Perfect Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore drive with an all-American road trip stop along the way 🌞 South Dakota travel blog

Hi there!

So you want to drive from Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore!

These are 2 of the most visited national park sites in South Dakota.

How long is the drive from Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore?

Driving directly, it might take around 1.5 hours of driving time from Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore.

Although this will depend on where in Badlands National Park you are coming from.

Explore the map.

So being a 1.5 hour drive, this means that you can drive from Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore in one day no problem.

You can visit Badlands National Park for a few hours, and then you can drive to Mount Rushmore for a visit of 1-2 hours there (or even just drive through Mount Rushmore National Memorial if you are fine with seeing the president faces from the road only).

And then you can make a short detour to an iconic all-American road trip stop along the way!

More for your national park road trip beyond Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore

If you’re interested in Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore, you may also be interested in these top things:

• Yellowstone National Park
• Custer State Park
• Wind Cave National Park
• Theodore Roosevelt National Park (more Badlands!)

More below about making the drive from Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore!

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Here is what your day can look like when driving from Badlands National Park to Wall Drug to Mount Rushmore!

Explore the map.

1. Badlands National Park

The main road through Badlands National Park is the Badlands Loop Road.

All you have to do is drive this road and you will get scenic views!

You may be quite happy with your South Dakota badlands experience just by driving through Badlands National Park.

You will also find many overlooks to stop off at along the way.

There are also popular short hikes in Badlands National Park that conveniently start along Badlands Loop Road.

👆 Hiking the Door Trail in Badlands National Park. 🌞
 

👆 Hiking the Badlands ladder hike in Badlands National Park! The Notch Trail is one of the scary trails in Badlands National Park!

Badlands National Park has several entry/exit points.

When you are headed to Mount Rushmore from Badlands National Park, a perfect exit from Badlands National Park can be the Pinnacles entry (exit) station.

This is the national park entry/exit that is closest to the town of Wall SD. (Explained next on the list.)

If you want to skip Wall, then another option is to drive through the Sage Creek Wilderness area in Badlands National Park to get further west towards Mount Rushmore.

This is the more remote area of the park, and where you have a greater chance of seeing buffalo in Badlands National Park.

When you are in Badlands National Park, you also have a chance to see bighorn sheep too.

For that, you have a chance to see them just by driving the main area of Badlands Loop Road.

If you want to stay overnight in Badlands National Park before heading to Mount Rushmore the next day, then you can go camping in Badlands National Park.

The Cedar Pass Campground is the most convenient, as this is located near the main road.

You may also want to go camping in Badlands National Park in the more remote area of the park too.

That’s where you will find the free Sage Creek campground where you have a very good chance of seeing prairie dogs.

And you also have a chance at seeing buffalo walking right past your tent!

See more about planning your Badlands to Mount Rushmore road trip:

• Things to do in Badlands National Park
• Best hikes in Badlands National Park
• Camping in Badlands National Park

2. Wall Drug: THE stop to make between Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore

When you are driving from the Badlands to Mount Rushmore, the Wall Drug Store is your “big” road trip stop to make along the way!

The Wall Drug Store is in the small town of Wall in South Dakota.

👆 Badlands National Park to Wall SD is around 8 miles.

To be clear, Wall Drug is a complete tourist attraction.

If you happen to be driving to Badlands National Park from further east, then your curiosity may get the best of you.

That’s because as you are driving along I-90 west from eastern South Dakota to Badlands National Park, you will see a TON of billboard signs for Wall Drug.

There are really just THAT many that it will have you thinking… what is this Wall Drug?!?!

And then it is just something that you will make you feel like you need to go to.

And so… you should just go. 😜

It’s kind of an all-American road trip story, and you are on a road trip yourself, so… you should be a part of it and stop by!

It’s an All-American road trip story because of the way Wall Drug became so popular.

As the story goes (and this story starts in the 1930s), the owner of Wall Drug decided that he wanted to try to get business from road trippers.

So what he did was offer travelers free water and 5 cent coffee.

And this idea worked.

People stopped by Wall Drug for the free water and 5 cent coffee. (And presumably bought other things while they were at it.)

Wall Drug still provides free water and 5 cent coffee to travelers in 2022. 

See more about planning your Badlands to Mount Rushmore road trip:

• Things to do at Wall Drug
• Wall Drug signs along I-90 west

3. Rapid City SD

Well, this is not really a stop, but more like a note.

You’ll be driving through (around) Rapid City SD.

Rapid City is a big city in South Dakota, and this means that there’s a Walmart, along with other grocery stores.

So if you want to stock up on groceries or anything else for your road trip or camping trip, Rapid City is a good spot to do so!

4. Iron Mountain Road

Next, if you are really excited about Mount Rushmore, then you might want to take a detour to drive Iron Mountain Road in Black Hills National Forest!

Doing this detour to drive along Iron Mountain Road from south to north will require an extra 30 minutes or so of driving, plus any extra time that you might stop.

The reason to drive Iron Mountain Road is so that you can drive through the Iron Mountain Road tunnels and see the Mount Rushmore presidents framed through the tunnels!

👆 If you have a better camera, you will be able to take much better pictures of Mount Rushmore through the tunnel! 😜 (I only have a phone…)

Now, this is a bit of a distant view of Mount Rushmore, but it can be a perfect first glimpse of Mount Rushmore.

See the map for the route.

See more about planning your Badlands to Mount Rushmore road trip:

• Driving through Iron Mountain Road tunnels

5. Mount Rushmore

And then you will continue driving and follow the signs for Mount Rushmore!

Because you are driving from Badlands National Park, this means that you are entering Mount Rushmore National Memorial park from the east.

This means that you will also be able to see Mount Rushmore from the road as you are driving to the Mount Rushmore parking lot!

👆 You can see Mount Rushmore from the road.

So you can see Mount Rushmore from the road for free as you are driving.

If you want to get a closer look at the Mount Rushmore presidents, then you will want to go to the Mount Rushmore parking lot (where there’s a fee).

From there, you will start walking on the Avenue of Flags and as you are walking you will get closer and closer to Mount Rushmore which means the faces of the presidents will continue to get bigger and bigger! (Well, unless you’re going to Mount Rushmore in the rain, in which case you may or may not be able to see the presidents at all.)

Then, you can continue your walk to see more of Mount Rushmore by walking the Presidential Trail that allows you to see the presidents’ faces from different angles.

See more about planning your Badlands to Mount Rushmore road trip:

• Things to do in Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Where to see Mount Rushmore’s George Washington from the road
• Breezy Point overlook in Black Hills National Forest (picnic spot near Mount Rushmore)
• Things to do in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore

Black Hills of South Dakota

Mount Rushmore is in the famous Black Hills of South Dakota.

If you want to make time for it, you might also be interested in driving to nearby Custer State Park also in the Black Hills.

For example, you can drive through the Needles Eye Tunnel.

If you want to stay for a few days in the Black Hills, this area is also where you will find Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument.

See more about planning your Badlands to Mount Rushmore road trip:

• Things to do in Custer State Park
• Camping in Custer State Park
• South Dakota state park camping cabins in Custer State Park
• Things to do in the Black Hills for VIEWS!

And that’s a bit about planning a drive to Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore!

If you’re interested in Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore, you may also be interested in driving even further:

• Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone

HAPPY DRIVING FROM BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK TO MOUNT RUSHMORE!