Dispersed Site - Grassland Boondocking, near North Billings, North Dakota, is a fantastic spot for those who crave wide-open spaces and stunning views. This area is all about the natural experience, with no amenities to distract you from the beauty of the grasslands and bluffs surrounding you.

Visitors rave about the breathtaking scenery, with one camper noting, “Some of the most beautiful views you’ll see.” The location is quiet, making it perfect for a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle. You’ll find plenty of spots to set up camp, and many reviewers appreciated the distance between sites, ensuring a sense of privacy.

Access is straightforward, though the road can be a bit bumpy, so take it slow if you're driving in. Keep an eye out for wildlife, as rattlesnakes have been spotted in the area, so it’s wise to keep your pets close. If you’re looking for a place to unwind and soak in the natural beauty, this location is a solid choice.

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.

Dispersed Site - Grassland Boondocking

Medora is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. Medora is filled with the activities, sights, and experiences to make everyone in your crew a happy camper. Find the best campgrounds near Medora, ND. Read helpful reviews and tips to find the perfect camping option for you and your crew.

Medora

The Best Camping Near Medora, North Dakota

We arrived just after a rain. That made things a little messy to get in. There is a large mud pit on one side of the road and tire ruts on the other. Once you get past that, you're pretty golden.
There is a loop you can pull into on the left. But, you won't get the views there. We're in a class c and went up a bit. We have views of the badlands and park. Halfway up is as high as we saw any rigs over 30ft go. There were a couple TT's at the summit. Lots of vans, popups and smaller c's up the foothill.
It's windy, and you will hear some highway noise. When it's really windy, trucks hit the rumble strips often.
It was pretty dead here most of the time. Labor Day weekend brought a lot of tent campers. Everyone is pretty quiet though. No cell signal st the bottom. Great AT&amp;T and Verizon as you go up.
Easy acces to Medora and the south unit if TRNP. The trails for the petrified forest are further down River rd.
We used Sully Creek SP for water and dumping. There was no price listed, so we donated a few bucks.

Beautiful Views with great access to TRNP and Medora.

This 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). 

Scoria Pit Boondocking for the Win

If 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!

Location, location, location

I 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!

Great views!

This 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   

Great spot with gorgeous views

Loved this site so close to Medora, ND and especially Theodore Roosevelt NP. Little challenging to find as the GPS coordinates took us beyond the turnoff. As one writer earlier stated if you go over more than one cattle guard you’ve gone too far. Beautiful views and an early morning visit by a herd of cows. Drove to the top of the road with our Little Guy Max to find a site with 360 degree views. 

Gorgeous views! 

Just a dirt road with ample pullouts for camping/RVs. 2wd/low clearance is no problem on the dirt road. It's a right turn after the first cattle guard, previous reviewers were saying they had trouble finding the spot, I'd recommend Gaia gps or something similar. 

Primo boondocking 

Let 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.

Amazing Stars

We 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

Really pretty and a retreat!

After the first cattle guard, it’s the first right! The coordinates might not be correct. If you cross a second cattle guard, you went too far. 

This was absolutely stunning. If you get to the top of the road and it is blocked, you can move the fencing and go beyond. Several people were. If you have a 4x4 you can get up to the last spot before the fence on the right! 

Beautiful!

Beautiful 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.

Gateway to Theodore Roosevelt NP

Stayed here a few nights well visiting the National park which is only 10 min away. The views are amazing. Lots of places to park. Not busy during the day. 5 miles from a great petrified forest. No amenities at all. 2 miles off highway so you can hear it a little bit. 

Great views quiet 

We 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. 

Awesome spot beautiful views close to park

We stayed here while visiting  Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Amazing views and very quite. 

Amazing views 

Very 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 &amp; Verizion.

Beautiful Hill Top Next to National Park

There 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.

Easy, good views, privacy

Pulled 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. 

A Breathe of Fresh Air

8-10 semi-secluded spots, beautiful area - let's keep it that way. The guidelines are in the description. 

Beautiful Spot - Really Close to Madera and TRNP South Unit

A 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?

Beautiful, quiet dispersed camping!

Long grass limits spots. Alot of rude vanlife people have crowd others. But before the weekend it was pretty peaceful and nobody around for most part.

Limited but great

Stayed in the first spot available once getting onto the service road. The recent rain made the road extremely muddy and difficult to get through even with an AWV vehicle, so beware to smaller cars. There's a set of train tracks not far away and a train passed by around 1am, but only the once. Otherwise it was a very peaceful spot. Lots of crickets to lull us to sleep at night. 

Nice spot 

This 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.

Beautiful views

Quite 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! 

Almost perfect 

Easy to find.  Good road even for a 32 ft motorhome. 
Beautiful views. Quiet and peaceful. 
Smells amazing from all the sage and other shrubs. 

Highly recommend!

There 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.

Space with a view

A 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. 

Yep good one 

Great spot to stay for a night. Winds can be high so if you’re sleeping between fabric walls it may get loud.

It frickem wimdy!

easily 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!! 

good place to stop for the night!

most 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! 

can’t believe this is free 

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. 

Great accessible free spot

Easy access with good road plenty of room. Great views

Beautiful

Narrow Road, but plenty of spots to park at as well as not being too close to the next camper! Some of the most beautiful views you’ll see

Absolutely beautiful views

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!

Insane views and great cell service 

Arrived 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. 

Amazing Views, Easy Access, Quiet Stay

Not far from the park. Great views from the top. We had no issues getting out jeep all the way up, but larger campers would need to find spots lower.

Great view off the beaten path

Easy access on a gravel road all the way to the top of the bluff.  We opted to park at one of the first few pull out spots but saw several campers all along the road up to and on the bluff itself.  We had great Verizon service.

So Many Great Spots

Found this site close to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Road in is pretty good, any right should be able to make it.
There are several sites in the camping area, some could fit big rigs.  Smaller rigs can get into any of the other sites.
Despite being near the Interstate, it was really quiet at night.
Great Verizon signal on this location.  Starlink had some of the fastest connections we have seen.

Overnight after Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Amazing

I went June 23rd, 2024. We got there near sunset and was able to find a spot after driving for a bit. Had a gorgeous sunset and it was very quiet.

Great views, lots of spots

Great place with lots of great spots to camp! Not cramped but not all alone❤️

Super cool!

We arrived late, about 9:30 on Sunday evening and we were still able to find a spot. Beautiful place to watch the sunset 

Best Free Camp

Plenty of spots all the way to the cell tower on the top bluff. Nice gravel road. Even if you stop before the top, explore the space. Beautiful vistas all around. Medora is nearby with opportunities for dining &amp; entertainment.

Follow the red rock road

This boondocking spot is a must-visit for spectacular views, even with a late-night arrival! We got in at 11:30 PM and drove straight to the cell phone tower. Don't stop early; keep following the dirt road past what seems like the end. Don't get discouraged – there are plenty of spots! The panoramic vistas the next morning were incredible and made the night drive completely worth it. We'll definitely be back!

Boondocking Bliss: Worth the Night Drive for Unforgettable Views!

The coordinates are for the first spot.  I don't know how many spots there are, but I just went until I found an empty spot.

It was easy to get level and the views are incredible with an hours long sunset and very early sunrise.

Beautiful boondocking

We stayed 2 nights in July in this area and it was great! Plenty of spots, so we didn't feel like we were on top of other campers. Close to the National Park which was why we stayed and we were able to use all the facilities at the Painted Canyon Visitor center for morning rituals ( aka teeth brushing bathroom in a toilet, face washing etc) We did drive to a Rough Rider State park for a shower which was 5$ a person( totally worth it after multiple muddy river crossings on our hike) Rooftop tent campers be aware the top ridge is so windy the first night we stayed we were whipping around all night but the second night we stayed on the lower ridge and the wind was much better. 

GRASSLAND DISPERSED CAMPING

Lots of spots in a beautiful area. Good cell service as well.

Beautiful Area

There are about 5 -7 pullout that i could see. Each are private with plenty of space.  You might see another person but the sites are far enough away from each other to not be a bother.   

There is alot of people looking for spots on a Monday.   Get here early.  It's worth it! 

Beautiful and Quiet

Excellent views, narrow road yet accessible. 

Beautiful boondocking 

We had a nice time only stayed the night. Our dog loved running around and we loved seeing the views

Nice view, clear skies, spacious area

Camped for 1 night before going to theodore roosevelt national park the nxt day! It was nice! A lot of campers. Lots of spaces! Please be noce and clean after

No fee camping

This is one of my favorite campsites to date. It’s totally dispersed camping, and there’s a lot of dirt road dust, however our site was super quiet and dark for beautiful stargazing. The other five star reviews are in my opinion legitimate. It was easy to come from Medora, North Dakota to the site, but it appears that you only get an entrance and exit on the Medora side. We almost went here for a second night, but got a first come first serve site inside the park for the next night.

Spectacular 

This area is also known as Scoria Boondocking on Campendium.  Workers came through on Aug 29th 2025 and put up site numbers.  Indicated they were trying to get control of where people park.  We were at the new #5 site with a 35' 5th wheel.  Site is unlevel the further into the site you go but we were able to level pretty easily more towards where you enter the site.  We were happy with our site location and views.  You could hear road noise from I94 but it wasn't too bad.  Also had a view of fireworks from the Medora music show each night around 9:35.  Not sure how many sites they ended up marking further up the gravel road.  There is no west bound reentry onto i94 from this exit (23).  You have to go east bound back to exit 24 to go west again.

Newly added site numbers

Campsites are marked, a bit crowded so get there early to get a desired spot. Overall views are stunning.

Good view 

...the hill is pretty steep and a couple sharp turns.    If you are towing just make sure you are comfortable with that.     It's a one lane road up the ill with blind spots so go slow and yield.      Remember you'll have to come back down!   Beautiful views though  nicely spaced out spots.   

Lots of space.   Be careful ..

A red dirt road with a series of pull-in spots large enough to accommodate a camper or RV. Spots are spaced out a couple hundred feet. Other than your fellow boondockers, there’s no one else in sight.   The views are picturesque. 

Quiet, scenic solitude

We got here late right before sunset. A lot of the number of sites  taken, but we did find one. We stayed on lot 12, and it worked for and overnight. Great sunset. Not as secluded we like but was quiet. 

Photos of Dispersed Site - Grassland Boondocking

Real photos from real campers