along the trial. Eventually, this takes you to the ladder which pretty steeply goes up the side of a cliff of the Badlands.
Going up the ladder was really not as intimidating as it can seem! At the beginning it sorta feels like inconvenient steps, but then definitely turns into a ladder. This was the highlight of the trail because it had that element of adventure, especially when you’re four years old! But this thirty-five-year-old loved it too!
After ascending the ladder, we walked along a decently narrow ledge up into the Badlands where you have to watch your step in a handful of spots. The trail continues on this ledge until you climb up into this little dip at the end of a cliff. Badlands are towering overhead and you’re able to look down over the Cliff Shelf Trail and beyond. It’s very beautiful and also quite windy up there – so hold on to your hats… literally!
To get back to the trailhead, you simply go back the way you came. The ladder was just as fun on the way down as it was going up. Just be sure to be patient going up and down the ladder. Take turns and remember that hikers going up typically have the right-of-way, but don’t just dominate the ladder if you see people have been waiting a while. Also, don’t rush people on the ladder. We did have someone pass Matt and come right up on CJ and me on the ladder. I asked him to wait because it jostled the ladder and made CJ nervous. So, just remember patience. We’re all out here to enjoy the outdoors. Pass when safe and when it doesn’t give others anxiety.
Door Trail – Badlands National Park
Trail Length: 0.75 miles total, roundtrip – out and back trail
Trail Difficulty: Easy. Boardwalk and then primitive trail, but even the primitive trail is easy.
Is it Kid Friendly? Yes. My 4-year-old loved this one as well. I let her run pretty free on this trail, but just kept a close eye on her and held her hand where there some drop-offs.
Which Trailhead? If you’re facing away from the cars in the parking lot, it’s the furthest trailhead to the left.
The Door Trail is a great trail that gives access into the Badlands but isn’t overly strenuous or even that long of a trail. The trail starts out as an easy boardwalk trail that takes you through the “door” to the Badlands beyond. At the end of the boardwalk there’s a bench where you can sit and take it all in, if you turn around after this point, it’s only a quarter of a mile round trip and is exceptionally easy.
However, I recommend taking the primitive trail beyond this I would still consider this an easy trail, but it does take some navigating but it isn’t difficult. There are yellow posts that are stuck in the ground out here and they’re numbered 1-12 so you know generally where you’re going, but the path from one post isn’t clearly defined. I love that about this trail. It feels a little more wild, but there’s still that sense of security in being able to look ahead and find those poles.
The end of the trail is clearly marked with a brown sign that says “End of Trail”. We did this trail near sunset, so the colors of the Badlands stood out a bit more. The hike back is the same general route, but it’s a bit of an adventure because the path isn’t defined. This was an especially fun trail for Charleigh because there were several stretches where I let her kinda run free.
Window Trail – Badlands National Park
Trail Length: 0.25 miles total, roundtrip – out and back trail
Trail Difficulty: Exceptionally easy boardwalk trail.
Is it Kid Friendly? 100% yes. Charleigh (4) did it without handholding and Liam (2) did this with some handholding.
Which Trailhead? This is the center trailhead.
The Window Trail is completely a boardwalk trail. So it’s accessible the whole way. It’s a very short trail too. As far as end points, I think that this was the most breath-taking. It’s just a really stunning overlook to take in, especially at sunset. The pinks and purples in the sky made the formations look brighter and gave more contrast. It was just really beautiful.
Gear I Would Recommend for Hiking in Badlands National Park
Footwear: There were absolutely certain trails that my Tevas were perfect and appropriate footwear in the Badlands – Window and Door being two of them. However, I have to say that my new Merrell hiking boots were perfect for the Notch Trail and would’ve been perfect for any trail. I’m obsessed with these hiking socks from Merrell too!
Daypack: I am such a huge fan of my Osprey Daylight. It’s super small and perfect for these shorter trails and being out and about solo.
What’s in My Daypack? Hydration is important on any hike, but the Badlands can be especially dangerous as temperatures rise and there’s very little shade here. So, I highly recommend these wide-mouth Nalgene bottles. They’re 32 oz, so they hold a decent amount, and multiple easily fit down in a backpack and/or in the side pockets of packs. I also keep snacks in there because no one wants to get hangry on a trail. I typically have beef jerky tender bites, peanut butter and honey crackers, peanut M&Ms, and skittles or dehydrated fruit strips.
Sun Protection: As I mentioned above, there’s very little shade here. I highly recommend a sunhat. I just got this super cute hat at REI – it comes in four fun colors and has this cute little band! Matt loves this Columbia Hat! Also, don’t forget sunscreen. I love these sticks because they make it easy to reapply without getting your hands messy, which is super nice if you’re in the middle of a hike. Also, sunglasses are important for eye protection from the sum. I am still rocking Ray-Ban Clubmasters and I still like them a lot.
My New Tech-y Obsession: Until recently, I had been an Apple watch girlie, but since starting to be more and more physically active, I found more and more grievances with Apple Watches. For Mother’s Day, I got a Garmin Instinct 3 AMO LED and guys, I am obsessed! I will never not own a Garmin Watch. The insights are amazing, the battery life is unreal and I love the leveling up! Plus, it has the smart watch capabilities I want as well.
What We Use to Carry Our Toddler: Liam is still young enough that we carry him on a lot, probably most, hikes. We use a Deuter Kid Comfort for this. Both kids have been carried in Kid Comforts and we believe that they’re so worth the investment that one year they overlapped and we bought an additional one because they’re just that good! We also throw pouches and yogurt pouches in the Deuter for the kids to snack on in addition to the snacks in my daypack!
These hikes are all so beautiful and so unique. I love that none of them are very long, so you can do all of them back to back all from one parking area. It’s such a stunning part of Badlands National Park. These trails should absolutely be on anyone’s Badlands National Park itinerary!
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