About one-tenth of the Badlands - the most amazing parts - were declared a national park (open year-round) in the 1970s. Its two most accessible entrances are off I-90 at exits 131 (northeast entrance) and 109-110 (at the town of Wall), and connected by the forty-mile paved loop of Hwy-240, peppered with scenic overlooks. Visitors can backpack or climb just about anywhere; among the best of the marked hiking trails are the Door Trail, a half-hour loop that enters the eerie wasteland through a natural "doorway" in the rock pinnacles ten miles south of the northeast entrance, and the even shorter Fossil Exhibit Trail, ten miles further on. The Badlands' rainbow colors are most vibrant at dawn, dusk and just after rainfall.

Adjoining the Ben Reifel visitor center (June-Aug daily 7am-8pm; rest of year daily 8am-5pm; $10 per vehicle for seven days; tel 605/433-5361), five miles from the northeast entrance, is the only in-park accommodation option. Cedar Pass Lodge , which has its own restaurant (mid-March to Oct; tel 605/433-5460; cabins $50-75, cottages $75-100), is operated by the Oglala Sioux, who use it as a base for assorted tours into the Pine Ridge Reservation, and offer all-inclusive lodging-and-tour packages. Another visitor center - White River (June-Aug only, daily 10am-4pm) - stands on Hwy-27 in the less visited and less spectacular southern end of the park. A handful of seasonal campgrounds operate both in the park and in Wall. Short scenic helicopter rides leave from outside the northeast entrance (from $15; tel 605/433-5322).

Badlands National Park

• Badlands National Park

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