State: South Dakota
Location: Badlands National Park
Length, One-Way: 5 miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Trail Surface: Maintained
Best Season: Spring, Fall
Difficulty: Moderate
Usage: Light
Badlands South dakota
Trail Information
The Castle Trail is the longest trail in the park at 10 miles round trip. The Castle Trail stretches from the Fossil Exhibit Trail to the Door/Window parking area. Primarily level, this path parallels some precipitous badlands formations. The Castle Trail will take you through a variety of terrain and in the early summer will have a lot of vegetation. The Medicine Root Trail makes a loop within the Castle Trail from any connecting trailhead.
The Castle Trail is not heavily used and thus offers a chance for solitude and wildlife viewing. The terrain is relatively flat and open (with buttes and hoodoos all around), with little to offer for orientation for the first time hiker. If you do become disoriented on this trail, you should head due south, as you will run into the Park Loop Road. You should also keep an eye on the sky and bring rain gear as Badlands National Park is famous for it’s severe thunderstorms.
Warning: Digging and/or moving fossils or artifacts from their locations in the ground is prohibited by Federal law. This is taken very seriously in Badlands Park. Offenders are prosecuted. Fines range from $50.00 to $250,000 and in severe cases offenders have been jailed.
Directions
From Ben Reifel Visitor Center:
Take Badlands Loop Road about 5 miles northwest (left out of the visitor center) to the Fossil Exhibit parking area. The trailhead is across the road from the parking area.
The Castle Trail can also be accessed from the Door and Window parking area.
