Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit, North Dakota
The Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit is the area you should start in when visiting this national park. Even though it’s a bit further away than some other national parks. It’s worth a visit.
We think the best parts are the bison herds, beautiful layered badlands, and expansive views. Here are some things to know when you visit and tips for what to see and do!
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Landscape
The park comprises a good portion of the Badlands of North Dakota. Imagine a grassland that gives way to a beautiful mosaic of soft sedimentary rock interspersed with layers of clay mud and sand.
Much of it is soft and crumbly when dry, and turns into a bit of a slip-and-slide when wet. Due to the slick nature of it during our stay, we had to limit our hiking to the shorter paths throughout the park.
On the plus side, we had almost the entire park to ourselves and only came across a handful of other people.
Weather
The weather in summer reaches the 70s and 80s, but in the winter it can get very cold. It’s pretty windy anytime. Be prepared for changes in weather. It can rain heavily and get a lot of snow.
Unfortunately, the day we arrived was the only day that we had nice weather. That evening, a storm quickly rolled in and never let up.
Unwilling to be thwarted by pouring rain and high wind gusts, we donned our rain gear and set off for the park!
Then again on another visit we had beautiful clear and sunny weather. That just goes to show you have to be prepared for anything!
Visitor Center
Stop at the visitor center to see the park video and exhibits. You can see displays on Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and time in North Dakota. Outside you can tour his Maltese Cross Cabin which he used before he was president.
Scenic Drive
The 48 mile scenic drive will take you on a loop through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit. It will take you a couple hours to drive it, more if you stop frequently.
Stop at few overlooks such as the Skyline Vista or the Boicourt Overlook Trail or stop for a quick hike.
Go Hiking
The trails in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit are all fairly short and easy to hike. These are ones we’ve enjoyed both with and without kids.
Wind Canyon Trail
This short 0.4 mile loop trail is great because it is on a cliffside that overlooks the Little Missouri River. The views over the river are really nice, and you can see the different shades in the layers of the cliffside that borders it. If you time it right, this is also a popular spot to see the sunset.
Buck Hill
The top of this trail is the highest accessible point in the park. It’s only 0.2 miles but it’s steep. I did this at 29 weeks pregnant and had to stop a few times, but made it! If you can, it’s worth the climb. Buck Hill was our favorite view in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit.
Ridgeline Trail
Hiking on the Ridgeline Trail gives you lots of great views over the park. It’s a short 0.6 miles. Grab a trail brochure at the trailhead to get more information about 14 spots on the trail as you hike.
Coal Vein Trail
The Coal Vein Trail is aptly named. An exposed vein of coal had burned here from 1951 to 1977. The dark red is actually burned clay. It’s an easy hike at only 0.6 miles on the inner loop and 0.8 miles on the outer loop.
It is also a guided nature trail in that you can pick up the trail brochure at the trailhead to learn more about 16 points on the trail.
This was our last hike for the day because the weather took a sudden turn for the worse and we were pretty well soaked through by the time we made it back to the car.
See Wildlife
Bison Herds
There are about 300 American bison in the southern unit of the park here as well. The term bison is more appropriate scientifically, but the term buffalo is also widely used.
The herd size in the northern unit of the park tends to be a bit smaller than here in the southern unit, but you will see them in both places.
If bison sightings are your highest priority I’d recommend the southern unit though.
We didn’t come across any of them on the trails, but they had very thoughtfully left numerous “landmines” all over the trails.
We saw them mostly at a distance during our first visit, but when we came back with our kids another year during the month of June, there was a whole heard of them right off the road with lots of babies. It was the cutest thing. Our video further down in this post will let you see all the cute baby bison.
Wild Horses
Did you know you can even see wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park? Keep your eye out for herds of free roaming horses as you drive throughout the park. They are all sorts of different colors and beautiful to watch.
Prairie Dog Towns
Prairie Dog “Towns” were all over the place. These colonies of prairie dogs can be seen from the road as you drive through.
You can see the mounds by the entrances to the burrows. You’ll see the prairie dogs popping out of their holes and hear them calling to each other.
Visiting With Kids
Our kids loved the animal sightings most of all when we brought them to Teddy Roosevelt National Park. They were in awe of the many bison they saw, and especially the time we saw the bison babies. But they were also captivated with the much smaller prairie dogs and spotting them in the fields.
Keep an extra close eye on your kid to make sure they don’t wander too close to any wildlife. The bison can be extremely dangerous but even the prairie dogs can bite and potentially transfer diseases such as the bubonic plague!
The trails that have trail brochures at the trailheads are especially great as kids can get further learning opportunities as they go. Finding each trail post for the next thing to read is fun and motivating too!
National Parks have fantastic Junior Ranger programs. Stop by the Visitor Center to grab the Junior Ranger packets before you start. When you finish, you can come back and get a badge from a ranger!
If you want prefer to watch what we did with kids at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit, check out this video. BONUS: there are lots of bison babies in this video.
Nearby Attractions
Medora
Definitely head into the town of Medora, even just strolling along the sidewalks and checking out some of the shops and restaurants. Check out the Cowboys Hall of Fame or arrange to go on a horseback ride.
If you’re visiting during the summer, get tickets for the Medora Musical, and catch an exciting stage show. It’s not cheap so we haven’t gone yet, but it sounds like a really popular and fun event.
If we were to head back someday now that we have older kids, I think we’d plan to see it! Plan ahead to see if you qualify for any of the discounts or kids go free days.
North Dakota Badlands
There are even more extensive areas of the North Dakota Badlands outside of and near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. If you want to see more of them, also visit Little Missouri Badlands State Park, a good option to explore the badlands even further.
Where To Camp
We stayed at the Medora Campground with our RV. It’s near both the national park and the town of Medora. The campground is right alongside the Little Missouri River with nice views. It has a camp store, playground, laundry, and bath facilities.
If you don’t mind having no hookups and want to be inside the park, you can primitive camp at Cottonwood Campground instead.
Alternatively, if you like to boondock, we had a scenic (but incredibly windy) spot at a place called Scoria Pit Dispersed Camping.
What To See Next
If you’re visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park, chances are you’re on a road trip. Depending on the direction you’re heading, there are lots of other must see locations in the region.
Heading South?
Heading south from here is my personal favorite as there are so many great places to see within a shorter distance. The rock spires of Custer State Park in the Black Hills and it’s many surrounding areas of interest like Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Spearfish Canyon is one of our favorite places in the country after many years of RVing.
From here you don’t have to go far in any direction to see Devil’s Tower National Monument and Jewel Cave National Monument to the west, Badlands National Park to the east, and Wind Cave National Park as well as Hot Springs’ mineral springs to soak in and Mammoth Site to the south.
Heading West?
Driving west you’re going to make it to some iconic sites. A road trip from here for stunning hikes at Glacier National Park or even a loop south into Wyoming to include the geysers of Yellowstone National Park and jagged mountains of Grant Teton National Parks would make for a pretty epic national parks road trip.
Heading East?
Once you make it through the long stretch of eastern North Dakota, if you head into Minnesota we highly recommend a stop to see the Mississippi River headwaters at Itasca State Park. This is where the mighty Mississippi River begins, and it is narrow and shallow enough that you can walk across it!
