Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Dickinson, ND

This is a great spot if you’re looking to stay in the park. It’s the only in-park campground. Convenient and just past the Medora entrance station.

There are no services however and this is almost borderline boondocking here. But it’s right off the river and pets are allowed. Bison walk through the campground often.

If 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).

Camped late April for 5 days, so it was offseason one pit toilet open one water spigot open in the campground.  There are two loops, the south look which is tenting and smaller sized trailer sites but it was not yet open while we were there,  The North Loop is mainly pull through sites and can handle larger sized RV's.  This is dry camping, there are no hookups.  You can experience some nice hiking and opportunities for wildlife viewing.  Buffalo were common visitors while having coffee in the morning.   Elk, deer, wild horses were common as well as hawks and prairie dogs.  Currently Western North Dakota is experiencing a drought, and being early in the season for the campground, it was dry and dusty but did not prevent us from hiking and exploring the park.  There is a convenience store in Medora ND right outside the park entrance that you can purchase basics but there was no grocery store.  Part of the scenic loop drive is closed due to road erosion but you can still travel most of it though its an out and back with turnarounds for larger vehicles. We would defiantly camp there again, but if you need the luxuries of an RV "park", you will not find that here.  The campground is well maintained and clean.

Five primitive campgrounds with wells and vault toilets. The two stars are for how this place is taken care of. Not well kept.

Decent fishing for North Dakota. Try your hand at catching crappie, walleye, catfish, perch, white bass, pike, bluegill, large and smallmouth bass. Bait store nearby!

We stayed at this park because the Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l Park North Unit campgrounds were closed for renovations. I mistakenly thought this park was close to the park, but it is actually a 90 minute drive. We had a reservation for 2 nights but only stayed one and moved to the CCC Campground to be closer to the park. The only real sites with a view are those that back-up to the Little Missouri River. All others are just looking at a prairie. This is also primarily a campground for horse people, which we are not. You do need to pay the additional North Dakota State Park fee if camping here.

We stayed at Red Trail campground in Medora, ND in September 2021. This is a great little park right outside Theodore Roosevelt National park. We stayed on an end site that was large and spacious with FHU. This park is dusty when the wind starts to blow but other than that, we enjoyed our stay here. Very well managed by a cheerful staff that go to great lengths to help you get your rig in safely before they leave you to set up camp. This was by far one of the easiest parks to negotiate in and out of with a big rig and is a great stop when visiting the Theodore Roosevelt National park. I would definatly recommend this park for a carefree visit to North Dakota. To see videos on this park and others, please visit our YouTube channel: Jeff & Steff’s Excellent Adventure.

Cottonwood Campground was a very welcome oasis in the prairies of North Dakota. Along our year-long trip, we slept in a lot of campgrounds, but Cottonwood stands out as just what we needed at the time: quiet, spacious, and beautiful sites, nestled right up along the Missouri river, perfect for taking a dip at the end of a long day of hiking.

We spent four days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park: two in the south unit and two in the north unit. (We also loved Juniper Campground in the north!)

Cottonwood Campground was a great place to crash for two nights. It was cheap, comfortable, and quiet. It allowed great access to the heart of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We even ran into a Teddy impersonator at the Visitor Center!

In the south, near Cottonwood Campground, we loved the beautiful scenic drive, the views from Buck Hill, Wind Canyon Overlook, and the Petrified Forest (a bit of a drive around the park).

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Theodore Roosevelt)

This 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.

I stopped in a stayed here for two nights on my trip from Milwaukee to Seattle. I am a single tent/car camper. I loved this park so much. I could see why Theodore Roosevelt loved it so much and received to so much from his time there. Even if you can’t stay, I recommend doing the driving loop.

The campground was clean and provided all I needed. Since it’s still considered winter season the bathrooms were not available. I thought someone said something about pit toilets but I never located them. So I just used the woods.

Wildlife do walk right on through the campground sometimes you may come real close to the bison, horses or deer so just be alert. At night you could hear the coyotes, which I loved but others may not.

The south unit (where the campground is) part of the park features a driving loop, which I highly recommend taking several times. You will not be disappointed. I went twice, both around dusk and saw bison, deer, prairie dogs, porcupine, coyote, elk, pheasants, turkey, various birds.

For hiking there’s options from short and sweet, a good day long trip, or overnight trips. I did the 10.5 mi loop through the petrified forests. Very Beautiful!!! Also not to difficult but offers enough challenge. I went North to South. The latter half of the hike was flatter than the beginning that way.

If you forget anything, the town near by (Medora) has a C-store that covers most needs. Otherwise Dickinson is within an hour away and should have whatever you may need.

I 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.

A wonderful little USFS campground about 10 miles south of Medora and the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The road turns to dirt/gravel just after leaving town, but is smooth and well maintained for the oil/gas companies. The campgrounds in the NP were full so we were worried people would spill out into this spot, but there was nobody here when we got in on a Sunday morning in early June, and only a handful of other campers came and went during our weeklong stay. Road nearby is very quite, with only the occasional oil/gas work truck basically. The trailhead had a few people in and out. Almost every site has a good view of the surrounding colorful North Dakota badlands, but the sites on top of the hill (5-10) have a better vantage point. Overall a great peaceful spot to detox, relax, and serve as a basecamp for the south unit of Teddy Roosevelt. Definitely adding this to our go to places when visiting TRNP or even just passing through NoDak.

Facilities: Pair of vault toilets near the check-in kiosk, clean and well stocked; spur to access the Maah Dah Hey trail from the campground; campground is fully fenced with cattle guard at entrance to keep out larger animals

Cell Service: Surprisingly great for both Verizon and T-mobile, more than enough to work with

Starlink: While we didn't need to use it, every site has a good open view of the sky

Solar: Every site has a good open view of the sky to rake in the rays

What can I say, I went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park just to hangout with my brother and do some camping. I had very low expectations considering it is located in North Dakota. Let's just say that of the dozen National Parks and Monuments that I have visited and camped in, Theodore Roosevelt is my second favorite.

I saw more wildlife than I have in any other park. There were very few people so it felt like we had the park to ourselves. The scenery was fantastic with so many different things to see. There is a South and North unit and they are both amazing, although the North unit is my favorite.

The Cottonwood campground is in the South Unit. It was great. The toilet near are campsite was a pit toilet, but it was clean. I must admit, I prefer a flushing toilet, especially when I am paying money to camp. Having said that the rest of the campground was quiet with some great scenery. Aside from not having flushing toilets, the reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is the campground needed more shade trees. It did get hot during the day.

Wildlife walks through the campsite regularly. I woke up one morning with a buffalo walking 10 yards from my tent. I was sitting down and eating lunch at the picnic table and a beautiful snake with lots of colors just slithered through. If you want an experience with nature and have the opportunity to see bluffs, trees, badlands and a petrified forest, you need to stay at Cottonwood.

We stayed at the Red Trail Campground in Medora, North Dakota, the last weekend in April 2016. This private campground is quite large for such a small town, but during the off-season there are only about 15 sites available. The sites are primitive through electric, water, and sewer hookups. Cable was available for $5 more. We did not pay for it. Somehow, the Wi-Fi is not available in the off-season, even though the signal is there... in other words, even though it is advertised for this campground, they will not give you the password until May 15. That was a bit frustrating for us as we planned to be able to post photos and blog from the campground during the evening. The site itself was small. We have a 17' travel trailer that just fit, with a picnic table next to it. Our site did not have a grill at it, but there were several empty sites that had portable charcoal grills available so we were allowed to move one to our location. There is a shower house, but it is another amenity that is closed during the off-season, so we cannot give our opinion on that service. We never saw an adult owner during our stay. The oldest son was in charge of our check in, guiding us to the site, explaining that there was no Wi-Fi in April, and taking our money, which was cash and check ONLY, NO CREDIT CARDS. In addition, although it is a Good Sam park, we we not able to get a discount for membership because it was "off-season prices". Although the young man was friendly and helpful, we would have felt more secure in our stay speaking with someone over 18 on the premises. The location to Theodore Roosevelt National Park was the main reason for our stay, and for this we were not disappointed. The campground is located near the BNSF railroad tracks, so expect to hear an occasional train pass by (including horn blares). In general, the campground is located away from the main roads, so it was quite quiet besides the trains, and we had a very nice bluff view behind us at our site.

great place for going on rides and over night visits. see lots of people hiking the trails and bringing their dogs.

I was so disappointed with our site. We came to kayak and camp because the reviews were so high and we are going to be exploring the national park and town of Medora. We had to pay an addition 21$ upon arrival for a vehicle fee. That, combined with our 56$ space fee equaled about 25$ a night for 3 nights. Which is a great deal for the area. Warning... the river is about 2 inches deep in the summer. Apparently that is the norm and I did not do my homework as well as I thought I had. It does say on the website that the river is high in early spring. Getting to our site, 22, it was too small for our large tent and carpeted in cottonwood which is not the fault of the camp rangers but allowing so much poison ivy in a space is. Everyone says this is great for horse camping, but if you are tent camping in summer with young kiddos, I would highly reconsider. Also be aware that there are not many hotels below 180$ a night for a single available in the town of Medora, and if you are looking for an alternative to camping the best options are 40 minutes away in Dickinson. Another little tidbit is that even though we are pretty high in the continental US, it is still in the 90s during summer. So, not too much at fault of the camp but definitely not the best summer camping experience I have had.

Pro's- Close to the town of Medora with so much to do for families. Wildlife is abundant in the park. Nice clean campground. Large spaces for tents and RV's. Deer, prarie dogs, bison, turkeys…and wild horses!

Con's- Road construction going into the park with around 10-20 minute wait.

I stayed three nights and explored the south unit of the park and the small town of Medora. The campground is well maintained. I saw bison, prairie dogs, and wild horses. I would not recommend the site I was in only because the light from the bathroom shone right over it ! Site 48. Otherwise a good campground. There is water available.

Stunning views in every direction and plenty of spots to choose from once you turn onto the gravel/dirt road. It’s a little bumpy so take it slowly, but I had no problem and I drive a 2WD hatchback.

A quick word of warning: rattlesnakes could be in the bushes! Keep your dog close and be cognizant of your surroundings!

Along the Little Missouri River, this is a nice place to connect with nature. Set in the park, restroom is a bit of a walk, sites are tucked away from main park traffic-which was minimal when we visited in August. We saw: elk, deer in velvet, bison, prairie dogs,horses, spectacular stars. It’s very close to Medora and all the little wholesome town has to offer.

We stayed here over one night while driving from Wisconsin out to Glacier National Park. This campsite is on the southern end of the park close to I-94 exit.

I just love this place! The feel of the park is unlike anything I've experienced in that it is expansive, rough, beautiful, unforgiving, and remarkably unforgettable.

Keep these things in mind:

1. This campground has amenities that are not kept up very well. Toilets are on the dirty side with outside critters coming inside.
2. There is a sense of roughing it even without being out there all alone. This isn't a "pretty park," but rather a natural park.
3. You will see Bison and you will see prairie dogs. All other wild beasts are hit or miss. The prairie dog fields are beyond belief in their quantity. I mean there are a TON of PDs.

The families that were there were nice and talkative if you engaged them. Truly a pleasant experience.

Do yourself a favor and drive/hike the park before it opens to the public. Unabated driving for the views is worth it and only compliments your morning Joe.

We 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!

This is a beautiful little park that features trail riding. Great hiking through the Badlands and views that can't be beat. Although this park is in the middle of the oil fields it does not interfere with the horseback riding, hiking, or other experiences. A little over an hour away is Medora and the Medora musical. There is also another amazing park near Medora where we saw wild horses, bison, deer, prairie dogs, and countless birds. All in all, Little Missouri State Park was a great experience for us.