Stopped by here over Labor Day weekend to do some hiking. This park is amazing. The Painted Canyon hike on the way in is very easy hike and teases you with things you'll see later. We drive the loop road in the afternoon. Plenty of wildlife--wild horses, bison, and of course the pairie dogs. Did short walks on the Ridgeline Trail and Wind Canyon Trail--wind canyon provided spectacular views of the formations caused by wind and water erosion. Very easy hiking for families, very uncrowded. And always a lot of fun watching the prairie dogs at the various prairie dog towns.
We were there on a quiet rainy day but saw lots of bison right along the scenic drive, wild horses, prairie dogs, and a coyote! Favorite stops were buck hill (short walk up and amazing views), wind canyon (nice views of river and neat geology, very muddy!) and ridge line trail. We would have done more hiking if not for the rain.
Ranger Jeff led us on a hike-walk for about an hour.He was very informative and good with the kids and adults alike in the group. He showed us many different plant species and have us insight into the geology of the area.
My husband and I visited here last and were overwhelmed with the isolation and the beauty. Little wonder that Teddy was so taken with this area. We were rewarded by an early morning drive through the park (just after dawn) with a great deal of wildlife to include bison, deer, pronghorns, prairie dogs, wild turkeys, and, best of all, many wild horses. So glad we came here.
First, I went and saw the prarie dog area; that was fun as it was the first sighting I had of them on my trip of North and South Dakota. I then drove the Loop Road to take in the views. I took some short walks here and there. It was also where I saw my first buffalo of my trip of my trip (By the end of my trip I had seen hundreds - but being among the first, it was amazing).When I was driving through the area, the sun was peaking in and out from the clouds. This area's colors change so much based on the amount of sun the area gets. Its stunning to see the distinct and beautiful transition in the colors.I very much enjoyed my visit, and planned to come back the next evening. It was June so daylight hours are long. Unfortunately end May, there was road construction, and I would have to wait 45 minutes or so to get to the park and then wait another 45 minutes wait on the way out. So I was only able to visit South Unit for about 4 hours - but it was a splendid time. The day after visiting the South Unit, I visited Enchanted Highway and the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park.Of the two units, North and South, I ended up preferring the North so the 4 star rating for South Unit. but if in the area, this national park is definitely worth visiting. On first sight I said "meh" - on the third day in the area, I really loved the area. Its a nice area to visit.
After paying the small fee to enter the park (I think it was $10 but can't remember) we drive to Cottonwood campground which you are not allowed to reserve a site. When we got there, we realized that it was one of those camping sites that you reserve on the honour system, where you drive around, choose your site and then put $10 in an envelope and put it in a slot at the reservation board. I couldn't believe it was that inexpensive for one of the most beautiful sites we've ever camped in! We stayed in site 68. There was no electricity there, but I think there are electrical sites in the campground. There are flush toilets, water pumps located throughout. We had a great view. We had neighbours on either side of us, but the sites were so far apart that we forgot they were there. It was very quiet. Really a beautiful place that shouldn't be missed.
We did the driving loop in the afternoon and were fortunate enough to see so much wildlife. Of course there are countless prairie dogs, also saw horses, antelope, a roadkill rattlesnake, a turkey, singles and pairs of bison along with a herd of 75+!!The thing is even if we hadn't seen so many animals, the buttes and canyons are something to see themselves. We did not do any hikes along the driving loop and also did not stop at the visitors center.
On tour doing a month long road trip. We had just visited the Black Hills area of South Dakota, the Badlands and Wind Cave National Park. North Dakota wasn't originally part of our trip though. We decided we had the time so we drove to Medora and made Teddy Roosevelt National Park our third of the road trip before Glacier-Waterton. The scenery in this unit of the national park is amazing. We had visited Painted Canyon the night before and that just whet our imagination of what we would see in the South Unit. We weren't disappointed. The first six miles are under construction. No big deal, the road is a little rough. The construction here is nothing compared to what is going on in Glacier NP. It turns out the first six miles are also the last six miles. Our children earned their junior ranger badges, we got passports stamped at the visitor center, which also contains a great museum with a huge petrified stump and great introduction to Theodore Roosevelt before he became president. Ranger Dexter led our tour of the Maltese cabin, Roosevelt's home while in the Dakotas. He provided great background info and the cabin tour was a highlight. The Loop Road is the real reason you come to this NP though. The buttes, hills and North Dakota Badlands are the shining stars. Wind and water erosion have carved this magnificent landscape that has colors of blue, green, yellow, white and grey within the buttes. The coal veins that burned for years leave a dark black strip that makes the other colors even more vivid. These Badlands are colorful compared to South Dakotas. We hiked the Ridge line Trail and made another detour to the coal vein trail. The kids loved running and hiking in the meadow at the top then looking over the cliffs. We saw lots of wildlife, coyotes, bison, wild horses, prairie dogs and birds mostly. The Loop drive is roughly 30 or so miles. We wish now we had stayed in the campground but we instead stayed in Belfield just down the road from Medora. Hotels in the area were full. This national park turned out to be a highlight for us. We didn't know North Dakota had this kind of scenery and after the hours of driving through national grasslands it made it even more impressive. Will definitely return sometime and visit the North Unit and hopefully camp for a few days to see even more of the South Unit.
One of the prettiest National Parks and I have now been to 54 of them. The loop road was absolutely beautiful. We say bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, deer and more. My entire family loved the bison walking on the road in front of us. It was a mini Yellowstone!