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 Sage Creek Basin Overlook
Why stop
- A broad prairie basin view with bison trails and a chance of wildlife.
Heads up
- The unpaved access road can be rough or weather-closed.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Badlands map
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 Sage Creek Basin 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
Sage Creek Basin Overlook0:00 / 0:27
“Up ahead is Sage Creek Basin Overlook, where the view opens across mixed-grass prairie to buttes on the horizon.”
Plays as you drive up to Sage Creek Basin Overlook in the Parkwolf Badlands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Roberts Prairie Dog Town
- A Rattlesnake's Heat Detectors
- A Bison’s Second Chew
- The Herd Had to Come Back
- 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 Sage Creek Basin Overlook
A different kind of Badlands viewSage Creek Basin Overlook is a roadside pullout along Sage Creek Rim Road, looking across…
Sage Creek Basin Overlook is a roadside pullout along Sage Creek Rim Road, looking across mixed-grass prairie to Badlands buttes on the horizon. It’s a wide, open view rather than a close look at the formations. I’d stop if you’re already driving the rim road and want the landscape to open out; if you’re short on time and after the eroded rock, prioritize a closer overlook.
The paths are bison-madeThe lines across the basin can look like walking trails, but they’re bison game trails, not…
The lines across the basin can look like walking trails, but they’re bison game trails, not maintained hiking routes. The Badlands formations here have eroded almost entirely away, leaving ground that can support grassland soils. Bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and many bird species are often seen along the road, though none is guaranteed at this stop.
Give the road some roomReach the overlook on Sage Creek Rim Road (SD 590), the dirt-and-gravel route between SD 44 and…
Reach the overlook on Sage Creek Rim Road (SD 590), the dirt-and-gravel route between SD 44 and Badlands Loop Road. Its pull-offs can be rough for wheelchair users, and heavy rain or snow can make the road rough or close it temporarily, so check the park’s current road status before you set out. For a photo, keep some grassland in the foreground with the distant buttes across the horizon; that shows the change from prairie to Badlands country.
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.
