Sheep Mountain Table Road

Sheep Mountain Table is located in the Stronghold Unit that is in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of Badlands National Park. The area is prime for exploring. Once you get off Highway 27 for Sheep Mountain Table, you will travel about 4 miles on a well maintained gravel road, to an Overlook and turn around spot. From the overlook spot, you can continue on less traveled 2-track from the overloo...

There are no designated sites in this first come-first serve campground managed by NPS. There are pit toilets available for campers and covered picnic tables. A nearby creek makes for a nice walk. Buffalo roam on the other side of the creek and have been known to enter the middle of the campground from time to time. When we stayed here in July, a massive thunderstorm came through during the nig...

A labyrinth of gullies, hoodoos, and ravines, Badlands National Park in western South Dakota is a welcome break from the unrelenting flatness of the surrounding prairie. The remote park is also a paradise for backcountry hikers and campers who really want to escape the crowds and explore wilderness far from trails and roads. With a famously dark night sky perfect for stargazing, easy to see wil...

The Badlands defy description. The alien landscape, the unfamiliar silence, the insistence of wildlife, the brilliant night sky--these things inspire a profundity almost impossible to convey. Seeing the Badlands is a visceral experience, being in them is something else entirely.  Yes, you can get a good sense of the park, it's geography and animal denizens, by driving the scenic rim road. But i...

Saddle Pass Trail is an out-and-back trail that is moderately difficult located near Interior, South Dakota.

About 4 miles south of the Northeast Park Entrance, just past the Castle Trailhead, is the Cliff Shelf Nature Trailhead. It sits on the outside of the cliff formation facing open space just through Cedar Pass. There is a parking lot here typically filled with people soaking in the panoramic views. Park and head up the loop trail to step into Badland's past. The trail heads up stairs through bo...