Hike the Notch Trail in Badlands, South Dakota
Badlands National Park is located in South Dakota and offers a unique terrain and beautiful landscape of cannons and buttes. The park’s 244,000 acres consists of some of the world’s richest fossil beds, containing ancient horses and rhinos that once roamed there. You’ll spy bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and bison wandering the lands, in addition to unique habitats like the cliff swallow bird and their distinctive nest.
Bandlands National Park was established as a national monument in order to protect the abundance of fossils within the land’s natural stone structures. While visitors and fossil hunters still loot the park of its fossils today, it is forbidden by the National Park Service. Instead, use your treasure-hunting skills to find one of the most endangered mammals in the world – the black-foot ferret. Only about 300 black-foot ferrets exist today and Badlands National Park is one of the few places it calls home.
For eleven thousand years, American Indians used the Badlands as their hunting grounds. You can walk in their shoes as you venture out and explore the hills and dirt-trail terrain. If staying the night, you can find lodging and campgrounds for your overnight stay.
We hiked the Notch Trail because of the allure of the ladder — and because it was one of the easier trails and we had to test out our kids’ interest. As it turns out, they handled the trail better than some adults and proved ready to take on the world. The Notch Trail was relatively easy. Its spacious dirt pathways allow for plenty of exploring and venturing off any multiple directions. Once you arrive at the ladder you can proceed up to the top. Depending on how busy it is, people could be coming down, so you’ll have to wait to climb. In some cases (like in ours), some of the people coming down could be conquering their fear of heights and may take any little longer than expected. But kudos to them for getting out of their comfort zone.
Once you reach the top, the trail follows a narrow ledge with steep dropoffs. Follow the trail to the Notch where hikers are treated to panoramic views of the White River Valley. The hike is 1.5 miles round trip and presents a nice kickoff hike to your Badlands adventures.
Cost of Adventure
- Per vehicle: $30 (for 7 days)
- Difficulty: EASY
- Total distance: 2.3 miles
- Calories burned: 250-400 calories
- Time suggested: 1-2 hours
- Family friendly: YES
- Park size: 244,000 acres
Challenge Yourself
Conquer the Ladder
About two-thirds of a mile into your hike you’ll encounter the wooden ladder. Although slightly intimidating in appearance, the ladder is quite secure and easy to scale. Challenge yourself to conquer the ladder and be rewarded with beautiful views of Badlands National Park.
Find Great Photo Ops
Photo ops begin the moment you enter the park. For us, we stumbled upon two bighorn sheep soaking up some sun in a patch of grass almost immediately. At Badlands National Park, every hike provides golden moments to snap some of the best photos that you’ll ever take — making anyone not on your trip super envious.
