 Online Guide - Welcome Getting Orientated Camping Hiking & Trail Guide Horse Use Activities Theodore Roosevelt Park History Natural History Weather Scrapbook/images Visitation Statistics Press Room Park Bookstore Related Web Sites
|
Along the park road are a number of trail heads. Some are self-guiding
nature trails. These trails will help you gain an understanding of this
land and its wildlife, so go for a hike. Take time to get to know the
park. SELF-GUIDED TRAILS - SOUTH UNIT Ridgeline Nature Trail - This self-guiding loop trail gives you information about the badlands scenery and ecology and about the role of fire, wind, and water in this area. Length: 0.6 mile. The Trail Guide is available on line in PDF format or at the trail head. Coal Vein Trail - From 1951 until early 1977 a fire burned here in a coal seam. The intense heat baked the adjacent clay and sand, greatly altering the appearance of the terrain and disturbing the vegetation. Length: 0.8 mile. The Trail Guide is available on line in PDF format or at the trail head.
OTHER SHORT NATURE TRAILS Buck Hill - A short walk leads to this hill, which has an elevation of 2,855 feet. Note that only shrubs and other small plants grow on the dry, hot, south-facing slopes, and that trees grow on the wetter. cooler, north-facing hillsides. Wind Canyon -A short trail up the ridge leads to an overlook of both a graceful bend in the Little Missouri River and also the wind-sculpted sands of the canyon. A short way beyond the river the wilderness area begins. Painted Canyon Nature Trail - Length: 0.9 miles. The trail starts and ends at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center. Walk east from the Painted Canyon Visitor Center to the end of the wooden split-rail fence by the picnic shelters. The trail drops down the canyon wall towards the bottom of the canyon and loops back up. SELF-GUIDED TRAILS - NORTH UNIT Little Mo Nature Trail - This self-guiding nature trail, which begins at the Juniper Campground, goes through river woodlands and badlands. Length: 1.1 miles. A shorter trail, 0.7 mile, is wheelchair accessible. The Trail Guide is available on line in PDF format and at the trail head. Caprock Coulee Nature Trail - About 1.5 miles west of Juniper Campground is the start of a self-guiding trail through badlands coulees-dry water gulches-and breaks-interruptions in the grassy plains. Length: 1.6 miles roundtrip.
OTHER SHORT NATURE TRAILS River Bend Overlook - A short walk leads to a CCC built shelter overlooking the Little Missouri River. The view at the end is a fantastic panoramic scene of the badlands.
|
