Start from 18 curated places around Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Theodore's Dining Room
The fine-dining room of Medora's historic Rough Riders Hotel, the best table near the park, plating buffalo and hickory ribeye in a handsome period setting. It is the dressed-up dinner after a dusty day on the badlands trails. Worth the short trip out of the park to Medora.
Little Missouri Saloon & Dining
A classic Western saloon and dining room in nearby Medora, all wood and local color, serving hearty plates after a day in the park. It is the relaxed spot for a steak and a beer where staff trade trail and wildlife tips. The easy evening landing after the South Unit.
Trails & outdoors
Boicourt Trail
A short, easy trail off the middle of the South Unit scenic drive leading to open plateau views over the badlands, with a spur to a dramatic canyon-edge overlook. It is the ideal hop-out-of-the-car walk for a big payoff with little effort. A quick taste of the backcountry on the loop.
Ridgeline Nature Trail
A short interpretive loop on the South Unit scenic drive that climbs a ridge through prairie and badlands with signs explaining the geology and ecology underfoot. The brief climb earns a tidy panorama, making it a good stretch-the-legs hike for all ages. Educational and quick.
Things to do
South Unit Scenic Loop Drive
A 24-mile paved loop through the South Unit that strings together the park's overlooks, prairie-dog towns and trailheads, with bison and wild horses often grazing roadside. It is the essential first act of any visit, doable in an hour or stretched across a day with stops. The badlands at windshield pace, with the trails branching off it.
Maah Daah Hey Trail
A legendary long-distance singletrack threading the badlands between the park's units, a bucket-list ride and hike across buttes, river crossings and endless prairie. Day-trippers tackle sections from trailheads near Medora; the committed ride the whole rugged span. The best way to get deep into the badlands under your own power.
Landmarks & sights
Painted Canyon Overlook
The park's grand first impression, a rim-top overlook off the interstate where the badlands fall away into a banded sea of red, ochre and grey. A visitor center and short trails make it an easy stop, and the colors shift hour by hour with the light. The view that sells the whole park in one glance.
Wind Canyon Overlook
A wind-sculpted clay bluff on the South Unit scenic drive looking down on a sweeping bend of the Little Missouri River. It is the park's signature sunset spot, where the river curves silver below soft, eroded walls. A short step from the road to one of the park's defining views.