South Dakota Highway 240

Highway 240
Badlands Loop
Route information
Defined by SDCL §31-4-216
Maintained by SDDOT
Length	40.033 mi[1] (64.427 km)
Major junctions
West end	I-90 / I-90 Bus. / US 14 in Wall
	SD 377 in Badlands National Park northeast of Interior
East end	I-90 south of Cottonwood
Location
Counties	Pennington, Jackson
Highway system
South Dakota Highways Interstate U.S. State ← SD 239 SD 244 →

South Dakota Highway 240 (SD 240), also signed as the Badlands Loop, is a 40.033-mile-long (64.427 km) state highway located in the southeastern part of Pennington and the northwestern part of Jackson counties of the southwestern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It travels through the eastern portion of Badlands National Park.

Route description

SD 240 winding through Badlands National Park

SD 240 begins in Wall at exit 110 of Interstate 90 (I-90). From this point, it travels south to Badlands National Park, where it turns southeast. At the Badlands Headquarters at Cedar Pass, the highway turns northeast, ending at exit 131 of I-90 near Cactus Flat. The total length of SD 240 is approximately 40 miles (64 km). Because the route enters a national park, there is an entrance fee charged along the highway at either entrance to the park. The fee is $15 per passenger vehicle, good for 7 days.

History

Eastern portions of the highway that are currently SD 240 (generally from the park headquarters to Cactus Flat) were originally part of the original alignment of SD 40. Construction began in the early 1930s. By 1944, a gravel surface was on the Badlands Loop alignment, and by the late 1940s, the Badlands Loop was signed as U.S. Route 16 Alternate (US 16 Alt.), in addition to SD 40 along the eastern portion of the loop. These two numbers were used until the early 1970s, when the SD 40 number was replaced by an extension of SD 44 (which entered the park from the southeast rather than the northeast).

Around 1980, US 16, which traveled concurrently with I-90, was truncated at its eastern end to Rapid City. Since US 16 Alt. no longer met the parent route, the route number was changed to SD 240.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Pennington	Wall	0.000	0.000	I-90 / US 14 (I-90 Bus. west (Glenn Street north)) – Rapid City, Kadoka	Western terminus of SD 240; eastern terminus of I-90 Bus.; southern terminus of Glenn Street; I-90 exit 110
Jackson	Badlands National Park	31.512	50.714	SD 377 south to SD 44 – Interior, Rapid City, Cedar Pass Campground	Northern terminus of SD 377
	​	40.033	64.427	I-90 / Cottonwood Road north – Wall, Kadoka	Eastern terminus; roadway continues as Cottonwood Road; I-90 exit 131
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

External links

Route map:

• Badlands National Park Homepage (U.S. National Park Service)
• Badlands Loop Scenic Byway
• South Dakota Highways Page, highways 200 through 1806