Searching for the best camping near Dakota Prairie National Grasslands, ND? There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. Find the best campgrounds near Dakota Prairie National Grasslands, ND. Read helpful reviews and tips to find the perfect camping option for you and your crew.
$20 - $60 / night
"Sites 55-66 are walk in tent sites; parking spots and grills for these sites are numbered so you have a specific site.
We arrived before 10:30 am on a Sunday and sites were being claimed quickly. "
"The bathhouse near our site was newish with flush toilets (which my spouse always loves).
So why not five stars?"
$30 - $60 / night
"Ample bathrooms and laundry room was great. ATM and cash change machine in room, dryers are fantastic. Great staff at front desk with late hours."
"The staff is very friendly and they have a small store on site. There's a picnic table, but it was very hot outside without shade."
"Stayed in the non-electric sites (Cedar Campground) that are among the trees. Secluded, well spaced apart from other sites. Perfect view of the mountains. "
"We had total privacy, a fire pit that you could see the bluff from, trees all around, and the only thing you heard were horses from the horse camp area."
"Nice fair size camp, nice shop for necessities, decent shower, 43$ with electric,"
$6 / night
"The sites are relatively spread out, though I like to stay towards the back of the site where it’s even more secluded. Every time I’ve been here, the camp is never over 1/2 full."
"The campsite is a good 25 min off the highway on a dirt road so don't plan to go back-forth a lot. But it's worth it for the peace and surrounding beauty. That's what you came for right? "
$12 - $54 / night
"If you are tent camping, the upper sites are really nice and secluded (20s - 30s). RVs cannot make it to sites 20s - 30s because it is a narrow dirt road to the top."
"If you love geology and want a quieter less crowded and more accessible experience than the Theodore Roosevelt National Park nearby, then this place is for you!"
LegendNice campground, good roads and pull through spots, wide enough to use picnic tables and have enough room for truck. Ample bathrooms and laundry room was great. ATM and cash change machine in room, dryers are fantastic. Great staff at front desk with late hours. We had emergency truck repair and needed to stay an extra day,,,staff was very helpful and made it work. Lots of sites here, some are shaded…others are full sun. Lots of different options available, RV, tent, cabin, wagon.
Good recreation for kids, basketball/volleyball/gaga ball and city pool at front of campground $5/person. Medora is a small town, easy to bike or walk. No grocery store, only small convenience store so make sure you stock up if you are staying for a few days.
National park entrance South is next door and scenic trail drive is about 2 hours round trip (there is construction so one part of road is shut down…no loop…you have to turn around).
TravelerWe stayed in site 12, which was rated as an RV campsite, it was pull through, but the hosts said mainly they use that area of the campground for tents with the RVs across the street (RV sites 1 - 9). If you are tent camping, the upper sites are really nice and secluded (20s - 30s). RVs cannot make it to sites 20s - 30s because it is a narrow dirt road to the top.
It's dry camping - no RV hookups, but at the visitor's center they have a water fill station that is free. You can pull in and fill up your RV water tank. There is no dump station at the park, nor in Glendive, so you have to drive to Miles City or Wibaux to dump. We found a Cenex in Miles City that had a good dump station and it was free.
The sites were spacious, clean and affordable. Sites 11 & 13 had a nice view. The bathrooms were pit toilets. Very clean. No running water. Camp fires are permitted.
The camp hosts were really helpful and friendly.
We spent one day in Makoshika hiking the trails with our dog. We felt that 1 day was sufficient, but you could easily spend more time to enjoy the park, take some longer hikes, or play disc golf. The other day we took a drive to North Dakota to check out Theodore Roosevelt National Park, about an hour drive away. Well worth the drive. We stopped at Beaver Creek Brewery on the way back to the campsite and brought back a growler for around the campfire.
They said next year they plan on expanding the campsites and adding in some full hook-up RV sites and a dump station. Even without that, we plan on coming back.
I'd book in advance if you are planning on going over a weekend. The campsites were all booked when we arrived. We reserved our spot about 3 weeks prior.
Legendwow, what a find! We had planned to travel through the area but hadn’t planned to stop—until we hit the Tourist Center at the Montana border and found a brochure for thus park. If you love geology and want a quieter less crowded and more accessible experience than the Theodore Roosevelt National Park nearby, then this place is for you! There are several campgrounds and dispersed campsites to choose from, the RV campground is small and packed and a bit barren, but the tent sites are magnificent. There are incredible canyon views from the “Pine on Rocks” campground close to the park amphitheater, but the campsites are kind of on the edge of a cliff so would not be good with kids or pets. The trails are magnificent, and you can hike to all kinds of geological wonders, even some dinosaur digs in action! However, don’t do like we did as we came in August and the heat is BRUTAL and we werent able to hike as much as we wanted. However, we were pleased that our dog was able to join us as we discovered dogs arent allowed on the hiking trails over at the National Park
LegendThis campground in Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora ND has 76 sites. Half of the sites, the even-numbered ones, are not reservable. Sites 55-66 are walk in tent sites; parking spots and grills for these sites are numbered so you have a specific site.
We arrived before 10:30 am on a Sunday and sites were being claimed quickly. There were 7 of us choosing sites at that time. The hosts had a whiteboard that listed available sites; we took a photo of the list and chose quickly as we drove around because sites that were listed as available were already being claimed. We ended up on a reservable site that was open for the next several nights. The host couple was really on the ball and their attention helped keep the site selection process orderly. After you put your tag up, they fold it over later in the day and mark your departure date. This is a practice that is used in many campgrounds.
Cottonwood has been full every day since Memorial Day so you can't show up in the evening or possibly even mid-afternoon and expect to find an open site.
This campground has no hookups but has flush toilets, sinks, potable water spigots, a sink for washing dishes/disposing of grey water, a place for filling water tanks, trash disposal and firewood for sale. There are charcoal grates for cooking that can also be use for campfires, but there are no fire rings; your campfire will be a few feet off the ground in something that I think of as a grill!
Showers? No, but there area couple campgrounds in Medora that have showers for $5.
If you stay here, you're obviously here to see Theodore Roosevelt NP. Both the campground and park are worth a visit. The scenery is incredible and gave us a new view of North Dakota. There is a hike near Pleasant Valley Ranch where you can use a few trails to make a 5+ mile loop that will show you everything the park has to offer - Little Missouri River (and you have to cross it at the beginning and end), prairie dog towns, bison herds and beautiful scenery. I highly recommend this as a way to see the park from a better vantage point than the highway.
One complaint - the position of our site (#19) had some people think it was acceptable to cut through our site on their way to the bathroom. Do you walk through someone's home to shorten your walk? Didn't think so but 3 people did within 30 minutes.
RangerI have mixed feelings on this campground. We were here mid- July and it was incredibly hot. There is limited shade and little relief from the heat. We had a nice site with the river running alongside it, but it was a dark muddy brown, so not at all enticing to go in it. The host was very friendly and helpful. Bathrooms & water access were nearby but there are no showers within the park. There was also no soap in the bathroom. I was disappointed that there are no fire pits, just small grills at each site. I understand there is probably a moderately high fire danger in the park often, but disappointing nonetheless. The campground has tent, RV and walk in sites available. Some are reservable- some not. The scenery is beautiful in a weird, other worldly way. Unfortunately it was challenging to enjoy it fully due to the 90+ degree temps.
ScoutIf you visit Theodore Roosevelt, you likely want to see the bison the park is famous for, and if you stay at Cottonwood, you likely will. We did--up close. One passed within about 10 feet of our campervan (which we'd jumped into with our dog, as the bison started to approach). What a thrill. We wondered if it was the same bison we'd seen grazing about 50 yards away the day before and the same one who'd left muddy hoofprints all over the campground.
We didn't love the campground itself as much as the other reviewers did. The sites are decently spaced, and many of them are at least partly shaded. The bathhouse near our site was newish with flush toilets (which my spouse always loves).
So why not five stars? The camp host committed one of my pet peeves, which is not enforcing the generator quiet hours (8 pm to 8 am here). A camper near us was using his generator till at least 10:30 (when I finally managed to fall asleep; he might've been using it even later). Too, the campground was buggy--as buggy as I've experienced in the West (which I usually find to be much less buggy than my homelands in the muggy, wet East).
GuideWe stayed 3 nights in a PT FHU for $177. The sites are dusty red dirt (but that's the natural landscape of the area) and a little close together. The staff is very friendly and they have a small store on site. There's a picnic table, but it was very hot outside without shade. There's a great creek within walking distance that you can cool off in and let the dogs run around. The proximity to Teddy Roosevelt NP is the winner to stay!
GuideMy brother and I decided to take a trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect when I entered the Cottonwood campground in the South Unit.
When I pulled in there were several campsites for tents on the left and pull-through campsites for campers on the right. I opted to for one of the tent sites right in the middle of the camp near the water. The campsite I was at had trees in between it and the adjacent campsites. It had a flat space with mowed grass, a picnic table, and an outdoor grill.
As far as bathrooms are concerned, there was a pit toilet where you enter for the pull-through sites and a flush toilet in the middle of the tent sites. I always prefer camping somewhere with a flush toilet and running water. You might be more adventurous than I am, but this definitely made me happy.
There were a lot of bugs in my campsite, which was probably because I was close to the water. It may have had fewer bugs if I chose a campsite further away from the river. I saw a snake while cooking dinner one night, and I also saw a buffalo hanging out next to the toilets when I woke up one morning (I wasn't groggy for long). So there is a good chance you see some wildlife you can enjoy in the campsite.
The location of the campground is near the entrance of the South Unit, so it's a good place to stay if you plan to explore the park. I woke up and did a loop around the entire South Unit and then ended back at the campground.
As far as the national park is concerned, I highly recommend checking out the Wind Canyon Trail, Buck Hill, Scoria Point Overlook, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Canyon. All of these locations are really different. There are also several prairie dog towns that are pretty cool.
LegendI visited this campground for 1 night while driving across North Dakota. It's super easy to access from I-94, but you feel like you're a million miles away from the interstate. Arriving at the Teddy Roosevelt NP main entrance late in the day, the booth was closed and the "Campground Full" sign was up. I decided to check for myself and I'm glad I did. They sometimes put the campground full site up when the ranger leaves for the night- always check for yourself.
The campsites were basic- picnic table, fire ring, and close proximity to some basic bathrooms. My site was grassy and easy for a tent. The campground didn't allow hammocks or anything attached to trees. The rangers were very friendly and actively patroling the campground. There were NP events at the campground each night.
The cost for a site was $16 (and 20$ to enter the park if you don't have a pass). You cannot get change from the ranger and you cannot use a credit card to register. The closest place to get change, firewood, gas, etc. is Medora which is about 7 miles away. The convenience store there has anything you might want.
There are lots of great hikes accessible in the park, but the park is not crowded like other National Parks, so be sure to get a trail map and directions for hiking as all trails are not well marked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Dakota Prairie National Grasslands?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Dakota Prairie National Grasslands is Cottonwood Campground — Theodore Roosevelt National Park with a 4.6-star rating from 70 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 6 glamping camping locations near Dakota Prairie National Grasslands, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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