Notch Trail

The Badlands are part of the homeland of the Oglala Lakota of the Oceti Sakowin, the Great Sioux Nation, and the very word Badlands echoes the Lakota name Mako Sica, meaning land bad or hard to travel. To the Lakota this country was not wasteland but a place of shelter, hunting, and ceremony, and its rugged folds hid people and game alike.

The southern half of Badlands National Park lies within the Pine Ridge Reservation and is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the White River Valley that the Notch overlooks is Lakota land and history as much as it is national park. The great open view from the gap in the rock is a view across a living homeland.

The rock of the Badlands is soft, made of layers of mud, ash, and silt laid down over tens of millions of years and pressed into stone. Because it is soft, water tears through it fast, and the whole landscape of spires, gullies, and canyons is the work of rain and runoff cutting down through the layers at a remarkable pace.

The canyon the Notch Trail follows was carved this way, and the Notch itself is a spot where erosion broke clean through the rock wall, opening a window onto the valley below. The banded colors in the canyon walls, the reds, tans, grays, and yellows, are different ancient soils and ash falls stacked one atop another, a painted record of deep time you walk right through.

The heart of the hike is the ladder, a sturdy structure of logs and cable set against a steep pitch that would otherwise stop most hikers cold. Climbing it is the moment people remember, a genuine bit of scrambling that turns a walk into a small climb, and it is safe with care but not for anyone unhappy with heights.

Above the ladder the trail traces a shelf along the canyon wall, with steep drops in places, before delivering you to the Notch. The footing is uneven and the exposure real, so this is a hike to take slowly and thoughtfully. After hard rain the whole route can turn slick and treacherous, and rangers sometimes advise against it, so it always pays to check conditions before setting out.

Summer in the Badlands is fierce, with searing heat and no shade on the trail, so early morning and late evening are by far the best times, cooler and softer in light. The low sun sets the rock glowing and makes the view from the Notch unforgettable, which is why sunrise and sunset are the classic times to go.

Spring and fall bring milder days and are ideal for the hike, with fewer crowds and comfortable temperatures. Winter can bring snow and ice that make the ladder and ledge dangerous, so cold-season hikers should be cautious and check with the visitor center before attempting the trail.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.