Painted Canyon Trail: A Sunrise Hike with a Smithsonian Writer (Theodore Roosevelt NP, South Unit)

I had a pretty unique opportunity on this one. Through the North Dakota Board of Tourism, I got connected with Tony Perrottet, a writer for Smithsonian Magazine, who’s out working on a piece about off-the-beaten-path destinations with his team. North Dakota fits right into that — between Theodore Roosevelt National Park itself and the rich history of Roosevelt being the lead contributor to the whole National Park System, there’s a real story here most people don’t know about. There’s likely a Smithsonian piece coming from his visit, though probably not for a few months — I’ll link it here once it’s out.

I picked Tony up at his hotel in Medora, and we drove out to Painted Canyon Overlook, right off I-94 just before town, to catch it right at sunrise and hike the Painted Canyon Trail from there.

Painted Canyon Overlook at sunrise, right before we started hiking.

The view from the overlook at sunrise, right before heading down.

The Trail

The trailhead sign at Painted Canyon Overlook.

The painted canyons didn’t disappoint. They’re an awesome thing to check out for anyone driving through — the overlook is right off I-94 right before Medora, so there’s no excuse to skip it. The Painted Canyon Trail itself is a short hike, about 4.5 miles round trip as an out-and-back, with around 450 ft of elevation change. Tony and I did it in about 2 hours, with some stops along the way to talk and catch up.

I’d definitely recommend the trail — it’s not too difficult, and if you have the time, it gets you into the badlands more rather than just viewing them from the rest stop. It feels a lot more raw and a bit more wild.

The Upper Paddock Creek / Painted Canyon Trail junction — and a trail snack.

My AllTrails data for the hike — 4.4 miles, 1:54:50, 440 ft elevation gain.

We saw some bison on the hike, too, though they stayed off maybe a hundred yards or so from us. There are also some petrified stumps along this hike, worth checking out if you’ve never seen petrified wood before.

Good Company

Tony and me on the trail, with the badlands behind us.

Tony and I talked all things traveling and North Dakota the whole way out and back. It was nice to have some good company along the way — to hang out, laugh, and smile with someone for a few hours out there.

Brunch, and a Quiet Drive Through the South Unit

After the hike, we went and ate brunch at L’Amour Bistro in Medora, which was really good. Then we just did a stroll through the South Unit of the park, doing some sightseeing. It was a quiet day in the park — not a lot of traffic.

The bison herd at Jones Creek — about 40 of them, with nobody else around.

Toward the tail end of the loop, we came up on a herd of about 40 bison right at the Jones Creek trailhead. There was nobody else around, so Tony and I jumped out, snagged a couple of pictures, and were on our way.

All in all, a really good day.

— Adam