One our way from Sioux Falls to Rapid City today, we drove through Badlands National Park. We spent about 1 hour on the Badlands Loop Road, which is an awesome way to see the park. There are several places to along the route to park and take in the sights, either from overlooks or hiking.
We stopped at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, which was packed with people. On prior visits to the Badlands, we've enjoyed looking at the exhibits and displays there. Very close to the visitor center is Cedar Pass Lodge, which was much less busy so we had lunch there and shopped for souvenirs.
There have been a lot of rattlesnakes spotted in the park recently, but we didn't see any during our brief hikes. It was over 100 degrees during our visit, so we didn't spend a lot of time out of the car.
There are several places worth stopping along the loop road, but definitely don't miss the first and last overlooks, which are Pinnacles Overlook and Big Badlands Overlook.
