Ben Reifel Visitor Center. 331 words. The one-story, tan, wood and steel visitor center has grey concrete set of parallel to a gently sloping concrete path, lead to the main entrance of the building. The building is surrounded on its west and south side by large parking lots accommodating dozens of vehicles. The building is bordered on its north and west by horizontally layered, jagged, badlands formations extending between 50 and 100 feet high. On the north side of the building, there are three picnic chairs with shade structures above them. Across the parking lot on the Visitor Center's eastern wall, there is a tan concrete welcome sign with the National Park Service logo and the text "Welcome to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center." The main entrance is on the west side of the building, with a secondary entrance on the south side. On the southwest corner of the building, the text "Ben Reifel Visitor Center" is written in metal letters and affixed to the building. The main entrance leads to a lobby-area accommodating at most twelve people at a time. On one side is a curved information desk with a large map showing the locations of visitor services and animals within the park. On the other side is the park bookstore with a variety of souvenir and educational items for sale. At the northeast corner of the room there is a darkly light pathway that leads to exhibits about the park's resources. Beside that is the entrance to the theater. The southeast corner of the lobby leads to a hallway with three doors, in succession from north to south, they are the men's restroom, the women's restroom, and the entrance to the fossil preparation laboratory where visitors can observe and interact with paleontology technicians as they prepare fossils throughout the park. There is a hallway to the east that is marked for employees only, and to the south a pair of double doors leading outside the building. End of Description.

Located at park headquarters, the Ben Reifel Visitor Center features exhibits, an air conditioned theater,and restroom facilities.

Layered and jagged badlands butte in background with Ben Reifel Visitor Center welcome sign.

Ben Reifel Visitor Center 002

Snowy and jagged badlands buttes with Ben Reifel Visitor Center welcome sign in foreground.

Ben Reifel Visitor Center 001

A small relief map of the badlands is surrounded by exhibits showing formations and visitors.

Ben Reifel Visitor Center 003

Tan rectangular building under cloudy sky with flag at half mast.

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Tan building with flagpole and parking lot with dozens of vehicles.

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Ben Reifel Visitor Center

Hours vary depending on season.  Be sure to scroll further down to view hours

Winter Hours (Oct - April)

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Years

A brown circular stamp with date and text "Badlands National Park, Ben Reifel VC, Interior, SD".

BRVC Stamp

A brown circular stamp with the date and text "Badlands National Park" and "Ben Reifel VC, Interior, SD" included.

White River Visitor Center. 288 words. The grey double-wide trailer has a wooden deck with stairs and a parallel gently sloping wood path leading to the to the main entrance of the building. The building is surrounded on its south and east side by large parking lots accommodating dozens of vehicles. The building is surrounded by prairie grasses extending for miles towards layered, jagged badlands formations hundreds of feet high. On the southwest side of the building down a grassy knoll, there are five picnic tables with shade structures. In the main area of the front, south-facing, wall of the building there is a picnic table beneath a large cottonwood tree. Southeast of the building, approximately 30 feet across the street, is there is a tan concrete welcome sign with the National Park Service logo and the text "Welcome to Badlands National Park" with a smaller sign beneath it reading “Managed in cooperation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.” The main entrance is on the south side of the building, with an emergency exist on the north side. Beside the main entrance, a sign affixed to the building read in English and Lakota: Makȟa Makȟošiča Oínažiŋ Badlands National Park Makhízíta Wakpá Thiléaŋg Ománi Hí Chokáta Thípi White River Visitor Center In cooperation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The interior of the building is an open space with a large, multicolored and perpendicular circular exhibit in the middle in the style of a medicine wheel design. The east side of the building has two unisex bathrooms and a water fountain. The west side of the building has a small office, and a square room with multiple wall exhibits and a small TV that functions as a theater. A wayside exhibit outside the building has the following text and images: The Badlands Gunnery Range: More than a third of a million acres of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, including much of what is now the South Unit of Badlands National Park, was set aside for gunnery and bombing practice by the U.S. Army Air Corps at the start of World War II. Residents had to move on short notice. Some never returned. With sound an fury, mock battles raged throughout the war. Bombs burst among fossil bones. In the sky young pilots improved their aim by shooting at wide ribbons of nylon net strung behind tow planes. Occasionally a bullet clipped a tow cable, and a net fluttered to earth. By war's end, many nearby ranchers had screened their windows with salvaged netting. Some told tales of stray bombs and bullets. While Granny Saunders fried eggs on morning, an errant shell crashed through her roof, her bed, and the bedroom floor. (black and white photos of large bomber planes with approximately 30' wing spans accompanied by text: "The workhorse bombers of World War II, a pair of B-17s makes a run over the Badlands Gunnery Range" and "Tow planes with target nets.") End of Description.

The visitor center is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation and offers a staffed information desk, exhibits, restrooms, picnic tables, and water. Impromptu talks are available by request. This visitor center is only open during the summer season.

Double-wide trailer under blue sky with USA and Oglala Sioux Tribe flags.

White River Visitor Center 001

Double-wide trailer with wooden boardwalk ascending to front door under a blue sky.

White River Visitor Center 002

Tan sign with Lakota and English phrases indicating that approach to White River Visitor Center.

White River Visitor Center 003

Tan Badlands National Park sign bids visitors farewell and cooperation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

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White canvased Tipi under partially cloudy sky amid prairie grasses.

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White River Visitor Center

This visitor center is located on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is only open seasonally.
2022 Summer season, the the last day White River Visitor Center will be open is October 14.
As the visitor center is on the Pine Ridge Reservation, visitors must comply with local COVID Ordinances.  Masks are RECOMMENDED and social distancing is effect.  Maximum occupancy is 10.

Off Season (October - May)

Red circle with date and text Badlands National Park White River VC.

WRVC Passport Stamp

Square red stamp with text OSPRA South Unit around a red rectangle with several tipis in a circle.

WRVC OSPRA Passport Stamp

The South Unit of the park has a standard passport stamp and one from the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority.

The rugged beauty of the Badlands draws visitors from around the world. These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Ancient horses and rhinos once roamed here. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets live today.