Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / North Dakota / Badlands

Maah Daah Hey Trail: Rough Rider State Park to Magpie

Little Missouri National Grassland and Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit (Medora)

North of Medora, the Maah Daah Hey Trail leaves Rough Rider State Park, fords the Little Missouri River, and climbs through the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park before swinging north across the Little Missouri National Grassland toward the Elkhorn and Magpie campgrounds. This is the start of the original trail, which Backpacker described in 2001 as a 96-mile route linking the park’s two units.

Backpacker said the name comes from a Mandan term and that the trail is marked with a turtle, a symbol of long life.

The hike

North Dakota Parks and Recreation says the trail leaves from just northwest of the Rough Rider State Park entrance, and that heading north crosses the Little Missouri toward the national park. BPRoutes calls this the Sully Creek crossing and says the river can be impassable in spring or after heavy rain. A 2023 Fatpacking itinerary told hikers to bring water shoes and check USGS river levels.

Inside the park, SummitPost’s writer passed under the Interstate 94 bridge, followed the river north for about 3 miles, crossed Knutson Creek near the Lone Tree Trail junction, and then climbed about 450 feet onto a plateau, passing the South and North Petrified Forest trail junctions before leaving the park at its northern boundary. He found the area “very muddy.” The NPS lists this park section at 7.1 miles one way; SummitPost measured about 8.6. Bicycles are not allowed on it.

North of the park, the Forest Service’s Wannagan Campground sits about half a mile from the trail on Forest Road 726, where the Buffalo Gap Trail also begins. Ben Love, who set a Fastest Known Time on the full trail in 2018, put Wannagan close to mile 65 from the southern end. Just beyond, between miles 68 and 72, a Forest Service pack train replaced 34 missing markers in July 2026, according to a Watford City report, because livestock and wildlife paths “can confuse unfamiliar hikers.”

BPRoutes lists a water cache at the Roosevelt junction (mile 76.8). Elkhorn Campground lies about half a mile west of the trail, near the site of Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch. MTB Project says the major Little Missouri crossing on this part of the trail comes between Elkhorn and Magpie. The section ends at the Magpie Trailhead, about half a mile south of Magpie Campground, near the Magpie Road cache at mile 97.9. The trail association places the midpoint marker of the original trail at milepost 97.

BPRoutes warns of rattlesnakes, bison, cattle, ticks, and summer heat up to 100 degrees with little shade. For the next stretch north, see Magpie to the CCC Campground. The southern end of this section connects to the Deuce, and the park’s own loops include the Upper Paddock and Talkington Loop.

Tips

Camping

Outside the park, BPRoutes and the trail association say camping is allowed in designated campgrounds or on Forest Service land, but not on the private and state land the trail crosses. The Forest Service allows dispersed camping for 14 days in 30 and asks campers to stay 100 to 200 feet from water and away from livestock tanks and oil and gas well sites. Wannagan (10 sites), Elkhorn, and Magpie (8 sites) are first come, first served.

Inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the NPS requires a free backcountry permit. There are no established sites; camp at least a quarter mile from roads and trailheads, 200 feet from water, and out of sight of any road or trail. Groups are limited to 10 people, open fires are banned, and pets are not allowed.

Inside Intel: No camper accounts recommending a specific site on this stretch were found. The 2023 Fatpacking itinerary planned a dispersed camp on the Petrified Forest plateau, which appears to be inside the park and would need a permit, and another on the east side of the Little Missouri at Elkhorn Crossing.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Fording the Little Missouri at Sully Creek:

Heading north, the Maah Daah Hey fords the Little Missouri River at the Sully Creek crossing, which can be impassable in spring or after heavy rain. Five tips before you cross.

Read the crossing tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.