Ben Reifel Visitor Center
43.7491, -101.9417 · Park boundary: National Park Service
Located at park headquarters, the Ben Reifel Visitor Center features exhibits, an air conditioned theater,and restroom facilities.
- Every day
- 9:00AM - 4:00PM
Hours vary depending on season. Be sure to scroll further down to view hours
- Summer Hours · May 4, 2026 – Oct 4, 2026 · Every day 8:00AM - 5:00PM
- Winter Hours · Oct 5, 2026 – May 3, 2027 · Every day 9:00AM - 4:00PM
- Thanksgiving · Nov 26, 2026 – Nov 26, 2026 · Closed
- Christmas · Dec 25, 2026 – Dec 25, 2026 · Closed
- New Years · Jan 1, 2027 – Jan 1, 2027 · Closed
Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04
Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04
A brown circular stamp with the date and text "Badlands National Park" and "Ben Reifel VC, Interior, SD" included.
The visitor center is located several miles south of exit 131 off of Interstate I-90. It is also accessible via Highway 44 through the town of Interior.
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.
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