The Long X Trail

Longhorn Having a Snack

The Long X Trail was one of the routes used by cattlemen to move cattle from the southern parts of the country to the prairies of modern-day eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The trail was a convenient route across the challenging terrain of the northern Little Missouri Badlands, and it passed through what would become the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Roosevelt himself is not known to have used the Long X Trail to move his cattle. To help tell the story of ranching in this area, the park maintains a small display herd of longhorn cattle that you may see raoming through the park.