1 active Badlands alert
- ClosureNotch Trail closed for ladder repairsNotch Trail and all areas within 100 feet of the designated trail are closed; do not enter the closure area.Official details
Overview
About Pinnacles Overlook
Why stop
- A broad panorama over Sage Creek Wilderness
- Bighorn lambs may be visible in late April and early May
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Badlands Tour Guide
Your drive to Pinnacles Overlook, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Badlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Badlands audio tourRecorded for this place
Pinnacles Overlook0:00 / 0:32
“You're approaching Pinnacles Overlook, with a broad view across the jagged ridges and open prairie of Sage Creek Wilderness. If you're choosing only a few overlooks, keep this one.”
Plays as you drive up to Pinnacles Overlook in the Parkwolf Badlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ancient Hunters Overlook
- How Prairie Protects a Hill
- Hay Butte Overlook
- What an Oreodont's Teeth Reveal
- 116 audio storiesacross Badlands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bison, Bighorn Sheep, Prairie Dog, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 11 trails, 34 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“We recently toured Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and more! We learned so much from this app as we toured each of these sites. The audio tours are worth the money.”
Guide
More about Pinnacles Overlook
Keep this one on the Loop RoadPinnacles Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on Badlands Loop Road and the highest elevation in…
Pinnacles Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on Badlands Loop Road and the highest elevation in the North Unit. It looks across the broad, deeply cut formations of Sage Creek Wilderness. If you're choosing only a few overlooks, keep this one for the wide panorama and the way sunset brings out the ridges. The pullout is beside the road; walking past the first viewpoint gives you more angles, though some involve paths and steps.
Take in the whole viewPale gray and pink ridges fall into gullies and open prairie, with scattered green shrubs and…
Pale gray and pink ridges fall into gullies and open prairie, with scattered green shrubs and junipers below. On a clear day, look toward the horizon for the Black Hills. For a photo, leave some of that open prairie beyond the ridges in the frame; a tight crop loses the scale of the landscape.
Come back for the lightSunset is the standout time here.
Sunset is the standout time here. Warm light moves across the formations while the prairie stays open behind them, and the colors can change quickly. If you're on the Loop Road earlier in the day, consider saving this stop for evening rather than treating it as a quick pullout.
Scan the rocky slopesBighorn sheep gather around the overlook, and the slopes are a lambing area in late April and…
Bighorn sheep gather around the overlook, and the slopes are a lambing area in late April and early May; lambs may be visible crossing the rocks then. Bison sometimes appear in the valley below or on the upper prairie to the northwest. Neither is guaranteed, so scan the slopes and prairie rather than expecting wildlife right beside the parking area.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Badlands
760 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,061 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
906 sightingsPrairie DogMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
333 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
304 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
87 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Badlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
