Theodore Roosevelt National Park: The Badlands That Made a President

Twenty-five years old, asthmatic, and fresh off a train from Manhattan. That was Theodore Roosevelt in September 1883, out in Dakota Territory to shoot a bison before there weren't any left to shoot. It took him the better part of two weeks to find one, and that was the whole education right there. He bought into a cattle outfit before he went home. Then February 1884 took his wife and his mother on the same day, and he came back to these badlands to disappear into ranch work. He later said he would not have been president without North Dakota. This is the only national park in the country named after a person, and it is park #30 of 63 on our US National Parks Scratch-Off Map. Also one of the least crowded.

Know before you go: Theodore Roosevelt National Park sits in the Little Missouri badlands of western North Dakota, split into three separate pieces: the South Unit at Medora on I-94, the North Unit about 70 miles away near Watford City, and the remote Elkhorn Ranch Unit in between. Entry is $30 per vehicle for seven days as of 2026, with no timed entry and no reservation system to get in, though the park went fully cashless on May 1, 2026, so bring a card. The headline news is that the South Unit's 36-mile Scenic Loop Drive reopened in November 2025 after six years of landslide reconstruction, so you can finally drive the whole circle again. Dogs are welcome in the park but not on any trail, and every campsite now books through Recreation.gov.

Quick facts

What does it cost, and do you need a reservation?

Thirty dollars a vehicle, and no. There is no timed entry here, no lottery, no permit portal to refresh at 8 a.m. six months out. You drive up and you pay. The one change worth knowing is that the park went cashless on May 1, 2026, so a card or a phone is now the only way through the gate. Fees are collected at the entrance stations May through September and inside the visitor centers the rest of the year, and if nobody is staffing the desk in the off-season you pay online at Recreation.gov.

Camping did change. Every site in the park is now by reservation through Recreation.gov, including Juniper Campground in the North Unit, which lost its first-come, first-served status on May 1, 2026. Cottonwood Campground in the South Unit takes standard-site bookings up to six months out, and the group sites open their year on the first business day in March at 8:00 a.m. MST. Backcountry camping is the loophole: still free, still walk-in, just fill out a permit at the North or South Unit Visitor Center. There are no developed backcountry sites, which is the point.

South Unit or North Unit?

They are 70 miles and about an hour and a half apart on US-85, and people routinely do one and assume they have seen the park. The South Unit is the busy half: Medora at the gate, the visitor center, Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin moved log by log to sit out back, the prairie dog towns, the wild horses, and the Scenic Loop.

That loop is the reason to go now. Four miles of it collapsed into unstable clay in 2019, crews found another two miles of bad ground once they started digging, and the full 36-mile circle did not reopen until November 25, 2025, after roughly $51 million of work. It is a loop again, with better pullouts than it had before.

The North Unit is the quiet one and, for my money, the prettier one. Its scenic drive runs 14 miles out to Oxbow Overlook and back, past the Cannonball Concretions (spherical sandstone boulders that look manufactured), the CCC-built stone shelter at River Bend Overlook, and a longhorn steer herd the park keeps as a nod to the old trail drives. Fewer people, deeper canyons, better light. Road status in both units moves around with weather and slides, so check the park's alerts page the morning you drive.

What is it actually like out there?

Emptier than you expect and stranger than the photos. The badlands here are soft: banded clay, blue bentonite seams, coal veins that have burned underground and baked the rock above them brick red. It is a landscape actively falling apart, which is why the road kept sliding.

Wind Canyon Trail is the one to do if you only do one. Half a mile from the Scenic Loop to a rim above a bend in the Little Missouri, and at sunset the river goes gold below you. It beats hikes ten times the length. Painted Canyon Overlook has its own visitor center right off I-94 at exit 32. The Petrified Forest in the far west of the South Unit takes a rough gravel approach and a real hike to reach stumps that turned to stone 60 million years ago. In the North Unit, Caprock Coulee climbs out of the draws onto the rim and gives you the day's best mile.

Then the animals, which are the actual show. Bison on the road, regularly, in numbers that stop traffic. Prairie dog towns you can hear from the car. Elk, bighorn sheep, and a free-roaming horse herd in the South Unit descended from stock that has been here since at least the 1880s, running around 200 head in recent years. Dawn and the last hour of light are when everything moves.

One more thing that is new: the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened in Medora on July 4, 2026, 96,000 square feet on the bluff above town. Badlands in the morning, the museum about them in the afternoon.

Can I do this with a dog?

Bring the dog, but know the rule going in: dogs are not permitted on any trail in the park. Not one. Leashed pets (six feet or shorter) can go on roads and road shoulders, sidewalks, parking areas, campgrounds, and picnic areas, and that is the complete list. The park recommends the sidewalk at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center, which is genuinely a good walk with badlands views the whole way.

Two hazards. Heat: most of this park is fully exposed, and shade exists only in the campgrounds and picnic areas. Walk your dog there on hot afternoons and check the pavement with your hand first. Wildlife: dogs agitate bison and horses, and a bison that decides your dog is a threat is a 2,000-pound problem. For real hiking, the Maah Daah Hey Trail runs 150 miles through the surrounding national grassland and allows dogs on every section outside park boundaries. A paved path from the edge of Medora connects to it in about a mile.

Bringing kids?

One of the easier parks for it. The Scenic Loop and the North Unit drive do most of the work from the car, the overlooks are short walks from the pavement, and prairie dog towns hold a six-year-old's attention longer than any canyon will. Wind Canyon is half a mile and manageable for most kids. The Maltese Cross Cabin is a five-minute walk behind the South Unit Visitor Center and gives the history a room you can stand in.

The honest caveat is distance. Services are thin, the units are 70 miles apart, and the Petrified Forest hike is long, exposed, and wrong for small kids. Pack more water than seems reasonable.

Stay safe

Bison first. They look slow and they are not, and the rule is 25 yards minimum. If the animal changes what it is doing because of you, you are too close. Back off and use the car as a wall.

Then the ground. Badlands clay turns to grease within minutes of rain, trails vanish, and the buttes crumble at the edges, so stay off overhangs. Summer heat runs high with almost no shade and no water on the trails, so carry your own. Rattlesnakes are present. Cell service is patchy to nonexistent in the backcountry, so leave your plan with somebody and carry a paper map.

FAQs

How much does it cost to get into Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

As of 2026 it is $30 per private vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person arriving on foot or by bicycle, and each pass is good for seven days in all units. A park-specific annual pass is $55, and the America the Beautiful interagency pass covers entry. The park is now cashless, so bring a credit or debit card or a digital payment method.

Do you need a reservation to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

No. The park does not issue timed entry permits and there is no reservation system for entering. You do need reservations to camp: all campsites in both Cottonwood and Juniper campgrounds now book through Recreation.gov rather than first come, first served. Backcountry camping remains free and requires only a permit picked up at a visitor center.

Is the Scenic Loop Drive open at Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

Yes. The South Unit's 36-mile Scenic Loop Drive reopened on November 25, 2025, after a six-year closure caused by landslides that destroyed four miles of roadbed, followed by a reconstruction project of roughly $51 million. Sections of both the South Unit loop and the North Unit scenic drive can still close temporarily for snow, ice, or slides, so check the park's current conditions page before you go.

Can you see wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

Yes, in the South Unit. The park's free-roaming horses descend from ranch stock present in the badlands since at least the 1880s and have numbered around 200 in recent years. They are most often spotted from the Scenic Loop Drive, especially in the open country near Buck Hill and Painted Canyon, and early morning and evening are the best times to look. They are wild animals, so watch from your vehicle or a safe distance.

How many days do you need at Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

Two full days is the right answer: one for the South Unit and Medora, one for the North Unit. You can see the South Unit in a long half-day by driving the loop and walking Wind Canyon, which is what most I-94 travelers do. Skipping the North Unit is the most common mistake here, and it costs you the better scenery.

Scratch it off: Theodore Roosevelt is park #30 of 63 on the US National Parks Scratch-Off Map, and one of the few you can earn on a single tank of gas off the interstate. See where it fits in our guide to all 63 parks, and pair it with Badlands National Park four hours south for the best two-park badlands road trip in the country.

Ryan Laboy — Co-founder, McSenderson. Single-digit handicap golfer and ten-year skier based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Researches and designs every McSenderson map. hello@mcsenderson.com