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Best Time for The Black Hills & Badlands
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Sweet spot: April, May, June. Computed from NASA POWER climate normals across the route's overnight towns, balancing temperature, rainfall and daylight.
💡 Good to know
- The Needles Highway's granite eye-of-the-needle tunnels are open, Custer State Park's 1,300 bison graze the loop road, and the Badlands glow pink at both ends of the day.
- Sturgis rally week floods the hills with half a million motorcycles — thrilling or avoidable depending on taste; book accordingly.
| Month | Low | High | Rain | Daylight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8.7°C | 1.5°C | 11 mm | 9.1 h | |
| February | −9.4°C | 1.7°C | 16 mm | 10.2 h | ❄ |
| March | −4.7°C | 8.3°C | 26 mm | 11.6 h | ❄ |
| April | −0.7°C | 13.3°C | 53 mm | 13.2 h | ❄ |
| May | 4.9°C | 19.1°C | 87 mm | 14.5 h | |
| June | 11.1°C | 26.2°C | 70 mm | 15.3 h | |
| July | 15.6°C | 31.1°C | 57 mm | 15.0 h | |
| August | 13.9°C | 29.0°C | 48 mm | 13.8 h | |
| September | 8.5°C | 23.4°C | 38 mm | 12.3 h | |
| October | 0.9°C | 13.6°C | 35 mm | 10.8 h | ❄ |
| November | −4.0°C | 7.0°C | 13 mm | 9.4 h | |
| December | −8.2°C | 0.9°C | 13 mm | 8.7 h | ❄ |