SELF-GUIDED TRAILS - SOUTH UNIT
Ridgeline Nature Trail - This self-guiding loop trail provides information about the badlands scenery, natural history, and the roles of fire, wind, and water play in the ecosystem. Length: 0.6 mile. A free trail guide is available at the trailhead or at the visitor center.
Coal Vein Trail - From 1951 until early 1977 a a coal seam burned here. The intense heat baked the adjacent clay and sand, greatly altering the appearance of the terrain and disturbing the vegetation. Length: 0.8 mile. A free trail guide is available at the trailhead or at the visitor center.
OTHER SHORT NATURE TRAILS
Buck Hill - The short, steep walk ends at the top of the hill, which has an elevation of 2,855 feet, and is the second highest point in the South Unit. The 360 degree view offers an outstanding look at the badlands. From this vantage point, one will notice that only small shrubs and plants grow on the dry, hot, south-facing slopes, and that larger trees grow on the wetter, cooler, north-facing hillsides.
Wind Canyon - The short trail up the ridge leads to one of the most striking viewpoints in the South Unit - an overlook of a dramatic bend in the Little Missouri River and the trail's wind-sculpted namesake canyon. Across the river is a section of the park's Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness.
Painted Canyon Nature Trail - Length: 0.9 miles. The trailhead is located near the picnic shelters adjacent to the Painted Canyon Visitor Center. This steep and strenuous trail drops into the canyon and loops back up.
