The bluffs, spires, and gorges of the Badlands National Park are thanks to delicate rock which is easily eroded by wind and rain. One of the locations that these dramatic formations are best experienced is along the Window Trail.
At the point of the Window Trail, a wall of rock known as the Badlands Wall divides the main road through the park from a brilliant canyon of hoodoos and other unearthly rock formations. The wall itself dips and soars along this stretch so that, while some points are completely blocking ones view of the canyon, other points form windows and doors through which one can peer into the canyon.
The initial trail is a quarter-mile loop to an opening vista in the Badlands Wall overlooking a delicately worn and eroded canyon. Many visitors follow along the Badlands wall to peer through other “Windows” until they reach the “door” vista point where a trail returns them to the parking lot.
