Badlands Cedar Pass Campground Review

Probably NOT. July-August weekends fill by 11 AM-noon. We arrived at 12:45 PM on a Saturday and circled for 2 hours watching for someone to leave - finally got site 42 at 3 PM when a family departed early. Weekdays are better - arrived Thursday at 1 PM and had choice of 15 empty sites. Your strategy: Arrive before 10 AM weekends, or plan backup (Wall KOA 8 miles away, $65/night). September-May rarely fills. Pro tip: Ask rangers if anyone's checking out soon - they keep informal lists.

Depends on your AC needs. July-August temps hit 95-100°F - you NEED air conditioning. If you don't have massive batteries/solar, the $15/night for 30-amp power is essential for survival. We stayed 4 nights primitive in late May (70°F days) and were fine with fans. But friends in July said their RV hit 105°F inside without AC and they moved to an electric site on day 2. Calculate: $105/week for electric power vs suffering in heat or leaving early. For summer, electric is mandatory. Spring/fall, primitive saves $105/week.

Wind is NO JOKE. Our first night, 40 mph gusts rocked our 35-foot Class A so hard we thought we'd tip. Put out ALL stabilizer jacks, retract awning completely, and bring in slide-outs if winds exceed 35 mph (which happens weekly June-August). Tent campers: Use 12-inch stakes, not the flimsy 6-inch ones that come with tents. We saw 3 tents collapse in wind. Afternoon thunderstorms (July-August) appear in 20 minutes - zero warning. Have weather radio and plan to shelter in RV or vehicle.

It's 0.25 miles (5-minute walk) from most campsites to Cedar Pass Lodge. Showers are coin-operated ($5 = 8 minutes of hot water, bring quarters). Showers are TINY (think airplane bathroom) but clean and water pressure is decent. Hours are 7 AM-9 PM daily. The walk back to your site in 95°F heat after a shower feels counterproductive. Alternatively: Many RVers just use their onboard showers and save $5/person. Or drive 8 miles to Wall and shower at truck stop ($12, much bigger stalls).

YES. There are ZERO trees. You're camping on exposed prairie with formations around you. Summer sun is relentless 6 AM-8 PM. RVs with white roofs reflect heat better than dark colors. Bring shade structures (pop-up canopy, large umbrella) and set up on north side of RV for afternoon shade. Mornings you'll wake to sun blazing through windows at 6 AM - bring blackout curtains or sleep masks. Upside: INCREDIBLE stargazing at night with zero light pollution. Downside: You're a sitting duck in 100°F heat with no escape.

Door/Window Trail (0.75 miles, 30 minutes) is absolutely worth it - iconic boardwalk through formations. Go at sunrise (6-7 AM) before heat. By 10 AM it's brutal. Notch Trail (1.5 miles, 90 minutes with ladder climb) is HARD in heat - we turned back at noon when temps hit 95°F. Rangers close trails when temps exceed 100°F. Spring (May) and fall (September-October) are perfect for hiking. If you're here in summer, hike EARLY or skip it. Saddle Pass Trail (0.25 miles, steep) is best at sunrise for photos.

Cell service is truly minimal - Verizon gets 1 bar near the entrance (enough for texts, not calls). AT&T and T-Mobile are useless. The visitor center (0.25 miles away) has an emergency phone and rangers 8 AM-6 PM daily. Cedar Pass Lodge has WiFi for paying customers ($10 minimum purchase gets you the password). Download offline maps (Google Maps, Gaia GPS) before arriving. For medical emergencies, rangers respond fast - we saw them handle a heat exhaustion case in 10 minutes. But don't expect to stream Netflix or work remotely.

The night sky here is INSANE - some of the darkest in the US. We saw the Milky Way so clearly it looked fake. Ranger Night Sky programs (May-September, 8:30 PM at amphitheater) are incredible - they use green laser pointers to identify constellations. Bring a red flashlight (white light ruins night vision for everyone). New moon phases (check lunar calendar) offer the darkest skies. We saw 4 shooting stars in 20 minutes during August Perseid meteor shower. This alone is worth camping here - just make sure it's clear skies, not cloudy.