Badlands and Mount Rushmore Self-Guided Audio Tour Bundle

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

Day 1
Badlands & Mount Rushmore
20 stops
1
Hay Butte Overlook
The overlook faces the Badlands and prairie meadows. It's a wonderful place to see bison, pronghorn, and the park's diverse scenery. From the Badlands Loop Road, a popular park route, the overlook is a short hike. Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months. For the best experience, bring headphones/earbuds for your walking tour. The tour is over 40+ miles long per tour, with more than 20+ audio stories per tour, and takes about 2-3 hours per tour to complete.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
2
Badlands Wilderness Overlook
It is known for its unique landscapes, including rugged rock formations and deep canyons. The wilderness area is home to a variety of plant and animal life, including bison, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. It is a popular destination for hiking and backpacking, as well as wildlife viewing and photography.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
3
Roberts Prairie Dog Town
It houses many black-tailed prairie dogs. Prairie dogs, burrowing rodents from the Great Plains of North America, are known for their "bark" and behaviour. Visitors to the park enjoy seeing these fascinating animals in their natural habitat at Roberts Prairie Dog Town.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
4
Ancient Hunters Overlook
This site is named after the ancient tribes that hunted in the Badlands. This site yielded bison bones and arrowheads. It was likely a butchering field where hunters cleaned and prepared bison corpses.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
5
Yellow Mounds Overlook
It has unique layered rock formations. Iron oxide in the rock layers makes the Yellow Mounds yellow. The formations offer a unique picture of Badlands landscapes after millions of years of erosion and weathering.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
6
Conata Basin Overlook
Here, you can take in another great view of the park’s yellow paleosols. These offer a window into the land’s distant past. Remember, this was once the bed of a warm, shallow sea. The paleosols you can see from here are part of the bottommost formation in the Badlands: the Pierre Shale.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
7
Homestead Overlook
Lincoln believed the American west had the resources his country needed. Few Americans wanted to live there. West Coast Natives were wary of settlers in the unexplored region. So Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. All they needed to do was live on the land and work to improve it.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
8
Burns Basin Overlook
This view overlooks Wilson Burns' 20th-century farmhouse. Burns showed how homesteaders survived this harsh environment. As a sheep rancher, he needed a lot of water. Most groundwater is buried several thousand feet deep! That was impossible for a typical homesteader. Burns was smart. He found a government-allotted plot with a freshwater spring.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
9
Prairie Wind Overlook
This spot is quite different from previous overlooks, as the main attraction here isn’t badlands at all, but gentle, pleasant prairie. It’s a great example of the surprisingly diverse ecosystems of the park.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
10
Big Badlands Overlook
Lakota Chief Spotted Elk (Big Foot) gave it its name. In 1890, the US Army pursued Spotted Elk and 200 Lakota through this route. He was soon apprehended by the 7th Cavalry. Spotted Elk surrendered peacefully to save his people. In 1990, Congress apologised but did not compensate the tribe. The Lakota are still trying to withdraw the 20 Medals of Honor given to cavalrymen who massacred them.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
11
White River Valley Overlook
From here, you may see The Castle, a magnificent formation. It will be the largest formations seen from the overlook. Beyond the castle, the White River Valley extends forever. The White River created this valley long ago, as you would have surmised from the name.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
12
Fossil Exhibit Trail
The trail includes interactive exhibits showcasing the park's fossil heritage, including ancient animal fossils. The wheelchair-accessible trail welcomes all ages and fitness levels. Visitors can learn about extinct animals like the rhinoceros and three-toed horse and their environment along the trail.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
13
Saddle Pass Trail
This 0.7-mile trail takes under half an hour to hike and features some great opportunities for bird watching and sightseeing along the way. Despite its short length, this is one of the steepest in the park, with over 200 feet of elevation gain. If it has rained recently, you should steer clear of this one.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
14
Ben Reifel Visitor Center
If you’re looking to take a quick break from your expedition through the Badlands, this is a great place for it. In addition to a picnic area and the usual amenities, you’ll also find things like the Fossil Preparation Lab here, which shows what paleontologists do with fossils once they’ve discovered them.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
15
Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
This half-mile loop offers one of the best views in the park. In addition to the stellar vista from the top of the loop, you’ll also get to explore one of the Badlands’ lesser-known biomes as you walk through a lush juniper forest.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
16
Notch Trail
The Notch Trail features 1.5 miles of rough terrain for the intermediate hiker, including a rope ladder that takes you up to a tremendous vista of the White River Valley. Hikers looking for tricky terrain and great views will love this trail.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
17
Door Trail
This quarter-mile, fully accessible boardwalk is more of a stroll than a hike. It leads to a break in the Badlands Wall. This gap, known as The Door, features unbeatable views of the landscape beyond. Be sure to bring your camera for this one!
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
18
Castle Trail
Finally, there’s The Castle. At 5.4 miles, it’s the longest-maintained trail in the park. It weaves through prairie, Badlands peaks, and all kinds of unique formations along the way. If you want to get a good look at all the different features of the Badlands, this trail is a great choice.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
19
Big Badlands Overlook
It’s a fitting place to conclude, as it offers one of the best views in the whole park. This sweeping vista looks out across the eastern stretch of the Badlands Wall and reveals beautifully striped layers of rock dating back tens of millions of years. If you’re looking for that one perfect photo of the Badlands, you’re likely to capture it here.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
20
64 Presidential Trail
The Hall of Records is a proposed structure that was planned to be built in the vicinity of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It was intended to serve as an archive and repository for important historical documents related to the Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore, as well as other important American historical records.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free
Day 2
Badlands & Mount Rushmore
4 stops
21
Sculptor's Studio
Up here is Gutzon Borglum’s studio. Inside, you’ll find a huge plaster sculpture showing the original design for Mount Rushmore, which is quite a bit more intricate than the final product! As you’ll notice, the original design featured fully carved bodies for each of the presidents.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
22
Gutzon Borglum Historical Center
The sculptor behind Mount Rushmore. Born in Idaho in 1867, Borglum led what some might call a complicated life. Note: This 1.2+ mile-long tour covers the essentials of Mount Rushmore in 1-2 hours. Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months.
1 hour • Admission ticket free
23
Avenue Of Flags
Just ahead is the Avenue of Flags. There are actually 56 flags here, in alphabetical order. 50 are indeed state flags, but what about those other six? Those come from the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free
24
Presidential Trail
It is a tourist route that highlights the history and legacy of former U.S. Presidents. There are sites and attractions related to several Presidents, including Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which features the carved faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
30 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• How To Access: After booking, you’ll get an email and text with setup instructions and password (search “audio tour” in emails and texts). • Download the separate tour app by Action • Enter the password sent by email and text. • MUST download the tour while in strong wifi/cellular. • Works offline after download.
• How to start touring: Open Action’s separate audio tour guide app once onsite. • If there is just one tour, launch it. • If multiple tour versions exist, launch the one with your planned starting point and direction.
• Go to the starting point No one will meet you at the start. This tour is self-guided Enter the first story’s point and the audio will begin automatically Follow the audio cues to the next story, which will also play automatically. Enjoy hands-free exploring. If you face audio issues, contact support. Stick to the tour route & speed limit for the best experience.
• Travel worry-free: Use the tour app anytime, on any day, and over multiple days. Start and pause the tour whenever you like, taking breaks and exploring side excursions at your own pace. Skip anything you don’t care about or explore bonus content for everything that interests you

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