Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The badlands view most travelers see, reached from the Painted Canyon Visitor Center at I-94 Exit 32, east of Medora. There is no entrance fee at this overlook, and a paved rim area a short walk from the lot makes it the most accessible badlands look in the park. The rim gazes out over the homeland of the Mandan (Nueta), Hidatsa (Nuxbaaga), and Arikara (Sahnish). The seasonal visitor center runs roughly late April to early November per NPS. The Painted Canyon Nature Trail drops 0.9 miles below the rim for those who want more.

The river that cut the badlands and the spine of all three park units, South, North, and the Elkhorn Ranch unit between them. It was a travel and hunting corridor for the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara long before Roosevelt arrived in 1883. Its banks carry the park's cottonwood gallery forest, which turns gold in late September and early October. NPS trip-planning notes warn that mosquitoes are heavy along the water in June and July.

On the west boundary of the South Unit, the third-highest concentration of petrified wood in the United States, after Petrified Forest National Park and Yellowstone, per NPS. The wood is the fossilized remains of a roughly 60-million-year-old Paleocene forest. Reaching it is a longer day, about 10 miles for the full Petrified Forest Loop per NPS, or a shorter out-and-back from the plateau trailhead off a gravel road. No services on the route.

Black-tailed prairie dog colonies sit right along the South Unit Scenic Loop, where they are visible from the car. NPS manages the prairie dogs as a keystone species and as habitat tied to black-footed ferret recovery across the Plains. Keep your distance and do not approach burrows: prairie-dog fleas can carry sylvatic plague. A reliable wildlife stop for kids who want to see something move without a long hike.

Roosevelt's 1883 ranch cabin, the first of his two Dakota ranches, moved several times before settling beside the South Unit Visitor Center in Medora in 1959 per NPS. Self-guided during visitor-center hours, it is short, indoor, and works for kids who want the Roosevelt story without a hike. It is the most concrete piece of the park's namesake history a family can stand inside, on land that was home to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara before Roosevelt arrived.

The South Unit's developed campground, on the Little Missouri river bottom under cottonwoods a few miles from the Medora entrance. It is reservable for part of the season through Recreation.gov, with some first-come sites. Bison and wild horses pass through the area, and it is the closest camping to the Maltese Cross Cabin and the Scenic Loop. Evening ranger programs run at the Cottonwood Amphitheater in summer.

The 1883 town at the South Unit gate, the only walkable cluster of hotels, restaurants, and services at either unit. The Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation runs much of it, including the Rough Riders Hotel and the summer Medora Musical at the Burning Hills Amphitheater. The North Unit's gateway, Watford City, is a working oil-patch town about 15 miles from that entrance with motel lodging.

The turnaround at the end of the North Unit Scenic Drive, about 14 miles out-and-back per the base dossier, looking down on a wide bend of the Little Missouri. The drive can close above the overlook for bighorn sheep lambing in spring. Per NPS, the North Unit sees far fewer cars than the South, and the canyon sight lines here are longer than anything in the South Unit.

The 36-mile South Unit Scenic Loop per the base dossier strings together bison range, prairie-dog towns, and the Wind Canyon overlook, with numbered pullouts along the way. It is the park's main wildlife drive, and low evening light is when the badlands stand out. Bison have the right of way. NPS asks visitors to stay in the vehicle and keep 25 yards. Parts of the loop close in winter snow and spring mud.

The shortest hike in the park that reaches a real view: a 0.4-mile loop with about 50 feet of gain per the base dossier, ending at a wind-cut overlook of a Little Missouri bend on the South Unit Scenic Loop. It is the clearest won't-end-in-a-meltdown hike for younger legs, and a common sunset stop on the loop drive. Confirm current trail status on the NPS hiking page.

The classic North Unit day hike, a 4.3-mile loop with about 700 feet of gain per the base dossier, climbing out of a coulee onto a ridge with long canyon views. It is too much for the youngest hikers and sized for the older-kid, we-want-the-real-badlands reader. Full sun, no water, carry your own. Re-confirm the distance and gain against the NPS hiking page before you go.

The South Unit Scenic Loop is the park's wildlife drive: bison, prairie dogs, and the wild horse herd of roughly 200 head per the base dossier live along it. The horses are the park's most-debated animals. An NPS plan to remove the herd was suspended in April 2024 after public and political opposition. The park's bison, reintroduced in 1956, are now a source for transfers to tribal herds, including MHA Nation lands, a living restoration story. Bison have the right of way. Stay in the vehicle and keep 25 yards. The North Unit's animal is the bighorn sheep instead.