Theodore Roosevelt National Park Things to Do

The gusty winds that give Wind Canyon its name have also carved it into a beautiful and fascinating place.

The 11th stop on the Caprock Coulee Trail

The 13th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Priarie Dog Colony Roadside Pulloff

A wayside pulloff surrounded by one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, the prairie grassland.

A wayside pulloff surrounded by one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, the prairie grassland.

The 10th stop on the Caprock Coulee Trail

15th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Explore the badlands environment along a nature trail with moderate to steep grades. Take along a trail brochure, available at the trailhead, to learn as you adventure. This trail has stairs.

A shelter built by the CCC at River Bend Overlook, with a beautiful view of the surrounding badlands.

The second stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature trail guide.

This wayside pull-off offers a spot to get out and stretch your legs as well as one the few vault toilets along Scenic loop drive.

Second stop on Elkhorn Ranch Audio Tour

The 7th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Scoria Point is a scenic view point name for scoria, a reddish rock layer that often caps the tops of the buttes in the badlands. This overlooks allows visitors to take in the broken badlands formations and keep on the lookout for wildlife like bison.

Skyline Vista Trail is a great accessible introduction to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

12th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

The parking area for the Talkington Trail. Here you can access a loop that combines the Jones Creek Trail, the Lower Talkington Trail, and the Lower Paddock Creek Trail. Hike a little ways down the trail and back, or add it to the Upper Paddock/Talkington Loop for an epic adventure of 23.4 miles. See park map for more information.

The Long X Trail was one of the routes used by cattlemen to move cattle from the southern parts of the country to the prairies of modern-day eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The trail was a convenient route across the challenging terrain of the northern Little Missouri Badlands, and it passed through what would become the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Roosevelt himself is not known to have used the Long X Trail to move his cattle. To help tell the story of ranching in this area, the park maintains a small display herd of longhorn cattle that you may see raoming through the park.

The end of the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Here is the turn off for Buck Hill, the highest point in the park that can be accessed by road. The road winds just under a mile to the top and is worth the quick detour. There you can access the short but steep 0.2mi trail.

Parking lot for the Upper Jones Creek Trail

Stop 17 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail.

Trail post 15 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 16 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 1 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

This overlook set high on a plateau allows you to look out over layers of rock that form the badlands. Many of the buttes you see are capped withbluish gray bentonite clay. As you continue along the plateau keep on the lookout for bison that may be grazing in the grassland.

A wayside stop in the North Unit

Stop at this overlook to enjoy the awesome vista that is the Little Missouri Badlands.

Trail post 2 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

The original entrance station for the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Trail post 3 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 4 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 5 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Take a short hike above the badlands on one of the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's accessible trails.

14th stop on the caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Third stop on the Elkhorn Ranch Audio Tour

The 5th stop on the Elkhorn Ranch Audio Tour.

The 6th stop on the Elkhorn Ranch Audio Tour.

16th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Th last stop on the Sceenic Loop Drive Audio Tour

Get a new perspective on the badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's South Unit from this scenic vista.

Stop 5 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

From this trail head you can access many different trail systems in the park to explore the rugged badlands. You can access the Lower Paddock Creek Trail, the Upper Paddock Creek Trail, or the Talkington Trail and choose whether you want to hike out and back or connect trails to form a larger loop. See park map for more trail details.

Beef Corral Bottom looks out over one of the many prairie dog towns that are active throughout the park. Just beyond you can see the Little Missouri River cutting through the valley. While this area provides and excellent example of the biodiversity in prairie grasslands, places like this are under threat from non-native plants that outcompete them for resources.

The 9th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail.

One of the highest points in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Buck Hill offers incredible, 360° views.

The Buckhorn Trail is an 11.4mi loop that travels through prairie dog towns, sagebrush terraces, deep canyons, and high open prairies, allowing you to experience a variety of plant and animal life. As you take in this landscape of layered hills, and strangely shaped rock formations, it might feel like you’ve left the flat farmlands of North Dakota and entered another planet. Roosevelt himself once described the badlands as “so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth.”

On August 25th, 1884, Sewall and Dow arrived by train and moved into the shack or the den near the site where the ranch house would be built. By October, they began collecting wood, mainly cottonwood trees, to build the Elkhorn Ranch House. By mid-December, the walls of the house were completed. Years after the home was completed, Sewall gave a good description of the location of the ranch house and how they built it. “We started building the ranch house in a clump of large cottonwood trees near the bank of the Little Missouri River, west from the house. It was smooth and grassy for about 100 yards. Then there was a belt of cottonwoods which went back for some 200 yards. They were the largest trees I ever saw in Dakota, and it was from them that we got most of the timber for the house. Back of them the steep clay hills rose to the height of 2 or 300ft and looked like miniature mountains. Little to the northwest was a hill with coal veins in it, which burned red in the dark. To the east we looked across the river about 200 yards, then across a wide bottom covered with grass, sagebrush and some small trees to the steep clay hills, which rose almost perpendicular from the river bottom. Beyond that was the badlands for perhaps 20 miles. Early in October, we began hewing timber for the house, and we were at work getting materials almost all the time until New Years. I designed the house myself, and it was a sizable place, 60ft long, 30ft wide, and seven feet high, with a flat roof and a porch where, after the day's work, Theodore used to sit in the rocking chair reading poetry.”

These unusual, round rock formations stand out against the broken landscape of the North Dakota badlands.

The Caprock Coulee Nature Trail is a 0.8 mile section of the Caprock Coulee Trail in the park's North Unit. The nature trail trail shows the natural and geologic variety of the badlands. It also provides a rare look at a densely wooded area of the park. When you reach the end of the nature trail, turn back for a trip totaling 1.6 miles. Or, if you are prepared for a longer hike, continue on the Caprock Coulee Trail for a hike of 4.1 miles. Wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing. Carry extra water and a trail map. As you hike, stop at each numbered trail post and read the corresponding text below. Remember to Leave No Trace; Help preserve the park for future generations by leaving everythign just the way you find it.

Stop 4 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Trail post 10 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 11 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 12 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 13 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 14 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 6 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 7 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 8 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

Trail post 9 on the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail

The turn to the Coal Vein Trail Head. A once activly burning coal vein is now an excilant place to explore badlands geology.

The trailhead for the Coal Vein Guided Nature Trail.

First stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trial

The 6th stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

The original location of Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch Cabin.

Take a short trail to reach the location where Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch once stood. While the cabin is no longer standing, some of the foundation stones remain.

Stop 18 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail.

Stop 3 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail.

Stop 19 on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

Stop on the South Unit Audio Tour

Stop 20 on the Caprock Coulee Trail

The 7th stop on the Elkhorn Ranch Audio Tour.

8th Stop on the Caprock Coulee Nature Trail

The first home of Theodore Roosevelt in the Little Missouri badlands of North Dakota.

This is the first pullout on the Scenic Loop Drive and allows you to overlook the town of Medora and the Little Missouri River below. The town was named after the wife of the entrepreneurial Frenchman the Marquis de Morès who was a cattle rancher and key player in the area in the 1880s. Prior to the founding of Medora there was the lawless settlement of Little Missouri on the west side of the river where Theodore Roosevelt arrived when he first visited the badlands.

Enjoy a stunning scenic vista of the meandering Little Missouri River surrounded by tall cottonwood trees and impressive buttes.

The descent seen at this stop is the beginning of the Painted Canyon Nature Trail! This quick 1-mile hike is a great introduction to the various habitat types that are not only present in this area but also the park as a whole. As you walk the beginning of the trail, you will see a late-stage habitat type in the park, the Rocky Mountain juniper woodland. Forests are by no means the dominant habitat in the park but still serve an important function in the ecosystem. Mainly found on the cooler north face of the buttes, the junipers slow the effect erosion can have on the slopes they grow on. Not only is it good for erosion prevention, but the juniper woodland also serves many purposes for the park’s wildlife. Elk prefer to reside in the woodlands to either escape the summer heat or take shelter from the cold winter winds. The berries produced by the junipers serve as a prominent food source for several bird species in the park as well. As you reach the bottom of the trail you will be presented with the most abundant habitat in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the grassland. Despite their very monotonous appearance, the grassland hosts a vast diversity of plants and animals. The numerous native grasses serve as a food source to many animals in the park, including bison, horses, elk, mule deer, prairie dogs, and a rich array of insects. The animals that rely on the grasses in turn attract predators. Animals such as badgers, coyotes, hawks, and eagles find a consistent food source in prairie dogs. Birds such as flycatchers and swallows’ prey on the insect species supported by the grass. The grasslands have some woodier species such as sagebrush and wild rose interspersed throughout them as well. The grassland serves as one of the most important ecosystems in the park. Along the latter half of this loop trail you will also see a water-based ecosystem, known as seeps. As rain falls, much of it will soak or filter into the ground. Eventually, the ground has no more room for this water, meaning the ground is saturated. Saturated soil has nowhere for the rainwater to go, meaning the water will now “seep” on to the surface. A wide variety of wildlife, such as bison, horses, elk, and birds, drink from these water sources. They are essential for survival in a semi-arid land. Springs, seeps, and the waterways they feed may also provide conditions suitable for plants that have higher water requirements for survival. The amount of water present can determine how much water is visible from a seep. If it is dry enough the seep may have no visible surface water!

This part of the park is most known for its great views of the North Dakota Badlands. The buttes scattered throughout the canyon show the distinct layers of rock of various colors that come together to create a “painted” appearance. You can also see some other prominent features of the park, such as Buck Hill across the canyon, and the Painted Canyon Trail meandering below you. Let us dive into the fascinating geologic history of the park and learn how the landscapes before you were formed. Our park’s story begins around 65 million years ago, in the Paleogene epoch. The park looked quite different, as it was a low-lying swamp and river tributary. This area served as a convergence for several ancient rivers, with all their sediment being deposited in the area. The sediment being carried by these rivers came from the newly formed Rocky Mountains. Around this time, ash from ancient western volcanoes were dumped into these rivers as well. Over time the collection of all these materials would settle into the layers of rock that form the canyon you overlook today. However, no geological story is complete without talking about erosion. The process of erosion plays a major part in how the buttes and canyons of the park were formed. Around 2 million years ago, river erosion for the park changed heavily. During this time, supermassive continental ice sheets were moving south from what is now Canada. The ice sheets moved far enough south to reach what is now the north unit of our park. This shifted the flow of many ancient north-flowing rivers, causing them to now empty into the Missouri River instead of Hudson Bay. This alteration in the mechanics of the river caused it to flow faster and cut deeper into the land around it. And with most rocks in the area being rather soft, it eroded layers away at a quick pace. However, there is more to the story than just the rock layers being eroded away. The area of the park goes through a very neat process called differential erosion. With all these different layers of rock present in the landscape, all of them have differing strength properties. This causes the separate layers to erode at various speeds. This means hard rocks like sandstone act as a protective cap for the softer layers such as clay below it. Or the reverse can happen, softer layers above quickly disappear to reveal the harder rock layers below. This process gave way to an area that Theodore Roosevelt called the “fantastically broken” badlands.

Just before you lies the beginning of the Painted Canyon Trail! This 4.3-mile-long trail offers a great pathway into the canyon I just discussed. You will descend to the canyon floor, where you will be able to fully experience the great scenery Painted Canyon has to offer. Along the trail you will be able to see another of our park’s geological wonders, petrified wood! This rock is another great reminder of the park’s swampy past, as most petrified wood in the park are the remains of bald cypress trees. Petrified wood is formed by the conveniently named geologic process of petrifaction. Petrifaction occurs when a tree is quickly buried in sediment or volcanic ash, protecting it from decay. This sets up the prime conditions for it to become a fossil! Groundwater that seeps through the ash and sediments begins to dissolve and carry silica, or quartz. When this water full of silica soaks into these buried trees, the organic compounds in the wood are replaced with the silica. Over the course of millions of years, the wood is fully converted into rock. Sometimes, the quartz crystals are small enough to preserve the internal structures of the tree, such as still being able to see the growth rings! You will be able to differentiate the petrified wood from other rocks by its mixture of white, orange, and purple colors. With many samples along the trail being preserved stumps, their shape should make them an easy spot as well! At the turnaround point of the trail, you will see that you are now connected to the Upper Paddock Creek Trail, allowing you to go further into the park. Upper Paddock Creek can take you west where you will then connect to the Rim Trail, or east further into the interior of the park. Many of the extended trails in the park are connected at some point, allowing for an extensive web of paths to explore the park. This network of trails allows visitors to be able to get a comprehensive grasp of the landscape, wildlife, plant life, and history of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Even with this extensive trail system, there can be something interesting in the park that lies off trail. Another path off the Painted Canyon trail junction allows you to continue north into the park, although it is not an official trail. However, this is not an issue at all! Since there is no requirement to remain on the trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, this gives visitors a unique opportunity to explore an area that catches their eye, no trail required! Even with this opportunity, safety is still paramount. If you do wander off trail in the park, make sure that you can get back to the trail and return to the trailhead.

Once a dude ranch, the Peaceful Valley Ranch house and other buildings have served wide and varied purposes since first being built in the late 19th century.

Take a hike on the northern fork of the petrified forest trail, and experience the dramatic otherworldly topography and scattered stumps of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's petrified forest.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park contains one of the highest concentrations of petrified wood in the country, and the rolling badlands offer unique opportunities to hike amongst these geological wonders.

Skyline Vista Trail is a great accessible introduction to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The badlands of North Dakota are home to more than 180 species of birds. Take a moment and see which ones you can spot!

Explore the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and see the wide variety of wildlife that lives there.

Explore the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and see the wide variety of wildlife that lives there.

Visit the location of Theodore Roosevelt's home ranch, the Elkhorn, and experience the solitude of the North Dakota badlands.

Take a hike on this 0.8-mile loop and learn about the geology of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Wind Canyon trail is a short, moderate-difficulty trail that rewards hikers with incredible views of the Little Missouri river and the surrounding badlands.

This short hike, with its elevated perspective and accessible trail, offers a unique view of the Little Missouri Badlands that the whole family can enjoy.

The Maltese Cross Cabin was Theodore Roosevelt's first home in Dakota territory. Step inside and learn about how he lived during his time in the badlands where the romance of his life began.

Take a short hike along the Little Mo Nature Trail and learn about the nature and geology of Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

Visit one of the visitor centers and watch the Theodore Roosevelt National Park film, Refuge of the American Spirit.

Hike to the top of Buck Hill, one of the highest points in the park, and get an amazing 360° view of the surrounding badlands!

Hop on your mountain bike and experience the South Unit Scenic Drive in a whole new way.

Bike the 14-mile scenic drive of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's remote North Unit!

Painted Canyon Trail is a 1-mile loop trail located just off Interstate 94 near the Painted Canyon Visitor Center. It offers a great introduction to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, whether visitors are just passing through or planning on a multi-day stay.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park offers incredible night skies for amateur and expert stargazers alike to enjoy year round.

The South Unit scenic drive is the gateway to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The North Unit scenic drive provides access to the more rugged North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Visit one of the park's visitor centers to pick up a Junior Ranger Field Journal, and start your journey to becoming a Junior Ranger!

The cannonball concretions are an arresting and unusual geological formation. Stop at this pullout to explore their mysteries!

From paved paths to strenuous backcountry trails – the hiking trails in the South Unit have a little something for everyone. Explore a sampling of park terrain with trail options to fit all levels of hikers.

Nature Trails in the North Unit are perfect for casual hikers and nature enthusiasts, but the backcountry trails really steal the show! The Buckhorn, Caprock Coulee, and famed Achenbach Trails traverse the park's vast wilderness areas. Check out all the options and what will fit your trip best.