How to Spend a Day at Theodore Roosevelt National Park
North Dakota is one of the most overlooked states in the United States. Explore badlands and see wildlife like bison and prairie dogs at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's the perfect stop on a cross-country road trip.
Sightseeing at Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Compared to a lot of other national parks in the US, this one is on the smaller side. It's divided into two main sections—the north unit and the south unit. Our original plan was to only go to the south unit because it's right off of the highway. After stopping at the visitor's center at the Painted Canyon Overlook, we changed our plans when we were told how much better the views are at the north unit.
Painted Canyon Overlook
This is a very quick stop off of the side of the highway. Unlike the north and south unit visitor's centers, they don't collect the entrance fee here. The overlook is right next the parking lot. There's also a visitor's center here. The overlook is gorgeous and definitely worth the stop.
North Unit Scenic Drive
The scenic drive is an out and back 28 mile round trip drive in the north unit. It's about an hour drive from the highway but is definitely worth the trip. The views here were beautiful.
There are great views from the car on the side of the road, but there are also good overlooks to stop at. We also saw many bison along the road.
River Bend Overlook
This overlook had my favorite views in the park. As the name implies, it looks out over the river, but also has sweeping views of the badlands. It's a quick stop off of the scenic drive.
Oxbow Overlook
The Oxbow Overlook is at the very end of the scenic drive. There are really good views right by the parking lot here.
The most memorable part of this overlook for me was the bison we saw. They were very close to the overlook. They may look calm, but bison can be dangerous, so we made sure not to get too close.
Achenbach Trail
This was the only hike we did at the park. It starts at the Oxbow Overlook and is about a 3 mile hike (round trip). It's flat and pretty easy. The views throughout the hike are not exciting. It ends at Sperati Point which does have good views, but honestly, probably not better than the views at the overlooks. It was still good to stretch our legs for an hour or so.
South Unit Scenic Loop Drive
This scenic drive is a 36 mile loop and they recommend to plan for 1.5 hours to drive it. When we were there, part of the loop was closed and we would have had to back track instead of doing a loop.
We prioritized spending time at the north unit since we were told the views were better. We ended up getting here pretty late in the day, so we didn't do much of the drive. The recommendation to spend more time at the north unit was a good one. What we saw of the south unit was much less scenic than the north unit was.
Immediately upon entering the south unit on the scenic loop drive, we saw a group of wild horses on a hill along the side of the road.
The coolest thing about the south unit that we saw were the prairie dog towns. We stopped at three different towns before we turned around. The towns are marked on the map from the visitor's center.
Where to eat around Theodore Roosevelt National Park
There aren't many exciting places to eat in Medora. The food was better than I expected it to be though. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat in Medora, but it gets the job done after a long day at the park.
The Farmhouse Cafe
This place was crowded, but we managed to get a table without waiting. The food wasn't incredibly memorable, but I thought the taco plate with fry bread was good.
Hatlee & Brae
The ice cream here was surprisingly good. They had some unique flavors and the huckleberry was my favorite.
Getting to and around Theodore Roosevelt National Park
There's no convenient airport, but Bismark and Williston have the closest airports. A car will definitely be necessary to make it here and drive between the north and south units of the park.
Like many national parks, a pass is required for entrance. It costs $30 per vehicle for a week long pass to the park. You can also get an America the Beautiful Pass which covers all national parks entrance fees for $80 per year.
Where to stay around Theodore Roosevelt National Park
If you're road tripping, you can stay a bit further outside of the park at the Hampton Inn in Jamestown instead. This will be a three hour drive to get to the park. Before driving into the park, go see the World's Largest Buffalo Monument in Jamestown.
On the other side of the park, you can stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Glendive, Montana. This is on the way to Glacier National Park if you want to make that the next stop on your road trip.
Medora is the town that the national park is in and is the closest place to the park to stay.
Best time to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park
The summers are warm with temperatures in the mid eighties and sunny. Because the park isn't crowded no matter what time of year it is, I would recommend visiting during the summer months when it's warm.