Hi there!
So you want to hike the Notch Trail!
This is an iconic hike known for the Notch Trail ladder, and this makes it one of the popular hikes in Badlands National Park.
But, this trail is more than just the ladder!
You’ll be hiking with Badlands rock formations all around you.
If you don’t see the Notch Trail video above, you can watch it on youtube.
Notch Trail is located in a pretty convenient location.
The Notch trailhead parking is located right off of Badlands Loop Road, which is the main road through Badlands National Park.
If you have a short time in Badlands National Park, Badlands Loop Road is a requirement to drive! So, there’s a good chance you’ll pass the parking lot anyway.
You can’t miss it as you are driving. It is obvious. You will know it’s something!
The Notch Trail parking lot is the same parking for the Window Trail and the Door Trail, and it’s one of several ways you can start the Castle Trail too.
So it will be very convenient to do the hikes of Notch, Window, and Door at the same time.
Out of these 3 trails, the Notch Trail is the longest.
You can do Castle Trail too, although if you do the full trail that is longer than the rest of them.
You can also just do a portion of the Castle Trail from the Notch trailhead parking lot. See more about where to start the Castle Trail.
If you can’t see the Badlands National Park hiking video above, you can watch it on youtube.
For more hiking, Badlands National Park has an “open-hike” policy.
This means that unless there’s a specific sign telling you otherwise, you can walk around any of the area you see.
Take care, though! The surface can be dry loose gravel which can make for slippery conditions on hills.
Saddle Pass Trail is a bit of an extreme example of this since it’s quite the steep trail, but you may end up losing your footing on even seemingly simple hills.
Share the Badlands National Park video!
More below about the getting to the Notch trailhead parking!
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Driving along Badlands Loop Road to get to Notch Trail
Notch Trailhead is on google maps, so you can use that to help you navigate in the general direction and to know when you’re approaching it. It will be best to download offline google maps before you go (it’s free), as you may not always get data service in Badlands National Park. GPS will still generally work even if you don’t have phone service.
Ben Reifel Visitor Center to Notch Trail is about a 5 minute drive. (google maps)
Northeast entrance of Badlands National Park to Notch Trail is about a 5 minute drive. (google maps)
Cedar Pass campground to Notch Trail is about a 5 minute drive. (google maps) This is near the Interior entrance.
Sage Creek campground to Notch Trail is about a 1 hour drive if you take I-90. (google maps) It will be about a 1.5 hour drive if you drive entirely through the park along Badlands Loop Road… if you don’t stop at all! (google maps)
Basically, you will get yourself to the far eastern area of Badlands Loop Road in Badlands National Park. The Notch Trail is near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, as well as the Interior entrance and northeast entrance of Badlands National Park. This is the Cedar Pass area.
And then once you’re on Badlands Loop Road past the national park entry, it’s is more or less just about driving until you see the large parking lot directly alongside Badlands Loop Road in the Cedar Pass area!
You’ll know you’re at the Notch Trail parking lot when you see a large parking lot along the side of the road.
If you see a sign for Door and Window, that’s the parking lot you want to be at.
If you want to be the closest to Notch Trail, when you are facing the Badlands formations on the parking lot side, you will want to park over towards the far right end of the parking lot.
👆 When you are at the parking lot and facing this direction of the Badlands, the Notch Trail is towards the right of the parking lot.
There is a bathroom at the Notch Trail parking lot.
So once you are ready to start hiking, you can follow the sign and the start of the Notch Trail is obvious. You’ll look for the trailhead sign. The trail starts directly from the parking lot.
And off you go to hike the Notch Trail!
And that’s a bit about how to start hiking the Notch Trail!
More hiking in the Badlands:
More overlooks in the Badlands:
HAPPY DRIVING TO THE NOTCH TRAILHEAD!
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