Palmer Creek Unit
Palmer Creek Unit is the smallest and most remote section of Badlands National Park. Here you may explore the mixed grass prairie with the backdrop of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires for which the Badlands is famous. As in the Stronghold Unit, there are no established trails in the Palmer Creek Unit. You may hike anywhere in this region, but you must be familiar with navigation and routefinding, as it is easy to get disoriented. All routes into Palmer Creek are impassable if any rain has fallen recently. Inquire at the White River Visitor Center for road conditions.

Permit Information
No permit is required, but all backpackers are urged to stop at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Backpackers may camp anywhere in the park that is at least one-half mile from any road or trail and not visible from park roads. No fires are permitted.

Directions
Access to the Palmer Creek Unit is extrememly difficult; all of the roads are privately owned and you need 4WD. From Hwy 44, head south on 589/27 at Scenic, 20 miles to White River Visitor Center, which is your launching point into the Palmer Creek Unit.

Information Center
There is no information center in the Palmer Creek Unit. Visitors should stop at the White River Visitor Center in neighboring Stronghold Unit, open from June to late August.

Activities