Searching for the perfect place to dispersed camp near Sentinel Butte? The Dyrt can help you find the best dispersed campsites for your next trip. You're sure to find the perfect dispersed campsite for your North Dakota excursion.
Many people enjoy the solitude and primitive experience of camping away from developed campgrounds and other campers. Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Grasslands OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Dispersed camping means there are no toilets, no picnic tables, no trash cans, no treated water, and no fire grates. Typically, dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas such as campgrounds, boat ramps, picnic areas or trailheads. There are extra responsibilities and skills that are necessary for dispersed camping. It's your responsibility to know these before you try this new experience.
Driving cross-country (off a road or trail) by motorized, wheeled vehicles is prohibited in the National Grasslands. Along certain roads, vehicles may drive up to 300 feet off road to camp. These roads are shown on the Grassland's Motor Vehicle Use Map.
Picking a Campsite
If you are going to an area where others have camped before, pick a site that's been used before. Plants, soil and wildlife are impacted by new campsites, so using existing ones will minimize your impact on the grassland. If there is no existing campsite, then follow these Leave No Trace guidelines:
Camp on bare soil if possible, to avoid damaging or killing plants and grass. Do NOT camp within 200 feet of any water source, plants near water are especially fragile. Don't camp in the middle of a pasture or clearing. Make your campsite less visible so that other visitors will see a "wild" setting. Campfires
Many wildfires are caused by human activity, typically escaped campfires from dispersed campers. Campfires are allowed when you are dispersed camping UNLESS there are fire restrictions in effect due to high fire danger conditions. It is YOUR responsibility to know if fire restrictions are in effect before you go camping. Use existing fire rings if they exist. Minimize the scarring of new rocks, soil and plants by using existing fire rings. Clear an area of combustible material six feet away from a campfire to reduce the chance of it spreading into a wildfire. NEVER LEAVE A FIRE UNATTENDED. You should have a bucket, shovel, and axe available to control or extinguish escaped fire. BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR CAMPFIRE, MAKE SURE IT IS DEAD OUT. You should be able to put your whole hand into the ashes without being burned and it should be cool to the touch. Protect Water Quality
Water gets contaminated by visitors who don't take care of their human waste or their garbage and food properly. To dispose of feces, dig a hole 6 inches deep and AT LEAST 200 FEET AWAY FROM ANY WATER SOURCE (creeks, wetlands, springs, or lakes). When you're done, fill the hole with the dirt you dug up and take your toilet paper with you to dispose of in a proper waste container. Never defecate or leave toilet paper on top of the ground, it could easily get into the local water source and contaminate it. Wash your body, dishes, etc., and dispose of waste water AT LEAST 200 FEET AWAY FROM ANY WATER SOURCE. Do not use ANY soap directly in a water source. Use biodegradable soap.
Many people enjoy the solitude and primitive experience of camping away from developed campgrounds and other campers. Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Grasslands OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Dispersed camping means there are no toilets, no picnic tables, no trash cans, no treated water, and no fire grates. Typically, dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas such as campgrounds, boat ramps, picnic areas or trailheads. There are extra responsibilities and skills that are necessary for dispersed camping. It's your responsibility to know these before you try this new experience.
Driving cross-country (off a road or trail) by motorized, wheeled vehicles is prohibited in the National Grasslands. Along certain roads, vehicles may drive up to 300 feet off road to camp. These roads are shown on the Grassland's Motor Vehicle Use Map.
Picking a Campsite
If you are going to an area where others have camped before, pick a site that's been used before. Plants, soil and wildlife are impacted by new campsites, so using existing ones will minimize your impact on the grassland. If there is no existing campsite, then follow these Leave No Trace guidelines:
Camp on bare soil if possible, to avoid damaging or killing plants and grass. Do NOT camp within 200 feet of any water source, plants near water are especially fragile. Don't camp in the middle of a pasture or clearing. Make your campsite less visible so that other visitors will see a "wild" setting. Campfires
Many wildfires are caused by human activity, typically escaped campfires from dispersed campers. Campfires are allowed when you are dispersed camping UNLESS there are fire restrictions in effect due to high fire danger conditions. It is YOUR responsibility to know if fire restrictions are in effect before you go camping. Use existing fire rings if they exist. Minimize the scarring of new rocks, soil and plants by using existing fire rings. Clear an area of combustible material six feet away from a campfire to reduce the chance of it spreading into a wildfire. NEVER LEAVE A FIRE UNATTENDED. You should have a bucket, shovel, and axe available to control or extinguish escaped fire. BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR CAMPFIRE, MAKE SURE IT IS DEAD OUT. You should be able to put your whole hand into the ashes without being burned and it should be cool to the touch. Protect Water Quality
Water gets contaminated by visitors who don't take care of their human waste or their garbage and food properly. To dispose of feces, dig a hole 6 inches deep and AT LEAST 200 FEET AWAY FROM ANY WATER SOURCE (creeks, wetlands, springs, or lakes). When you're done, fill the hole with the dirt you dug up and take your toilet paper with you to dispose of in a proper waste container. Never defecate or leave toilet paper on top of the ground, it could easily get into the local water source and contaminate it. Wash your body, dishes, etc., and dispose of waste water AT LEAST 200 FEET AWAY FROM ANY WATER SOURCE. Do not use ANY soap directly in a water source. Use biodegradable soap.
Ranger
Pullouts along a dirt road provide good camping spots! Able to find a free spot on a friday night around 4 but there were definitely other people filling in.
GuideAs a tenter or suv camper I drove to the top of the grasslands boondocking area to find others doing the same thing. Even without an actual "spot" I was able to get a nice place on the bluff to spread out, not close to other dudes. Obviously no services here but just piss into the wind. Ominous heavy fog in the morning with low visibilty but a cool spot for sure. Drive, dont roll, down the hill. No need for bug spray but maybe a pair of binoculars to check out the ladies. Big sky, wild horses, and yummy grasshoppers. No west bound access when leaving so take Buffalo Gap Rd or backtrack to Medora. Such a nice town to chill during the hot days, especially at the historic park with covered tables.
LegendWe had an amazing spot on top of hill. Could see for miles. Saw nice mule deer buck. Lots of camping spots. Empty during the day gets close to full an hour or so before dark. 10 min from National park entrance. No water or dump. Can be very windy. Very close to petrified forest.
ScoutBeautiful secluded campsite. Just a few designated spots, but we saw people pulled over anywhere along the gravel road. Heard wolves in the night and saw the Milky Way. Some road noise from the interstate, but not too bad.
Traveler8-10 semi-secluded spots, beautiful area - let's keep it that way. The guidelines are in the description.
Travelereasily accessible, multiple spots to choose from that are dispersed about half a mile from each other. far enough from the interstate to not see it, but close enough to still hear it. also had full bars with verizon. insanely windy but beautiful!!
Travelermost amazing campsite. arrived around 4pm and secured a spot with views of the whole valley. windy at times but was able to move the car in front of the tent!
Guide
Road was closed to the actual marked area. There was another campsite right before the road with a fire pit if you follow the directions.(recommend heading across to Scoria pit instead.)
There was a large beautiful herd of feral horses bedding down with their little ones here in the evening though!
GuidePulled up to the first campsite which was very easy to get to. Very peaceful. Around 9:30pm another camper pulled up next to me which seems like bad camping etiquette but maybe this is considered overflow since there’s enough space for two. I ended up moving to a different spot. Tried to make my way down to the petrified forest hike which is five miles down the dirt road but the last half mile was too washed out for my van to make it. Visited early June.
GuideInteresting pond spot. There are three roads from Camel Hump Rd that go into lake area loops. Chose the second right turn 1st, so you can scope out the areas down the first and third roads from across the pond, because those are tight and if someone is already there then theres no use driving down. Theres about two private spots down the 1st and 3rd right turns. The second turn though has tables and is more open and recreational for swimming and fishing. The best spot at 2nd right turn (middle of pond) is first loop on left with table and pit. It has a clear swim spot. Its a bit deep there but nice. No toilet or water but nice area to chill on a hot day.
GuideAlong Buffalo Gap Rd closer to I-94 area. The land is within Little Missouri National Grassland and there are no signs at this spot saying not to camp. The campground area, fee area, is on the other side of I-94.
GuideThis is a terrific spot for any size rig. Ample room to turn around and well-maintained gravel roads to get to the site. It can be extremely windy though, so beware (60 mph gusts when we visited).
GuideIf you are attending the Medora Musical, this is perfect! It is not far off the highway, so it is quick to get set up and then get going for your next day. When I got here around noon, it was just me. Two other people set up through the day. There was plenty of room and it was still very peaceful. I would definitely camp here again!
TravelerI was confused on where this was because the GPS coordinates were wrong on another app. These are the coordinates for an amazing tent spot: (46.9411728, -103.5856874) Do not go past the second cattle guards! If you have, you’ve gone to far!
Also, just enough people here to make me comfortable, but not enough to make it crowed at all!
GuideThis is a great place for camping outside Theodore Roosevelt NP. Once you turn right off of River Rd and go up the first hill there is another road to your left with a large cul-de-sac for camping. If you keep going there are 4-5 other pull offs for camping with larger rigs on the right. There are a few smaller spots up the big hill but it isn't suggested for larger rigs, there's no room to turnaround
GuideLet me tell you, these stars were INCREDIBLE. We were fortunate to be there on a clear night (September 3) and the Milky Way was painted out for us. This is a very popular spot and it's no mystery why considering how pretty it is and how close it is to Teddy Roosevelt. We pulled into this site after dark , which did present various difficulties including a mama cow bluff charging our van (didn't know it was a bluff at the time), not knowing exactly which road to take as there are a couple to choose from when you get there, and not knowing exactly where to park because it was so dark and we couldn't see the terrain. We used the lights of the other vans, RVs, and tents as guides. Even with these difficulties, we felt safe and fortunate to be there.
GuideWe basically fled to this site from a really scary sketchy spot in eastern Montana. Pulled in at like 2am (not by choice) and found somewhere off the road to sleep. Felt super safe and quiet, happy to have found a beautiful place to wake up to
ScoutVery Close to National Park access.
A handful of spots on the top of the ridge. Big Rig friendly but spot the road before going to the top as there are not many spots to turn around up there.
Stayed here a few days and was accompanied by other travelers the whole time with plenty of distance between us. There are no real amenities for an hour plus outside of here.
Decent cell service for ATT & Verizion.
GuideThere is one spectacular site at the end of the road and up a hill that overlooks the whole area. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to stay there. My site was simply okay. However, this campground was super easy to get to. The road in was fairly flat, and basically right off the highway. You can have the option of lots of privacy as well. Most of the sites are quite a distance away from each other.
GuideA little hard to find as every path seems to have “no trespassing” signs. But once we made it up the hill (which I wouldn’t recommend with big rigs), the views are beautiful! Little fire pit, no noise…what more can you ask for?
ScoutThis site was poppin', so we had to drive down the road further to find a spot. The road is blocked by a wire fence halfway through but there were still plenty of open spots. Ended up camping at the top of the hills and had views similar to that of TR National Park.
ScoutQuite a bit of people, but I was able to find some nice folks that let me park near them! Beautiful country views with decent service so I was able to work online. Even after a decent rain I had no issues with my pickup truck getting to the spot!
ScoutEasy to find. Good road even for a 32 ft motorhome. Beautiful views. Quiet and peaceful. Smells amazing from all the sage and other shrubs.
GuideThere are a decent number of spots to choose from out here. The top area did have a couple strands of barbed wire blocking it this trip so we stayed in the lower area. But had A TON of space to ourselves. Our closest “neighbors” were about 100 yards away in either direction.
Great views were just a short walk from where we set up camp.
We are rocking a 4runner with a RTT and had no problems getting around. Saw some travel trailers, RVs and fifth wheels towards the front as well so moderately accessible but personally would risk going far back in something big. There are some tight turns/uneven terrain towards the top.
Really quiet area for the most part and extremely peaceful.
GuideA little weird to get to if you’re headed east on 94. You’ll backtrack about a mile, but it’s worth it. Great views of the draws and grasslands on most sites. It’s ND so it can be super windy on the ridges. Good gravel road in the dry months. Not a place I’d bring a trailer or bigger RV if it was wet out.
ScoutGreat spot to stay for a night. Winds can be high so if you’re sleeping between fabric walls it may get loud.
ScoutArrived the afternoon 07/27/24 and had no issues finding a spot. Went past where Google maps took us for Scoria Pit and up the hill to sit atop on the bluffs for some amazing views! No amenities, but the location and quietness around us was very much worth it. Good location a little off the highway near Theodore Roosevelt NP. One section of the road was a little washed out, but generally easy access.
Discover the beauty of dispersed camping near Sentinel Butte, North Dakota, where you can enjoy the great outdoors without the constraints of traditional campgrounds. With stunning landscapes and a variety of activities, this area is perfect for adventurers seeking solitude and natural beauty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dispersed campsite near Sentinel Butte, ND?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dispersed campground near Sentinel Butte, ND is Dispersed Site - Grassland Boondocking with a 4.9-star rating from 40 reviews.
What is the best site to find dispersed camping near Sentinel Butte, ND?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 dispersed camping locations near Sentinel Butte, ND, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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