Badlands Private Tour: Family-Owned Expert Guides

Embark on a private Badlands tour with GeoFunTrek experts. Explore the secrets of this unique landscape with knowledgeable guides and create lasting memories with your group.

Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Museum of Geology - “What the mind does not know, the eye cannot see” is particularly true of the Badlands. This is where the mysteries of the Badlands are unveiled, revealing its secrets. This scientific institution is where the geology and paleontology of the Badlands were defined and comprehended. Time spent here with local experts will broaden…
What's Included
  • Bottled water included
  • Complimentary snacks provided
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
Additional Information

The Badlands hold numerous mysteries that only an experienced guide can uncover and explain. GeoFunTrek Tours boasts local guides with decades of expertise. There are no seasonal, part-time, or trainee guides here. As a family-owned business, all tours are led by family members: Cindy, Christopher, and John Esposti. They possess the knowledge and skills…

Location
Museum of Geology
501 East Saint Joseph Street, 3rd Floor of O'Hara Builidng on SDSMT campus
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(27 Ratings)
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Jdoylefdoyle
Jun 4, 2026
Spectacular, Educational, Fun - 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!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tcaywo
May 15, 2026
Fun in the Badlands - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tkstravel
Oct 28, 2025
Badlands / Bear Country / Wall Drug - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Melcoker
Jun 26, 2025
A fun day in Deadwood and Spearfish Canyon - 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!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rachael_j
Apr 24, 2025
Amazing Experience 10000/10!!! - 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.
Review provided by Viator
Philip_p
Apr 17, 2025
Mount Rushmore and Badlands - 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).
Review provided by Viator
Andrew_c
Oct 4, 2024
Highly recommended! - 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!
Review provided by Viator
Susan_c
Sep 17, 2024
Excellent tour - 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.
Review provided by Viator
Robert_m
Sep 5, 2024
Badlands excursion - 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!
Review provided by Viator
Gary_h
Jun 23, 2024
Knowledge and fun. Accommodating. - 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.
Review provided by Viator
From $250
up to 9 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).