Boondocking At The Wall Outside Badlands National Park In South Dakota

When you start traveling and living full-time on the road I think there are a few places that all full-timers are just expected to check out.

Sedona, Quartzite and Moab come to mind, but The Wall in South Dakota is also a place I think a lot of travelers tend to stop at at least once in their travels.

Located just minutes from the Pinnacles entrance of Badlands National Park The Wall is a large area located in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland where you can boondock for 14 days for free!

Also referred to as Nomad View Dispersed Camping, this spot draws in campers because of its amazing views and proximity to the national park.

The fact that it’s free doesn’t hurt either.

The Wall is located right off HWY 240 and the GPS coordinates I provided above are for the entrance road.

When you see the two large towers you’ll know you’re in the right place. If the gate to the entrance is closed when you pull in make sure you shut it again after entering.

The road is a bit rough, but take your time and you’ll be fine. Take the road up till you pass the towers and you will choose between going right or left.

A lot of people choose to go right which doesn’t go near as far so it gets crowded there.

I don’t know why everyone seems to go right, because the views to the left are just as great. If you choose left, as we did, you can travel for a while giving you plenty of opportunities to find the perfect spot.

You can set up your rig or tent on either side of the main road going through the area.

One side will put you right on the edge of the cliff while the other side will put you in the meadow. I won’t lie, we were afraid the wind would send our little pop-up over the edge so chose to park in the grass.

Any size recreational vehicle will fit here. We saw everything from expensive Class A motorhomes to people setting up tents on the edge.

Even though this is an extremely popular camping area the place is so large you can get some privacy as well. The farther down the road you go the fewer people there are.

This is true boondocking so there are no amenities here.

No trashcans, water, hook-ups are restrooms are available. You must be self-contained and remember to follow the pack it in, pack it out principles. We thought the whole area was extremely clean considering how busy it is so that made me very happy.

There are some homemade fire pits, but please be sure to check to see if there are any burn bans in the area before lighting one.

This is a national grassland and it is extremely windy here most of the time. No one wants to accidentally start a fire or get a fine from one of the rangers driving through.

This reminds me, we did see at least one ranger or sheriff’s car driving through every day which always makes me feel safer while camping somewhere.

This place is completely open offering absolutely no shade no matter where you park.

If you’re running solar though you are destined to top off those batteries every day. Unless you are unfortunate enough to get stuck there during multiple days of rain and let’s hope that doesn’t happen to you.

Cell phone service was great here for us.

We had 4G with both our Verizon and AT&T providers. Keeping in contact with friends and relatives or jumping on Instagram to post a selfie shouldn’t be an issue.

Bighorn Sheep are frequent visitors to The Wall.

We saw some every day we were there including one herd that stuck around for an entire day. They were so fun to watch grazing in the meadow and climbing up and down the cliff walls.

And we got to see so many adorable babies!

Remember to never pet or feed wildlife.

Admire these amazing creatures from a distance and take lots of pics instead. These bighorn sheep seem to be accustomed to having humans around and got pretty close to people at times. They are still wild animals though and we don’t want anyone, human or beast, getting injured.

This area is also occasionally used for cattle grazing as well. No cattle were there during our stay even though we have boondocked with cattle multiple times.

One reason this place is so popular is the absolutely incredible views from pretty much any camping spot you pick. From the edge of the bluff, you can see the classic rock formations that make Badlands such a unique natural wonder.

It seems you can see the Badlands stretch on for miles from the edge.

On your other side is a great expanse of grassland that is just as beautiful in its own right.

Our dog and cat had a lot of fun running through the grass. Make sure your pets are leashed though and you keep a close eye on them while they are playing. Prairie rattlesnakes call this area home and we heard coyotes almost every night.

There is also plenty of places to explore here as well.

The road through the area is pretty long so you can get a really good walk in. We took the pets on multiple walks chatting with people along the way. On one side you can actually walk out into the Badlands scrambling over rocks and cliffs till you reach the end for even more amazing views.

While this place is pretty awesome there is a downside as well and that’s the wind.

The wind here is no joke.

In fact, the wind in most of South Dakota is no joke, but at The Wall it gets very intense. After the first night, I was very glad we decided not to park Frankenstein the pop-up on the edge of the bluff because our little camper rocked all night long.

I believe it was the second night of our stay when an intense thunderstorm blew through the area and gave us the scariest night of our life in our full-time traveling adventures.

One moment every one is outside watching the most beautiful lightning storm I’ve ever seen flashing across the sky and moments later I’m freaking out in the camper.

For an hour the winds were racing across the area at up to 50 miles per hour and the rain was pouring down.

The door to our camper got blown in and the hubby had to hold it close. Our canvas got ripped and I was trying to hold it close so less water would get inside. The whole camper was swaying so much that I thought it would tip over.

In between rainfall, we managed to reattach the door and temporarily close the canvas. During the storm, our camper had been lifted off the ground enough that the wind had knocked a bar out that held up the bunk end of the camper.

It was scary!

The wind is the reason we left way sooner than we planned and we weren’t the only ones.

Now that we have upgraded to a heavier, hard-sided travel trailer next time we hit the Badlands we will stay here again. I will feel a little more secure.

Wall South Dakota is five minutes down the road. This small town has everything you need including gas, laundry, and food. We filled up water at the Conoco gas station which is the home of the 80-foot Wall Drug Dinosaur.

Be sure to visit the world’s greatest tourist trap in town as well, Wall Drug. This is another one of those spots I think every full-timer makes at least once in their travels. I’m sure you saw about 100 of their signs while driving down the road to town.

There are an untold number of stores to shop in offering anything you can imagine.

Don’t forget to try their famous doughnuts, five-cent coffee, and be sure to grab a free cup of ice water. Their pie is pretty great as well and the whole place is pet friendly. I highly recommend taking a ride on the jackalope as well!

As I mentioned at the beginning, the Pinnacles entrance to Badlands National Park is just a few minute’s drive from The Wall. We saw buffalo at the entrance every day we went to the park including a baby. The Notch Trail  was our favorite hike in the park.

The scenic drive has a ton of spots to stop at with amazing views.

Sage Creek Rim Road is a popular spot for bison watching as well as the home of Roberts Prairie Dog Town. Head to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to talk to a ranger and get brochures and more information on all the hiking trails and other activities available in the park.

I’ve read that if you need to dump they only charge $1 at the campground inside the park. I would call the visitor center and confirm this with a ranger first before hauling your rig there.

Even with the intense wind here, The Wall is still one of our favorite places we have boondocked at in our year and a half of full-time travel. The proximity to the national park and Wall Drug just can’t be beat.

I mean it’s hard to compete with the views you get from the front door of your camper. I just can’t stop saying how beautiful it is here. The sunsets and sunrises are incredible and at night you can see millions of stars.

If you want to visit Badlands National Park or just spend some time at an epic boondocking spot this is the place to be!