Driving from Montana into North Dakota was the beginning of the next chapter of our road trip. It marked the start of our second month on the road; it was also completely new territory for us. Thanks to my good friend, Google, we had planned our adventures around Medora, ND and more specifically the Maah Daah Hey Trail. In our time there we packed in a lot and I’m not convinced we could have done it any better!
Here’s how we made the most of 48 hours in SW North Dakota, van-life family style!
HOURS 0-4: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
We spent our first afternoon exploring the Southern Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt NP. The Park is split into a Northern and Southern Unit with 68 miles of highway separating the two zones. Starting at the visitor center we watched the featured film (we’re big fans of the NP movies-especially when we don’t already know much about the Park) and got information on the various hikes. We then drove the scenic loop road. You can check out some of the scenery in the short reel:
Fun Fact: Of the 63 National Parks in the US, it’s the only one named after a person.
The temperatures were soaring so we only did one short hike: the Coal Vein Trail. This trail meanders through an area that was once an actively smoldering underground fire. The fire started in 1951 when an open coal seam was struck by lightning (makes sense, but I had not heard of this previously!). It smoldered continuously for 26 years, creating visible changes to the landscape during that time, such as the creation of new large depressions in the land. The trail is marked with numbered posts along its length that correspond to an interpretive booklet that we picked up at the visitor center.
We didn’t see any animals on our walk but we were bombarded by hordes of crickets and grasshoppers that seemed to be lying in wait just to jump at us as soon as we disturbed their grassy homes! Combine that with the unrelenting heat and we were more than ready to get back into the air-conditioned van for the drive back to the campground!
HOURS 5-16: Laundry, Chill, Eat, Sleep
We spent both nights in the Medora Campground. It’s a large, sprawling RV and tent site with full hookups, flush toilets, showers, laundry and even a little store. The sites are packed in pretty tight, but are all bordered by at least one tree to provide some shade. It was the perfect hub for all of our activities. We hung out a bit that first evening while we took advantage of the convenient laundry facilities and dodged more grasshoppers.
A short walk from the campground was a large park with covered areas, tables and a lot of trees. For some reason hardly anyone was using it which made it a pretty great spot to beat the crowds and eat dinner. It was so hot, even the idea of being close to other humans and their body heat was unappealing!
HOURS 16-20: Maah Daah Hey Trail Run
This event was the anchoring event that brought us to Medora. The Maah Daah Hey Trail travels 144 miles through the badlands, connecting the Northern and Southern Units of the Park. Due to illness and minor injuries the girls and I almost didn’t make it to the event, but in the end we pulled through!
We woke up early the morning of the event to catch the shuttles that would take us to our respective starting lines and by our 8am start the temperature was already in the high 70s. It was later rumored that it ended up being the hottest day on race record! You can read more about how it all went down in Zoe’s excellent blog post!
HOURS 21-30: Beating the Heat, More Geology and Recharge
After the race we had time to kill before our evening plans. We showered up, scored some celebratory ice cream for lunch and drove out to the Painted Canyon Visitor Center, another point of interest in the Southern Unit of the Park. We then promptly put up all the window shades, turned on the fan, set up one of the beds so we could all lay on it (trying not to touch each other) and watched a movie-we were pooped and did I mention, hot?!
We eventually got out of the sweltering van and took in the pretty view from the overlook and then listened to one of the Park Rangers give a geology talk. We learned that one of the more abundant clay minerals of the area is bentonite; it shows up in the Badland Hills as the ashy blue band of color. It’s formed from volcanic ash and was originally deposited in the badlands millions of years ago when the volcanic mountains on the west coast were active-how cool is that?!
We made a grocery run later that afternoon, which was a lovely way to stay cool in the heat of the day and then made a tasty dinner before heading to the final event of our Medora stay.
HOURS 31-34: Medora Musical!
The Medora Musical was a treat! This was suggested to us by a friend who grew up in North Dakota and though we’d never heard of it, it’s a pretty big deal out there. It’s been running since 1965! The show is performed in an outdoor amphitheater and tells the story of Medora and Theodore Roosevelt, complete with horses, singers, dancers, lots of costume changes, and fireworks. Even Andrew, who is not the fan of musicals like the girls and I are, enjoyed it immensely!
HOURS 35-48: Sleep and Final Goodbyes
After packing up to leave we went back to the finish line of the race to see if we could catch any of the ultra runners coming in. We got lucky and were able to cheer in the only woman to complete the 75 mile run! While we waited for her to come in, Andrew talked with one of the men who had already finished the 100 mile run and Zoe visited with one of the volunteers who is an ultra runner herself. It was a cool opportunity to meet some of the local folks. And, watching the woman finish after running for nearly 29 hours, was truly inspiring!
Though our time in Medora was short, we felt like we saw and did a lot. The only thing that may have made it better would have been a pool! I was especially enamored with the Maah Daah Hey Trail and would love to come back out and see more of it someday.
So amazing. All of it. Your careful planning really paid off! Also, that musical looks so fun!
Thanks! So glad when it works out 🙂