Cedar Pass Campground
2Heads uppark alerts
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 3 of the next 3 nights read 15:35 UTC
- A night
- $43–$52Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 10083 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
Surrounded by the vast, open prairie and featuring expansive views of the Badlands, Cedar Pass Campground is a great base camp from which to explore Badlands National Park. Featuring 96 sites, this seasonal campground is open from late March through mid-October, and is conveniently located within easy walking distance of Cedar Pass Lodge & Restaurant and the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Keep reading
Recreation
An evening program led by park rangers is held nightly at the Cedar Pass Amphitheater. This event runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, beginning each evening with a half-hour educational talk about the Badlands, covering a wide array of topics that change every evening. Once the educational part of the presentation finishes, the rangers begin a guided night sky viewing program. Interesting facts and features of our night sky will be explored and pointed out for you via laser, and telescopes are often provided to view star clusters, planets, and the Milky Way. The Amphitheater parking lot is conveniently located at the entrance to Cedar Pass Campground, in easy walking distance for most campers! For evening program start times, please see the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Cedar Pass Lodge, or the host kiosk at the campground entrance.
Facilities
An evening program led by park rangers is held nightly at the Cedar Pass Amphitheater. This event runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, beginning each evening with a half-hour educational talk about the Badlands, covering a wide array of topics that change every evening. Once the educational part of the presentation finishes, the rangers begin a guided night sky viewing program. Interesting facts and features of our night sky will be explored and pointed out for you via laser, and telescopes are often provided to view star clusters, planets, and the Milky Way. The Amphitheater parking lot is conveniently located at the entrance to Cedar Pass Campground, in easy walking distance for most campers! For evening program start times, please see the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Cedar Pass Lodge, or the host kiosk at the campground entrance.
Natural Features
Cedar Pass Campground is surrounded by prairie grasslands and Badlands buttes, or geologic formations. These formations contain sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, claystone, limestone, volcanic ash, and shale. The natural beauty of this landscape makes for stunning sunrises and sunsets, while low population density and minimal light pollution creates a beautiful night sky most evenings. Contact Info This location is staffed. Please call (605) 910-9246 to speak with local staff.
Nearby Attractions
Ben Reifel Vistor Center Cedar Pass Lodge Minuteman National Historic Site Prairie Homestead Wall Drug Mount Rushmore (1 hour, 45 mins) Custer State Park (1 hour, 45 mins)
What the agency tells you
The campground entrance kiosk is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Quiet hours are from 10:00 pm - 6:00 am. Generators are not permitted to run during these hours. Check-in begins at 1:00 p.m. Check-out is 11:00 a.m. RV sites allow for one RV (tow included) per site. In an effort to maintain the prairie grassland, campfires are not permitted within Badlands National Park. However, you may use small, portable propane grills at your campsite for cooking. Cedar Pass Campground is pet-friendly. However, all pets must remain on leash at all times in Cedar Pass Campground and Badlands National Park. Wildlife activity is prevalent in the park. Please familiarize yourself with wildlife safety and proper food storage. Store all human and pet food in a closed hard-sided container or enclosed vehicle when not in use. Store or dispose of food scraps, cooking utensils, and garbage so that they are inaccessible to wildlife. A complimentary dump station is available in the Group Loop. Please note that Badlands National Park is prone to sudden heavy winds and storms. Prepare your campsite and secure your belongings accordingly.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 100 · 8 tent-only, 4 group
- Hookups
- 23 electric
- Longest rig
- 65 ft
- Accessible sites
- 2
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Not allowed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal · Vault Toilets - year round
- Showers
- Coin Showers
- COIN SHOWERS on 100 of 100 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Evening Programs
- Guided Interpretive Walks
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Picnicking
- Ranger Station
- Stargazing
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 2nd darkest of 52 in SD
- Bortle 2
76 of 166 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:35 UTC
recreation.gov lists 83 of the 100 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $43–$52 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:35 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
100 sites
All 100 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 71 of the 100 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Agate | 1 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 10 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 11 | type not stated | 30/50 amp | |||
| Agate | 12 | rv electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | $52 |
| Agate | 13 | rv electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 14 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 15 | rv electric | 50 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 16 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 17 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 18 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 19 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 2 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 20 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | $52 |
| Agate | 21 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 22 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 23 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 24 | rv electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Agate | 25 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 26 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 27 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 28 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 29 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 3 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 30 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 31 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 32 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 33 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 34 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 35 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 36 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 37 | type not stated | 25 ft | |||
| Agate | 38 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 39 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Agate | 4 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 5 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 6 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 7 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 8 | rv nonelectric | 25 ft | $43 | ||
| Agate | 9 | type not stated | ||||
| Butte | 40 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 41 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 42 | type not stated | 55 ft | |||
| Butte | 43 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 44 | type not stated | 55 ft | |||
| Butte | 45 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 46 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 47 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 48 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 49 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 50 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 51 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 52 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 53 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 54 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 55 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 56 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 57 | type not stated | 30 ft | |||
| Butte | 58 | rv nonelectric | 25 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 59 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 60 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 61 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 62 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 63 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 64 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 65 | rv electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 66 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 67 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 68 | rv electric | 45 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 69 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 70 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 71 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 72 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 73 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 74 | rv electric | 35 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 75 | rv nonelectric | 35 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 76 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 77 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 78 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 79 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 80 | rv electric | 65 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 81 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 82 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 83 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 84 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 85 | rv electric | 65 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 86 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 87 | rv electric | 65 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 88 | rv nonelectric | 30 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 89 | rv nonelectric | 20 ft | $43 | ||
| Butte | 90 | rv electric | 35 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 91 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 92 | rv electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 93 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 94 | rv electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Butte | 95 | tent only nonelectric | 20 ft | |||
| Butte | 96 | rv electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | $52 | |
| Group | Group Loop 1 | group standard nonelectric | 65 ft | |||
| Group | Group Loop 2 | group standard nonelectric | 50 ft | |||
| Group | Group Loop 3 | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | |||
| Group | Group Loop 4 | group standard nonelectric | 60 ft |
25 of 100 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Sage Creek CampgroundBadlands National Park · 25 mi
Grizzly Bear CampgroundNorbeck Wildlife Preserve National Game Refuge · 75 mi
Iron Creek Horse Camp77 mi
Horsethief Lake CampgroundNorbeck Wildlife Preserve National Game Refuge · 78 mi
Sheridan North Cove Grp CGBlack Hills National Forest · 78 mi
Sheridan LakeBlack Hills National Forest · 78 miFrom Sioux Falls:
Travel west on I-90 to exit 131. Turn south onto Hwy 240, the Badlands Loop Road and enter Badlands National Park at the Northeast entrance. Travel 8 miles (13 km) to Cedar Pass Lodge, making a slight left onto Hwy 377. Cedar Pass Campground will be on your left.
From Rapid City:
Travel east on I-90 to exit 110. From exit 110, turn south onto Hwy 240, the Badlands Loop Road and enter Badlands National Park at the Pinnacles entrance. Travel 30 miles (48 km). Turn right on Hwy 377. Cedar Pass Campground will be on your left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Interior, SD
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 65°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 14°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Cedar Pass Campground is in South Dakota’s at-large congressional district. Its representative, Dusty Johnson (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →