"What the mind does not know, the eye cannot see", is especially true of the Badlands. Here is where the veil of mystery will be lifted from the Badlands and its secrets revealed. This is the scientific institution where the geology and paleontology of the Badlands were defined and understood. The time spent here with your local experts will open your mind to what is to come. The museum is closed on Sunday and Federal Holidays.
The Badlands are as large and diverse as they are legendary. Fortunately this is a private tour, and you are free to determine how you spend your time there. Here is what we recommend: 1) Travel to the ghost town of Scenic, SD and the remote Sheep Mountain Table area. This is an area that few get to see and, you are ready to experience and understand; 2) Journey the Badlands Scenic Byway and stop at the park visitor center and several overlooks and trails.
Wall Drug is a classic American Roadside Attraction! It is a monument to the free enterprise system. You should see it just to restore your faith in entrepreneurs and how things can be done right. Oh yes, and you can eat and buy souvenirs there too.
This is a National Historic Site about the Cold War and the missile fields that existed here. These sites have limited days and hours of operation. We can visit the preserved missile silo and visitor center when open or spend more time in the Badlands or somewhere else. The choice is yours.
Chris was a terrific guide for The Badlands and surrounding area. He provided us with lots of information and showed up us all the best of the Badlands. He was also genuine in his desire to make the tour entertaining and a highlight of our trip to South Dakota. Highly recommend !
Great private tour! Chris, our guide, was wonderful. He knew all the best places to stop in The Badlands National Park. Loved the Museum of Geology. That was an essential stop in order to understand the geologic history of this area. Stopped at Wall Drug as well. It's one of those essential tourist stops. The Minute Man Missile Museum was an excellent stop; especially for those of us that lived during the Cold War. Would highly recommend this private tour.
We did a private tour to the badlands and also saw a museum with dinosaurs fossils and an old military silo that held nuclear bombs. We saw a ton of wildlife in the badlands and the rock formations and colors were gorgeous! The drive and viewpoint stops in the badlands made the whole trip worth it. Our guide Chris was awesome! Very friendly and accommodating. Let us choose our schedule and route. Very flexible and nice.
John Esposti was our (husband and I) tour guide for Badlands Sunbeams & Moonbeams and he is extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and customer focused. GeoFunTrek is a family operated tour business and they are very proud of the service they provide, rightly so. It was impressive because we had to cancel in 2025 and John was very accommodating so in 2026 there was no doubt who we were going to book with. It was a fun day and being a local we learned from John!
Chris picked us up and we spent the rest of the day seeing and learning about the Badlands and the wider area. Chris tuned into us early and tailored our time perfectly. We would recommend GeoFunTrek.com to all our friends.
Chris was very knowledgeable about all of the sights he took us to visit. We really appreciated that he let us know that it was our tour and that we could stay as long or short as we wanted at the places we took us. He was very accommodating in working around the government shutdown. We were not able to visit a few places normally on the tour because of the shutdown but Chris made sure we had an amazing day.
John was a fantastic tour guide who showed great wealth of knowledge and patience with our family of 4. We have 2 preteens who learned a lot about science and history. He took us to see the beautiful Spearfish Canyon and then we toured the Lead gold mine which conducts research in neutrinos. We then went to Deadwood to watch h the shoot out reenactments and learn about the famous characters Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, saw their burials sites at Mount Moriah cemetery. We did a walking tour with an actor dressed as Marshall Bullock. John dropped us off at convenient locations and took care of the parking and all the tickets for us, allowing us to enjoy the activities and events without having to deal with the planning and hassle. He even provided big umbrellas when it started to rain. We went to Tatanka museum to learn about the bison. It was a wonderful day of learning and fun!
My husband and I did this tour with Chris and he just made this experience amazing. Despite it raining off and on all day, he made the most of it with our raincoats and umbrellas. He was very knowledgeable and let us choose how we wanted our day to go. Would recommend this to everyone for a fun day full of fun activities and hitting the best scenic spots.
Cindy our tour guide was excellent. She grew up in Keystone and her family has been in the tour industry for her entire life. Cindy knew all the secret scenic spots which made for a wonderful two days( we took the Mount Rushmore tour the day before).
Tour Date: 9/24/24 This is my family's first time in South Dakota. We have wanted to go to the Badlands for quite sometime now and we wanted it to be the best experience. We spoke to John, one of the owners before the tour for a special request- to see the sunset in the Badlands. John said we'll check the weather and if it was favorable, we will adjust the tour time so we can see it. We got lucky that the weather was good on the day of the tour. Chris, another one of the owners, was our guide. He took us to the Museum of Geology and then to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Park. Chris knew we collect cancellation stamps at each national park we go to and made sure to take us to the visitor center of the Badlands and to different viewing areas of the park. The Badlands was beautiful and awe-inspiring! We weren't rushed, we had enough time to take photos and Chris took our photos when we asked him to. We went to Wall Drug for dinner and went back to the Badlands in time to set up for sunset. It was wonderful! Chris said we got lucky because it was one of the clearest sunsets he has seen lately. On our way home, we mentioned to Chris that we would like to see some stars and the Milky Way and he promised to take us to a place close to our hotel to see the night sky (see photo). He went out of his way to accommodate this special request and we appreciated that. We highly recommend this private tour of the Badlands, etc. It was an amazing way to experience a beautiful part of South Dakota!
We really enjoyed touring the Badlands with Chris! He was a great guide and very informative. We also got to see the Prairie Homestead and the Wall drugstore. We would highly recommend Chris and his company.
John was an excellent tour guide! His knowledge of the Badlands and its Geology was amazing! He was also very knowledgeable about the Black Hills region in general. Once in the Badlands we pretty much tailored our own day!
Chris is very knowledgeable as he grew up in the area. He knows the geology, the animals and how to find them. We even saw a burrowing owl standing sentinel over its new home in the prairie dog town.
A great day exploring the Badlands. Chris was our guide for 2nd day and his was terrific! Very interesting geology. Enjoyed the Geology museum and Minuteman Missle site/museum was very interesting. Definitely recommend this tour! Private tours the best!
Wanted to give a big round of thanks to our guide Chris for an A+ tour of the Badlands. Although the scenery alone can only be described as stunning, Chris’ commentary and insights added so much to our day. Visited a fossil /artifact/geology museum to get an understanding of how the badlands evolved, a wonderful burger and fry lunch in Wall, and then a drive through the Badlands that culminated in a view of sun setting over this beautiful park. Chris was knowledgeable, fun and so friendly! Having a driver allowed us to see all the highlights and allowed everyone to enjoy the trip without the stress of searching for sights. Booking was great, follow thru perfect. Would absolutely recommend… and see the Badlands… like a surreal landscape like no place else I’ve ever been.
Cindy is the best tour guide you will ever have the good fortune to meet! We took a Badlands tour with her at the end of September on the last day of our vacation and she was absolutely fantastic. It is quite evident that she has spent a lifetime in tourism and is an expert in her field. She educates you with knowledge about the Black Hills and Badlands areas and you enjoy every minute. We told her what we most wanted to see and she went above and beyond to make our day perfect. Look no further if you want the best tour possible. Thank you Cindy!
One word, Fantastic! My family and I booked two tours with GeoFun Trek Tours. Our first tour was to the Northern Black Hills with John as our tour guide. Knowledgeable does not even begin to describe John. Through his knowledge, love of the area, and the poetry he recites made for a fantastic day. He was patient, understanding, and allowed us to make it a very personal and special private tour. Our second tour was to the Badlands with John as our tour guide again. Through his knowledge of this area, his ability to communicate this knowledge and share his experiences was unbelievable. His passion comes through which allows one to see it through his eyes not as a tourist. Again, an unbelievable tour and experience.
My 12-year old and I spent an incredible day touring with Cindy. She is incredibly knowledgeable, flexible and thoughtful (and attentive to restroom stops!). Cindy took the time to understand what we were interested in seeing and tailored the day to us. We experienced places we wouldn’t have thought/known to visit on our own and especially loved learning about how the Badlands were formed and what we were looking at in the layers of rock. And, we were very fortunate to see big horned sheep and buffaloes! We highly recommend GeoTrek Tours - worth every penny!
Great tour with Chris who was excellent and very knowledgeable. Chris went out of his way to ensure we spent sufficient time at the places which we particularly wanted to. Would definitely recommend this tour.
Minuteman missile base The striking scenery of The Badlands Chris was s wonderful tour guide from Geo Tours. He had special insights with regard to the various aspects of our tour snd gave us ideas for our own “free time” the next day.
We were fortunate to choose this tour and this guide, John. He was fantastic, very knowledgeable, professional, friendly, insightful, and extremely accommodating. John visibly enjoyed sharing with us the beauty of the area, with the geological and historical information, stories, and even poetry. We not only enjoyed beautiful scenery of Badlands, but also did short hikes, and met bison herd, antelopes, bighorn sheep, and prairie dogs. We started our tour at the museum of geology, where John intelligibly explained to us the geological history of badlands. We visited Minuteman Missile National Historic Site - deactivated missile launch site. We also saw widely advertised the Wall Drug Store. It was a pure kitsch, but the story of the business success behind it John relayed to us was amazing. It would be great to have John as a guide in every city we will visit. Tanya & Peter
Our group of 7 seniors is still delighting family and friends with kind words about Cindy and our Badlands tour. Not only her knowledge but also the pleasure she has in sharing the history of her area, its beauty and geology made our day one of the best in our first visit to South Dakota. From our first contact to John to our goodbyes with Cindy after the sunset, every plan we suggested was shaped just for us. It was a great and beautiful day! Thank you, Cindy!
This tour was awesome. Cindy was very knowledgeable about the area and we enjoyed her expertise. Must do!
Cindy was very friendly, kind and nice. We liked the pre-tour education at the Geology Museum plus we got to see the downtown and president statues. Tour of Badlands is amazing. Try to take a trail if it’s not too hot! We also saw the homesteader property and 3 bison bulls.
We got to see them digging up a fossil in the Badlands. This was very educational and we loved it !!
Cindy with GeoFun Trek killed it again. The Badlands was our second tour with her. We chose the sun/sunset tour. After taking us through the Museum of Geology, we headed to the Badlands where she took us to the grandest viewpoints in the park giving us the history and geology of the formations. Just before sunset, Cindy took us to the perfect spot for our evening picnic, and we enjoyed the most spectacular sunset ever. Another beautiful day in SD! Kudos GeoFun Trek (Cindy) for making our vacation one to remember.
The Titan Missile Site! So cool! Everything was great, to be honest. The guide Cindy was knowledgeable, friendly, and most accommodating. We will never forget our trip with her to the Badlands.
Our guide Cindy is a national treasure. She was full of useful and interesting information. Cindy was willing to adapt to changes we requested to the itinerary. We had her undivided attention for the day and really enjoyed the badlands. I highly recommend this tour!
We had a great tour with GeoFunTrek. Cindy was our tour guide and she was very knowledgeable, interesting and accommodating. Last minute upon arrival to pick us up, we decided to change the tour to go to the Badlands instead of Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse. We went to Mt. Rushmore the day before. She was just fine with it. She also picked a nice lunch stop, and we had time to check out Wall Drug. If you go to the Badlands, you have to go to Wall Drug to say you have been there. Great tour -- fun time for the entire family.
John's an amazing tour guide! My husband and I had so much fun. Even though the weather turned cold and the wind was chilly, we saw everything we'd hoped to see. We were able to jump out of the warm vehicle and take short hikes, and get fantastic photos. A plus for me was the drive in the snow on the way there (I live in a warm climate), but not having to do the driving myself, a luxury. We learned a lot from John about the area--its history and geology. This tour was the highlight of my trip and I heartily recommend it!
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email