Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located in the town of Medora, North Dakota in the North Dakota Badlands

Theodore National Park features 3 separate areas- the South Unit, the North Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit.

The South and North Units have scenic drives and park visitor centres.

We stayed at the Cottonwood Campground in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Map of South Unit

Site Review:

We stayed on site #23 in the Cottonwood Campground.

The car and the motorhome are both on site #23

It was a very large pull-thru site with an excellent view of the Badlands.

view from site #23

Theodore Roosevelt National Park has no services.  There is a dump station in the North Unit, but if you are in the South Unit you are out of luck. The North Unit and the South Unit are 70 miles apart. The washrooms have flush toilets, but there are no shower facilities in the park at all.

Also, there is nowhere to buy wood or ice, and even though you are allowed to have fires, there are no fire pits. You are expected to use the camp grill for your fires. Bringing your own fire dish is not allowed.

The sites at Theodore Roosevelt National Park are huge- especially the pull-thru ones. The people occupying the site across from us parked a 35ft. motorhome AND a trailer on their site.

The campground is fairly shaded as it is set among the Cottonwoods along the Little Missouri River.

Activities:

It’s all about the views and the wildlife at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

Views:

Wildlife:

There are a few trails you can hike, and a scenic drive that is accessible for all vehicles.

Biking is allowed, but only on the paved roads. 

Organized activities are non-existent at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. You are your own guide. It is useful to get information from one of the Visitor Centres before heading into the park.

The South Unit Visitor Centre in Medora features a Theodore Roosevelt museum that chronicles his time spent in North Dakota. There is a short film about him and the park. The Maltese Cross Cabin, Roosevelt’s first ranch cabin, is located next to the visitor centre.

Medora:

The town of Medora is quaint and has an “old west” feel to it. The town centre has been renovated to reflect how the town may have looked at the time when Theodore Roosevelt had a cattle ranch in the area.

There is the Cowboy Museum, as well as a theatre that features western-themed shows.

      A popular activity in Medora is the Medora Musical show. It costs around $39USD pp and dinner is an extra cost at $29USD pp.

A tourist information centre (located just outside the entrance to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park) will provide all the pertinent information you would need to organize any activities you would like to partake in. It is not an overly crowded place. We were there in August and it was not busy at all, so I don’t know how necessary it is to book in advance.

Kayaking/Canoeing:

Kayaking and canoeing are permitted on the Little Missouri River. You would need to bring your own equipment as there are no rentals, and quite honestly you would have to find your own put-in spot because I didn’t see anything that the park may have designated for this purpose.

Things to Know:

1. Accessibility is good even for the really big rigs. It is approximately 5 miles from the entrance to the South Unit to the Cottonwood campground

2. Site #23 in the Cottonwood campground is probably the best site in terms of size and view. ( As a note: there is a one-way road from which you access the site.  If you follow the road direction then it is likely that your RV door would face away from the Badlands view. We entered and exited the site going the wrong way- with some care, this was not an issue as the roads are not heavily travelled).

3. There is no dump station in the South Unit. There is a dump station at the Juniper Campground in the North Unit. The North Unit and the South Unit at Theodore Roosevelt National Park are approx. 70 miles apart! For a fee, you can use the dump station at the Medora Campground in Medora. We did not use this service (we dumped at our next campground) so I cannot comment more.

4. As tempting as it might be to camp in Medora and enjoy all the amenities, we chose not to because the draw is the wildlife. Wildlife is right in the campground.

IMO:

The bison (buffalo) walked freely throughout the campground. They walked down the campground road and crossed our site and made their way to the river (on more than one occasion). They were at the campground entrance,and they were at the amphitheatre when we went for a presentation. We were literally camping amongst them. There are the herds of feral horses that also live at the park- we woke up one morning and they were down by the river from our campsite too.

This was probably the most “rustic” camping we have done with the motorhome, but when you have a bathroom and shower, battery power, propane and a generator it is not rustic at all.

I suppose I was disappointed by the campfire facilities, but that was really the only thing to be disappointed by.

The scenic nature drive that took you past view after view of the North Dakota Badlands, through prairie dog towns, past hoodoo formations, and encounters with the bison and the feral horses, was truly outstanding.

The proximity to the town of Medora for extra activities and shows was a benefit as well.

The informative Visitor Centre, and the fact that nature is quite literally in your face make Theodore Roosevelt National Park an RV Place to Go that I would certainly visit again.