Theodore Roosevelt National Park

National Park Service, North Dakota.

When Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota Territory to hunt bison in 1883, he was a skinny, young, spectacled dude from New York. He could not have imagined how his adventure in this remote and unfamiliar place would forever alter the course of the nation. The rugged landscape and strenuous life that TR experienced here would help shape a conservation policy that we still benefit from today.

Camping and Day Use

  • Cottonwood Campground (ND)
  • Cottonwood Group Site (ND)
  • Juniper Campground Group Site (ND)
  • Roundup Group Horse Camp

Site Passes

  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park Site Pass

Nearby Activities

  • Auto Touring
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Hiking
  • Horse Camping
  • Picnicking
  • Wildlife Viewing

Directions

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located in the Badlands of western North Dakota. There are three units to the park. The South Unit entrance is in the town of Medora, ND off of Interstate 94 exits 24 and 27. The North Unit entrance is on Highway 85 approximately 14 miles south of Watford City, ND. The remote Elkhorn Ranch Unit sits roughly in the middle of the North and South Units and is accessed via gravel roads. Consult park staff for directions to the Elkhorn Ranch Unit.

Additional Information

  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park Map
  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park Official Website

Photo Gallery

  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park
  • River Bend Overlook, North UnitThe River Bend Overlook offers one of the most popular views in the park's North Unit.
  • A View from the Maah Daah Hey TrailThe Maah Daah Hey Trail follows the Little Missouri River for several miles before it enters the Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness.
  • Ekblom TrailThe Ekblom Trail is the gateway to the Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness. All you have to do is make it across the river!
  • Raise a RuckusIn the summer, bull bison wage furious battles over the right to breed.
  • Milky WayThough light pollution in the area is increasing, the night sky over Theodore Roosevelt National Park remains beautiful and inspiring.
  • Bison TrailBison roam the badlands from top to bottom, surprising visitors with their agility and ability to cross even the most rugged terrain.
  • Sunset on Buck HillA short climb to the top of Buck Hill in the park's South Unit rewards hikers with a sweeping panorama and a fantastic place to watch the sun rise or set.
  • Fall BugleThe ghostly bugles of bull elk can be heard wafting through the badlands in the fall.
  • HoodoosTheodore Roosevelt described the badlands as "so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth."
  • Maltese Cross CabinImagine waking up on a crisp winter morning in Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin. It is no wonder that his heart was captured by the romance of life in the West.

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