Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park preserves the North Dakota badlands, a rugged sweep of country carved by the Little Missouri River over millions of years. Water and wind have cut the soft rock into buttes, ravines, and rounded hills, laying bare bands of colored earth stacked one on top of another. The word badlands came from early travelers who found the broken ground hard to cross, but the colors and shapes are the whole reason to come. Early and late in the day, when the light goes warm, the hills seem to glow.

The park runs wild with animals. More than six hundred free-roaming bison move through the grasslands and river bottoms, the largest land animals in North America, and small bands of wild horses roam the South Unit, a rare sight in any national park. Elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, and pronghorn share the country, and whole towns of prairie dogs dot the flats, their burrows and chatter making a scene of their own. Keep your distance from all of them; these are wild animals in wild country, not a zoo.

The park comes in two main pieces set far apart. The South Unit, right at the edge of the little frontier town of Medora, is the more visited half, with a scenic loop drive, the Painted Canyon Overlook, and Roosevelt's own Maltese Cross Cabin near the visitor center. The North Unit sits about seventy miles up the road near Watford City, quieter and, many say, home to some of the most dramatic badlands scenery of all. A small third piece, the remote Elkhorn Ranch Unit, marks the site of the ranch Roosevelt loved most.

• South Unit Entrance at Medora, off Interstate 94 at exit 27, is open year-round and is the main way in for most visitors. The South Unit Visitor Center, the Maltese Cross Cabin, and the South Unit scenic loop all start here.
• North Unit Entrance, off US-85 near Watford City, is open year-round and leads to the quieter, more dramatic North Unit and its own scenic drive out to the Oxbow Overlook. It sits about seventy miles north of Medora, so plan it as a separate trip.
• The Elkhorn Ranch Unit, the remote site of Roosevelt's favorite ranch, is reached by gravel backcountry roads only. There are no services out there, so ask at a visitor center about road conditions before you go.
• Getting there is easy on the interstate: the South Unit sits right on I-94 in far western North Dakota, about 130 miles west of Bismarck and 60 miles east of the Montana line. For the North Unit, follow US-85 north from I-94 near Belfield toward Watford City.

• Medora sits just half a mile from the south entrance, a restored 1880s frontier town with Roosevelt-era buildings, a summer musical, and an easy walkable main street that makes a natural base camp.
• The Chateau de Mores Historic Site is the 1883 mansion of a French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores, who founded Medora and ranched alongside Roosevelt during the same short-lived cattle boom.
• The Killdeer Mountains, about 90 miles north, are forested buttes rising out of the open prairie, a green island in the grasslands with a long human history.
• The Enchanted Highway is a string of giant metal sculptures along ND-49 south of Dickinson, an easy roadside detour of oversized geese, grasshoppers, and tin people scattered across the plains.

Long before it was a park, this was and remains the homeland of Native peoples, among them the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, now joined together as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the MHA Nation, along with the Lakota and others who hunted, traveled, and lived across the northern plains. They followed the bison herds through this country for generations, and the badlands and the Little Missouri carried meaning long before any rancher or president arrived. The Maah Daah Hey Trail nearby still carries a Mandan name that means something long-lasting and worthy of respect.

A young Theodore Roosevelt first came out to hunt bison in 1883, near the end of the great herds. He fell for the country and bought into the cattle business, and when his wife and his mother died on the very same day in 1884, he came back to the badlands to grieve and work. He ran the Maltese Cross and Elkhorn ranches, rode long days, and threw himself into the hard, physical life of the frontier. He later said, plainly, that he never would have become president if it had not been for his years in North Dakota.

What Roosevelt saw here also changed him. He watched the last of the bison shot out, the grasslands overgrazed, and the wild game grow scarce, and it turned him into one of the country's great conservationists. As president he protected some 230 million acres of public land, creating national forests, wildlife refuges, and monuments. The very badlands that shaped him became a national park in his honor in 1978, the only national park named for one person.

The land itself was slow in filling out into a park. Parts of it were set aside as a wildlife refuge and then a national memorial park in the years after Roosevelt's death, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built roads, trails, and shelters here in the 1930s. Bison were brought back to the badlands in the 1950s after being gone for decades, and today the herds Roosevelt feared were lost forever move once more across the country that made him.

• Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the only national park named after a single person, honoring the president who called this badlands country the making of him.
• Roosevelt's own Maltese Cross Cabin still stands near the South Unit Visitor Center, a small log ranch house you can walk through, moved and preserved as a piece of his frontier years.
• The park is one of very few in the country with wild horses roaming free; small bands move through the South Unit and are a favorite sight for visitors who spot them on the ridgelines.
• The two main units sit about seventy miles apart, and the drive between them crosses open prairie with almost nothing in between, so most visitors pick just one unit per trip.
• Bison here regularly stop traffic on the loop roads, standing in the road or crossing at their leisure; the park's advice is simply to wait them out with your engine off and never crowd them.
• The colorful bands in the badlands include layers of bentonite clay that turn slick and sticky as glue when wet, which is why locals call the mud gumbo and why trails can close after rain.
• Slow-burning underground coal seams, called clinker or scoria, have baked some of the badlands rock a brick red, adding to the layered colors you see in the canyon walls.
• The night skies here are strikingly dark, so far from any city that on a clear night the Milky Way, the pale band of our own galaxy, arches right across the sky.

• An entrance fee applies, a per-vehicle pass good for seven days; check the park website for current rates, and note that interagency annual passes are accepted.
• The South Unit at Medora is the most visited half and the easiest to reach, with the scenic loop drive and the Painted Canyon Overlook just off the interstate.
• The North Unit is about sixty-eight miles north of Medora near Watford City, less crowded and, many say, even more dramatic; give it its own half day rather than trying to squeeze both units into one.
• The Painted Canyon Overlook is right off I-94 at exit 32 and is free to reach even without entering the fee area, the fastest badlands view if you are just passing through.
• Wildlife is everywhere: bison often block the road, so approach cautiously, keep well back, and turn your engine off and wait rather than trying to pass close by.

Yes. Theodore Roosevelt National Park charges a per-vehicle entrance fee that is good for seven days, and interagency annual passes are accepted. The Painted Canyon Overlook just off I-94 is free to reach even without paying the fee. Check the National Park Service website for the current rate before you go.

The two main units sit about seventy miles apart, with open prairie and little in between, so most people pick one unit per trip rather than trying to do both in a day. The South Unit at Medora is the most visited and the easiest to reach, right off Interstate 94, with the scenic loop and the Painted Canyon Overlook. The North Unit near Watford City is quieter and, many say, even more dramatic. If you only have time for one, the South Unit is the classic choice; if you want solitude and big scenery, make the drive north.

Both main units are open year-round, but the scenic loop drives and some park roads can close in winter or after heavy snow or rain, and the badlands clay turns slick when wet. The gravel road to the remote Elkhorn Ranch Unit can be impassable in bad weather. Summer and early fall are the most reliable times for full access; check the park website for current road status before you go.

Yes. More than six hundred free-roaming bison live in the park, and they often graze right beside, or stand right in, the loop roads. The South Unit is also home to small bands of wild horses, a rare sight in any national park, usually spotted along the ridgelines. Elk, bighorn sheep, and prairie dog towns round out the wildlife. All of these are wild animals, so keep your distance, stay in your vehicle when they are near, and never approach or feed them.

Each main unit has its own scenic loop or drive. The South Unit loop passes prairie dog towns, badlands overlooks, and river bottoms where bison graze, and it ties in the Painted Canyon Overlook nearby. The North Unit drive climbs to the Oxbow Overlook above a big bend in the Little Missouri River. Both are slow, easy roads best taken with plenty of stops, especially early or late in the day when the light sets the badlands glowing and the animals are most active.

A young Roosevelt came to these badlands to hunt in 1883 and returned in 1884 to ranch and grieve after his wife and mother died on the same day. He ran cattle here and later said he never would have become president without his years in North Dakota. Watching the bison disappear and the land overgrazed turned him into one of the country's greatest conservationists. His Maltese Cross Cabin still stands near the South Unit Visitor Center, and the park was named in his honor in 1978.

Late spring through early fall is the most comfortable window, with green grass and active wildlife in May and June and warm, clear days into September and early October, when the cottonwoods along the river turn gold. Summer can get hot on the open badlands, and winter is cold and quiet with possible road closures. Early morning and evening are the best hours in any season, for softer light and more animals out and about.

You can take in the Painted Canyon Overlook and drive the South Unit loop with a few stops in a half day. To slow down for wildlife, walk a trail, and see the Maltese Cross Cabin, give the South Unit a full day. Add another half day or more if you want to make the seventy-mile drive up to the quieter North Unit.

The park has campgrounds in both units, and the little town of Medora right at the south entrance offers lodging, food, and services within walking distance of the gate. Watford City serves the North Unit. There are no large hotels inside the park itself. Book ahead in summer, when Medora is busiest, and see our sidebar for Boutels within a comfortable drive.

Pets are allowed in developed areas, campgrounds, parking lots, and along roads, but not on trails or in the backcountry, and they must be leashed. Keep them well away from bison and other wildlife, bring plenty of water for the open badlands heat, and never leave a pet in a parked vehicle. Check the park website for the current pet rules.