28 Best Sights in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

At 2,855 feet, this is one of the highest points in the park and provides a spectacular 360-degree view of the badlands. Come here for the sunset.

Traversing the full length of the 144-mile Maah Daah Hey Trail is a true multiday wilderness adventure. A popular and well-maintained route, it runs through private and public lands—including the Little Missouri Grasslands and both the North and South units of the national park—with several access points and numerous campgrounds. Maps are available at the park visitor centers and through the U.S. Forest Service and the Maah Daah Hey Trail Association. The 7.1-mile one-way segment that runs through the park's South Unit will take you three or four hours; plan on a full day out and back. Moderate–Difficult.

A huge triceratops—whose complete skull was excavated in 1992 west of Dickinson—greets you at the entrance of this museum, which houses dozens of dinosaur bones, fossilized plants and seashells, and rocks and minerals collected from around the world. The museum, which is part of the greater 12-acre Dickinson Museum Center complex with the Joachim Regional Museum, Prairie Outpost Park, and Pioneer Machinery Hall, has North Dakota's largest dinosaur display.

The French nobleman for whom the chateau is named erected this 26-room hunting cabin in 1883 with his wife, Medora, for whom the town was named. He also built a meatpacking plant and encouraged other cattle ranchers to settle in the area. Though their cattle empire was never realized, the couple hosted extravagant hunting parties and even entertained Theodore Roosevelt during his Dakota ranching days. You can tour the restored chateau between May and October, when weekend history programs and carriage rides are also offered. The site's interpretive center is open year-round.

This is in a lovely valley near the river. There are fire pits, drinking water, restrooms, eight open tables, and eight covered tables.

This unit of the park is composed of the 218 acres of ranchland where Theodore Roosevelt ran cattle on the open range. Today there are no buildings, but foundation blocks outline the original structures. Check with visitor center staff about road conditions.

Rangers host hour-long presentations and discussions on such subjects as park history, astronomy, fires, and wildlife. Look for times and subjects posted at park campgrounds.

Built in 1866 near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, this military post was the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881. In summer, you can take a self-guided tour of the restored officers' quarters as well as the unusual, sometimes humorous, tombstones in the soldiers' cemetery. The site grounds and adjoining Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center are open year-round.

Built by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, the fort was the most important fur and bison hide trading center on the upper Missouri River between 1828 and 1867. Walk around the reconstructed grounds, which include the Trade House, teepees, and the reconstructed palisade and three-story bastions of Fort Union. Follow the easy 1-mile trail to Bodmer Overlook, named for the artist Karl Bodmer, who painted the fort from this vantage point in the early 1830s. June sees a traditional Rendezvous, with fur-trade reenactors and period music, crafts, and other demonstrations. In early August, the site also hosts a Native American arts showcase and a traditional powwow.

This area has restrooms, grills, drinking water, and 28 tables (eight with shelter).

This is the largest and most diverse of 19 national grasslands in the western United States, spanning a million acres in western North Dakota. It takes three hours to complete a self-guided 58-mile driving tour known as the Custer Auto Trail, beginning and ending in Medora. The best time to see wildlife is in early morning or late afternoon. Don't forget a camera and binoculars. In addition to stretches of the lengthy Maah Daah Hey Trail, which runs through the grasslands, there are seven designated trails, and back-country hiking is permitted. Little Missouri Grassland trails are open to all nonmotorized activities, including horseback riding and cycling as well as hiking. For a copy of the driving tour and trail maps, contact the U.S. Forest Service office in Dickinson or the South Unit Visitor Center.

Called Makoshika or "Bad Land" by the Sioux, the Little Missouri State Park has unusual land formations that create the state's most awe-inspiring scenery. The beehive-shaped rock formations resulted from the erosion of sedimentary rock deposited millions of years ago by streams flowing from the Rocky Mountains. Undeveloped and rugged, this wilderness area has both primitive and modern camping and 50 miles of horse trails.

About 7 miles from its original site in the river bottom sits the cabin Theodore Roosevelt commissioned to be built on his Dakota Territory property. Inside are Roosevelt's original writing table and rocking chair. Interpretive tours are scheduled every day June–September.

This museum features six galleries and rotating exhibits, hosts special events, and is dedicated to the horse culture of the plains.

The 14-mile, two-way drive follows rugged terrain above spectacular views of the canyons, and is flanked by more than a dozen turnouts with interpretive signs. Notice the slump blocks, massive segments of rock that have slipped down the cliff walls over time. Farther along pass through badlands coulees, deep-water clefts that are now dry. There's a good chance of meeting bison, mule deer, and bighorn sheep along the way, also keep an eye out for longhorn steers, just like the ones you would see in Texas.

Here you'll find a bookstore and small auditorium where you can watch park films to acquaint you with the park.

The view from this spot at the end of the North Unit drive looks over the unit's westerly badlands and the Little Missouri River, where it takes a sharp turn east. This is the place to come for stargazing.

This area has eight covered tables, drinking water, restrooms, and a spectacular view.

Catch your first glimpse of badlands majesty here—the South Unit canyon's colors change dramatically with the movement of the sun across the sky.

Easily reached off Interstate 94, this South Unit Visitor Center has a bookstore and exhibits.

Although bits of petrified wood have been found all over the park, the densest collection is in the South Unit's west end, accessible on foot or horseback via the Petrified Forest Loop Trail from Peaceful Valley Ranch (10 miles round-trip) or from the park's west boundary (3 miles round-trip).

This museum in Bowman, south of the national park's South Unit, has permanent and changing exhibits on local paleontology, geology, and archaeology as well as anthropology and history.

Rangers take visitors on the trails of both units and through the backcountry and Elkhorn Ranch, discussing such subjects as geology, paleontology, wildlife, and natural history. Check at campground entrances or at the visitor centers for times, topics, departure points, and destinations.

Known as the "Enchanted Highway," this self-guided 30-mile driving tour east of Dickinson features seven giant metal sculptures designed by a local artist, including a 51-foot Teddy Roosevelt. Massive sculptures include a deer crossing, grasshopper family, pheasants on the prairie, a 150-foot-long gaggle of geese, and a tin family with a 45-foot father, 44-foot mother, and 23-foot son.

A 36-mile, two-way scenic loop takes you past prairie-dog towns, coal veins, trailheads, and panoramic views of the badlands. Information on the park's natural history is posted at the various overlooks—stop at all of the interpretive signs to learn about the park's natural and historical phenomena. Some of the best views can be seen from Scoria Point Overlook, Boicourt Overlook, North Dakota Badlands Overlook, Skyline Vista, and Buck Hill. If you hit the road at dusk, be prepared to get caught in a buffalo traffic jam, as the huge creatures sometimes block the road and aren't in any hurry to move. Don't get out of your car or honk at them—they don't like it.

This building houses a large auditorium screening films about the park, plus an excellent exhibit on Theodore Roosevelt's life. On display are artifacts such as the clothing Roosevelt wore while ranching in the Dakota Territory, his firearms, and several writings in his own hand reflecting his thoughts on the nation's environmental resources. A bookstore and public restrooms are available.

For a great view of the Missouri River's 90-degree angle, hike a 1½-mile round-trip stretch of the much longer Achenbach Trail to this spot 430 feet above the riverbed.

All three visitor centers show a 13-minute film focusing on the unique beauty and breathtaking landscape of North Dakota's badlands, its wildlife, and its history, narrated with Roosevelt's own words.