south unit

We enjoyed both the North and South units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but had a bit better luck with wildlife on the scenic drive of the South Unit. Bison - hundreds of them. Prairie dogs - thousands of them. Wild Horses... All very beautiful and interesting to watch. There are short and long hikes depending on what you are looking for. The visitor center in Medora has a fairly nice display, a video, and the cabin of Theodore Roosevelt - make sure to spend some time here before entering the park - rangers are available for any questions you might have. We enjoyed the park in September; it was not crowded at all.

My husband and I visited here last and were overwhelmed with the isolation and the beauty. Little wonder that Teddy was so taken with this area. We were rewarded by an early morning drive through the park (just after dawn) with a great deal of wildlife to include bison, deer, pronghorns, prairie dogs, wild turkeys, and, best of all, many wild horses. So glad we came here.

After paying the small fee to enter the park (I think it was $10 but can't remember) we drive to Cottonwood campground which you are not allowed to reserve a site. When we got there, we realized that it was one of those camping sites that you reserve on the honour system, where you drive around, choose your site and then put $10 in an envelope and put it in a slot at the reservation board. I couldn't believe it was that inexpensive for one of the most beautiful sites we've ever camped in! We stayed in site 68. There was no electricity there, but I think there are electrical sites in the campground. There are flush toilets, water pumps located throughout. We had a great view. We had neighbours on either side of us, but the sites were so far apart that we forgot they were there. It was very quiet. Really a beautiful place that shouldn't be missed.

Like the title says - this is one of the best National Parks I've visited, and that includes some of the biggies. The whole of the South unit was incredible - amazing scenery with sweeping vistas, an abundance of wildlife (we came face to face with wild bison and also marveled at the thousands of cool prairie dogs!). We basically did the loop road and one of the short spurs up to a high overlook - took a couple of hours in all and was well worth it! Can't recommend this place highly enough.

First, I went and saw the prarie dog area; that was fun as it was the first sighting I had of them on my trip of North and South Dakota. I then drove the Loop Road to take in the views. I took some short walks here and there. It was also where I saw my first buffalo of my trip of my trip (By the end of my trip I had seen hundreds - but being among the first, it was amazing).When I was driving through the area, the sun was peaking in and out from the clouds. This area's colors change so much based on the amount of sun the area gets. Its stunning to see the distinct and beautiful transition in the colors.I very much enjoyed my visit, and planned to come back the next evening. It was June so daylight hours are long. Unfortunately end May, there was road construction, and I would have to wait 45 minutes or so to get to the park and then wait another 45 minutes wait on the way out. So I was only able to visit South Unit for about 4 hours - but it was a splendid time. The day after visiting the South Unit, I visited Enchanted Highway and the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park.Of the two units, North and South, I ended up preferring the North so the 4 star rating for South Unit. but if in the area, this national park is definitely worth visiting. On first sight I said "meh" - on the third day in the area, I really loved the area. Its a nice area to visit.

On tour doing a month long road trip. We had just visited the Black Hills area of South Dakota, the Badlands and Wind Cave National Park. North Dakota wasn't originally part of our trip though. We decided we had the time so we drove to Medora and made Teddy Roosevelt National Park our third of the road trip before Glacier-Waterton. The scenery in this unit of the national park is amazing. We had visited Painted Canyon the night before and that just whet our imagination of what we would see in the South Unit. We weren't disappointed. The first six miles are under construction. No big deal, the road is a little rough. The construction here is nothing compared to what is going on in Glacier NP. It turns out the first six miles are also the last six miles. Our children earned their junior ranger badges, we got passports stamped at the visitor center, which also contains a great museum with a huge petrified stump and great introduction to Theodore Roosevelt before he became president. Ranger Dexter led our tour of the Maltese cabin, Roosevelt's home while in the Dakotas. He provided great background info and the cabin tour was a highlight. The Loop Road is the real reason you come to this NP though. The buttes, hills and North Dakota Badlands are the shining stars. Wind and water erosion have carved this magnificent landscape that has colors of blue, green, yellow, white and grey within the buttes. The coal veins that burned for years leave a dark black strip that makes the other colors even more vivid. These Badlands are colorful compared to South Dakotas. We hiked the Ridge line Trail and made another detour to the coal vein trail. The kids loved running and hiking in the meadow at the top then looking over the cliffs. We saw lots of wildlife, coyotes, bison, wild horses, prairie dogs and birds mostly. The Loop drive is roughly 30 or so miles. We wish now we had stayed in the campground but we instead stayed in Belfield just down the road from Medora. Hotels in the area were full. This national park turned out to be a highlight for us. We didn't know North Dakota had this kind of scenery and after the hours of driving through national grasslands it made it even more impressive. Will definitely return sometime and visit the North Unit and hopefully camp for a few days to see even more of the South Unit.

I'm sorry to disagree with the previous reviews, but we had a terrible experience at Teddy Roosevelt. We were there July 4th weekend and were dismayed that the first 6 miles of the 32 mile loop were nothing but rumble strips from the road construction. These are the same 6 miles that also take you back out so it really was 12 miles of misery. We literally had to check our vehicle for damage after completing the loop! Once onto the smoother grounds of the loop, we did enjoy the hundreds of prairie dogs, wild horses, buffalo, and we even spotted a coyote! BUT, we decided to hike the one mile Coal Vein loop only to find the trail to be barely 12 inches wide with grass up over my shoulders (and a note saying to watch for snakes. REALLY?) The trail markers were confusing and people were wondering around, saying, "wasn't I just here?" Where is #9? We just passed #6" etc, etc. and it certainly ended up be for more than one mile by the time we figured out how to get out of it. Lastly, we stopped at the Visitor Center because my husband wanted to file a written complaint and to top it all off, when I went to the ladies room, there was not even any toilet paper in the stalls! Big disappointment for a National Park on a holiday weekend!

Our group of 10 (including adults and teenagers), spent an afternoon at the South Unit. We very much enjoyed the loop drive and the scenery. We saw wild horses and bison, which was neat. Unfortunately, we were here during road construction, which added a significant amount of time onto an already long day!

We made a special visit to this park from the South Dakota Black Hills portion of our road trip. We were so glad we did! The ND Badlands are similar in some ways to the perhaps more famous badlands in SD, but these ND badlands are also very different. I would encourage viewing both sets to appreciate their beauty and unique characteristics. While in TRNP, we stopped at the visitors center which provided a lot of information on both the park and Theodore Roosevelt, and saw his first cabin adjacent to the center. We were warned about 30 min delays due to road construction. While there were stops, they weren't 30 minutes. The wildlife was great to view, especially the bison. As we went through beef corral bottom, we actually had to back down the hill to yield to an oncoming bison herd. Cool experience, especially if you're smart and don't get out of your vehicle and approach them. We also stopped at many overlooks and hiked the Wind Canyon and Buck Hill trails. Both offered great views of the park. I wish we had more time for more hiking and a visit to the North Unit. However we are so glad we turned north and made the extra time to visit this wonderful national park!

We did the driving loop in the afternoon and were fortunate enough to see so much wildlife. Of course there are countless prairie dogs, also saw horses, antelope, a roadkill rattlesnake, a turkey, singles and pairs of bison along with a herd of 75+!!The thing is even if we hadn't seen so many animals, the buttes and canyons are something to see themselves. We did not do any hikes along the driving loop and also did not stop at the visitors center.

One of the prettiest National Parks and I have now been to 54 of them. The loop road was absolutely beautiful. We say bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, deer and more. My entire family loved the bison walking on the road in front of us. It was a mini Yellowstone!

We were there on a quiet rainy day but saw lots of bison right along the scenic drive, wild horses, prairie dogs, and a coyote! Favorite stops were buck hill (short walk up and amazing views), wind canyon (nice views of river and neat geology, very muddy!) and ridge line trail. We would have done more hiking if not for the rain.

Ranger Jeff led us on a hike-walk for about an hour.He was very informative and good with the kids and adults alike in the group. He showed us many different plant species and have us insight into the geology of the area.

Some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life! Wild buffalo, horses, prairie dogs! Chased a lizard under a rock. Breathtaking rock formations! I am lucky to have visited!

Stopped by here over Labor Day weekend to do some hiking. This park is amazing. The Painted Canyon hike on the way in is very easy hike and teases you with things you'll see later. We drive the loop road in the afternoon. Plenty of wildlife--wild horses, bison, and of course the pairie dogs. Did short walks on the Ridgeline Trail and Wind Canyon Trail--wind canyon provided spectacular views of the formations caused by wind and water erosion. Very easy hiking for families, very uncrowded. And always a lot of fun watching the prairie dogs at the various prairie dog towns.