Date of trip: May 18th – May 20th, 2024

If I had not been checking off my 50 states, I’m not sure if I would have prioritized visiting but North Dakota. But my 47th state far exceeded my expectations, specifically Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We flew into Bismarck and stayed in Dickinson (1 hour 45 min drive time). Dickinson is 30 minutes from South TRNP. You could stay in Medora which is only 10 minutes away but we opted to go cheaper.

There are two distinct sections of the park, the north and south units. We started with the south unit because it’s more centrally located and we arrived mid-day. Then we did the north unit our last day before flying back. The north unit is an hour drive north from the south unit. Note that the South Unit operates on mountain time and the North Unit operates on central time. 

Day 1: Arrived in Bismarck, and as usual for my trips, we grabbed lunch at the nearest grocery store— Family Fare—then headed for Medora. 

The route featured some pretty cool sculpture art including this cool bird installation near the airport. 

https://medora.com/theodorerooseveltnationalpark/

The first stop in Medora was the South Unit Visitor Center for maps and recommendations. They have the national park store and you can visit Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin, his first in North Dakota. 

There is a 48 mile scenic drive you can do and hit all the viewpoints. We just picked a few trails and navigated toward those. I think by the end we probably did complete all the open portions of the scenic drive though. 

Our first stop was the Skyline Vista Trail which was more of a viewpoint than a real trail. This is a nice viewpoint for the badlands. 

Skyline Vista on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/skyline-vista?sh=sxlnu6

We then headed down the scenic route to the Wind Canyon Trail which is only a half mile but really quite lovely with views of the valley and little Missouri River. 

Wind Canyon Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/wind-canyon-trail?sh=sxlnu6

From Wind Canyon, we went to the far west part of the park to the Petrified Forest Loop (40 minute drive). I’ve linked the full trail below but we only did a short out and back this day because of the long travel day. 

Petrified Forest to Overlook on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/petrified-forest-to-overlook?sh=sxlnu6

Day 2: I love traveling to western time zones because waking up for sunrise feels so much easier. We hit the road at 4:10 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Buck Hill, and though I wanted to turn back when the rain started, I’m so glad Steve didn’t listen. The drive was stunning, even in the early morning darkness.

We got to Buck’s Hill at 4:55am. Unlike most National Parks, we essentially had sunrise to ourselves other than some professional photographers who congratulated us for catching these views. 

I’ve attached the full progression just as we were lucky enough to have witnessed it. I’ve dubbed this as our “Medusa Sunrise.”

All these changes in the span of just 14 minutes. So being early is so important for the perfect sunrise experience. 

We went ahead and completed the short Buck Hill trail for panoramic views. 

Buck Hill Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/buck-hill-trail?sh=sxlnu6

We then headed back toward the main scenic road to Boicourt Trail which is less than a mile but overlooks the badlands. 

 

Boicourt Overlook Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/boicourt-overlook-trail?sh=sxlnu6

After a recommendation from the photographer at sunrise, we decided to complete the Petrified Forest Overlook trail which was about a 50 minute drive from Boicourt. 

Stunning scenery on the drive from the interesting cloud formations ⬇️

The full petrified forest loop trail was around 10 miles. It took us a little over 4 hours with stops. 

The views were incredible and we were so pleased to have gone back during the morning light. 

The “rule of thumb” with the bison is that you should be far enough away from them that if you lift your thumb they’re obscured from your view. 

Petrified Forest Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/petrified-forest-trail?sh=sxlnu6

Once we completed the trail, we went back to Medora for lunch at Badlands Pizza and Saloon before heading back to Dickinson. Our motel even had an indoor pool and hot tub we could relax in before bed.

Day 3: We hit the road at 4:15am mountain time to drive to the North Unit for sunrise. Remember the time change to central time when you’re looking at the sunrise times. 

We navigated to Oxbow Overlook trailhead which was 1 hr 45 minutes from Dickinson. 

Oxbow Overlook on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/oxbow-overlook?sh=sxlnu6

It took some patience for this sunrise as the colors took almost an hour to appear through the clouds. We ran about a mile from point to point trying to catch the best views. 

After the sunrise and some leftover cold pizza for breakfast, we hit the nearby Achnbach trail which starts from the same parking lot as Oxbow Overlook. We did a 2.4 mile out and back to Sperati Point for views of the river. I’ve linked the AllTrails below. 

Sperati Point via Achenbach Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/sperati-point?sh=sxlnu6

After this hike, we headed to the next which ended up being my favorite. It’s a 20 minute drive. You can follow the AllTrails link below or type in “Caprock Coulee Trail” into google maps. 

Treated with wildlife views right from the start!

Watching the prairie dogs play is such a joyful experience in itself! 

Prairie Dog Town via Buckhorn Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/prairie-dog-town-via-buckhorn-trail?sh=sxlnu6

Our last stop on the way out was Little Mo Nature Trail which was an easy 1 mile loop with views of the river. 

Little Mo Nature Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-dakota/little-mo-nature-trail–2?sh=sxlnu6

Unfortunately we had a plane to catch so we left from the trail to make the 3 hour trip to the Bismarck Airport but did manage to catch a pretty amazing in air sunset. 

I’d love to answer any questions you may have about my experience in Theodore Roosevelt National Park! Comment or shoot me a message if I can help!