Badlands National Park is one of the best places in the United States to photograph the Milky Way: a certified International Dark Sky Park with Bortle Class 2 skies, more than 7,500 visible stars on a clear night, and jagged rock formations that give your night shots a foreground almost no other dark-sky location can offer. The galactic core rides the southern sky here from late spring through early fall, and the park’s overlooks put you in position within minutes of parking. Here’s how to plan the shot, what settings to start with, and where to stand.
When to Shoot: Season and Moon
The Milky Way’s bright core is an evening target from roughly June through September, climbing highest on warm mid-summer nights. Two rules decide your night: shoot within the week around the new moon (moonlight washes out the core), and wait for true darkness — 60 to 90 minutes after sunset. Our best time to visit guide covers the broader seasons.
Where to Stand
The classic compositions put the eroded spires of the Badlands Wall between you and the southern sky. The overlooks along the Badlands Loop Road — Pinnacles on the west end, Panorama Point and Big Badlands Overlook on the east — all work; Sage Creek Rim Road is the darkest option of all. We’ve broken these down in our guide to the best stargazing spots in the Badlands.
Starting Camera Settings
- Lens: your widest, fastest lens — 14–24mm at f/1.8–f/2.8 is the sweet spot
- Shutter: 15–25 seconds (longer and the stars trail; wider lenses tolerate longer exposures)
- ISO: start at 3200, adjust between 1600 and 6400 to taste
- Focus: manual, set to infinity on a bright star using live view — autofocus will hunt all night
- Support: a tripod is non-negotiable; use a 2-second timer or remote release
Protect Your Night Vision (and Your Shot)
Use red-light headlamps only — white light costs you 20–30 minutes of dark adaptation and ruins the exposures of everyone near you. Arrive before sunset to scout compositions in daylight, then let the sky come to you. And dress warmer than the forecast suggests: the prairie sheds heat fast after dark, even in August.
Want a Guide on the Dark Roads?
Our private Badlands Stargazing Tour is built for exactly this: we handle park entry at golden hour, pick the best composition spot for that night’s conditions, and bring zero-gravity chairs, a telescope, star charts, and red-light flashlights — with hands-on night-photography help included. Prefer dusk light? The Sunset & Golden Hour Tour ends at blue hour with the first stars. Browse all our Badlands tours, or read why the park earned its International Dark Sky Park certification.
Badlands Tour Company is operated by My XO Adventures, a Rapid City, South Dakota tour operator rated 5.0 stars across 600+ Google reviews.
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