Badlands, grasslands, bison, and the Little Missouri River will not be the one sights in Theodore Roosevelt Nationwide Park. You can too go to the Petrified Forest to see historical, mineralized timber, just like what you will notice at Petrified Forest Nationwide Park in Arizona.
Tens of millions of years in the past, this a part of North Dakota was as soon as a swamp, very like the Everglades in Florida. The timber that lived right here fell, have been submerged underneath water, and over eons, the natural materials was changed with minerals, forming petrified timber.
You’ll be able to see these historical remnants on this space of Theodore Roosevelt Nationwide Park. It’s not fairly as spectacular or dense as what you’d see in Petrified Forest Nationwide Park in Arizona, however it’s nonetheless a worthwhile go to.
To get right here, you’ll have to drive on a gravel street after which hike out to areas the place the petrified wooden lies scattered throughout the bottom. It’s not for everybody, however in the event you like mountaineering, geology, journeying to distant areas, and the prospect to see a lot of bison, mountaineering the Petrified Forest Path is value it.
Overview of the Hike
A go to to Petrified Forest consists of two components: a 6 mile drive on gravel roads adopted by mountaineering, which may vary from 3 to 10 miles, relying on how a lot you wish to see.
Let’s begin with the drive to get right here.
Driving to the Petrified Forest
Distance: 9 miles from Medora
Size of Time: half-hour
Petrified Forest is a separate space of the South Unit within the west. To get right here, you’ll have to drive on gravel roads that undergo non-public property with a purpose to get to the trailhead.
The roads that result in the Petrified Forest space lie exterior of the nationwide park boundary.
From Medora, take Interstate 94 to exit 23. Flip proper onto Forest Service Street 730. You’ll then make a number of turns to remain on this street, till you get to the trailhead 6 miles later. Every flip is nicely marked with street indicators pointing you in the correct route.
This gravel street goes by way of ranches and personal property, so keep on the roads and observe the indicators to the Petrified Forest.
The newspaper supplied by the Nationwide Park Service gives detailed turn-by-turn instructions on tips on how to attain the trailhead. Above is a photograph of the instructions however I like to recommend choosing up a duplicate on the South Unit customer heart.
We additionally tried out Google Maps and this labored simply nice. Enter “Petrified Forest Loop” into Google and observe the instructions.
The street is gravel and appropriate for traditional automobiles so long as it has not not too long ago rained. There was some washboarding on the street once we did this however we didn’t have any issues (we have been driving a Toyota Sienna minivan, not our first alternative, nevertheless it was our solely possibility once we picked up our rental automotive resulting from low stock).
Forest Street 730
Mountaineering the Petrified Forest Path
There are two areas of the Petrified Forest: a south space and a north space.
You’ll be able to hike to each as a big loop (10.4 miles) or hike out-and-back to at least one or each areas. I like to recommend mountaineering out-and-back…it can prevent numerous time and a lot of the gigantic loop leads by way of monotonous grasslands.
Petrified Forest Path Mountaineering Stats
North Space Out-and-Again
Distance: 2.9 miles
Problem: Straightforward to reasonable
Complete Ascent: 440 ft
Size of Time: 1.5 to three hours
South Space Out-and-Again
Distance: 3.4 miles
Problem: Straightforward to reasonable
Complete Ascent: 425 ft
Size of Time: 1.5 to three hours
North & South Areas Out-and-Again
Distance: 5.2 miles
Problem: Straightforward to reasonable
Complete Ascent: 675 ft
Size of Time: 2 to 4 hours
Elevation profile of the Petrified Forest Path, beginning with the south space and ending with the north space.
Map of the mountaineering path.
Please follow the seven ideas of Go away No Hint: plan forward, keep on the path, pack out what you carry to the mountaineering path, correctly eliminate waste, go away areas as you discovered them, reduce campfire impacts, be thoughtful of different hikers, and don’t strategy or feed wildlife.
First A part of the Hike
From the car parking zone, you’ll hike 0.6 to a path break up. Most of this hike is uphill nevertheless it’s nothing too strenuous.
Petrified Forest Trailhead
First a part of the path.
Virtually immediately you’ll have to cross by way of this fence. Ensure you shut it behind you.
On this hike, there’s a good probability that you will notice bison. A park ranger raved in regards to the wildlife sightings right here and we now have to agree. We noticed bison time and again all through this hike.
On the path marker, go left to go to the north space and go proper to go to the south unit. We did each and Tim and I each appreciated the north space extra. It’s a bit shorter of a stroll and the quantity of petrified wooden is extra spectacular within the north space.
Path marker
The North Space of the Petrified Forest
To get to the north space, you’ll hike roughly one other half mile, descend from the plateau into an space of badlands, after which you’ll come to the petrified wooden.
We have been informed by a park ranger that in Theodore Roosevelt Nationwide Park it’s nice to hike off path, so you may stroll round and take images of the petrified wooden. However as a part of Go away No Hint, don’t take any items of the petrified wooden.
You’ve the choice to proceed the path up the far hill for one more view however that is non-compulsory and simply okay for my part. Right here’s the view.
Overlooking the petrified wooden within the north space.
View from the plateau.
Retrace your steps again to the path break up. You’ll be able to both finish the hike by returning to your automotive or proceed on to the south space.
The South Space of Petrified Forest
From the path break up, it’s a couple of 0.75 mile simple stroll to the south space of petrified wooden. This space is bigger however the items of wooden are smaller and extra unfold out. The perfect petrified wooden is on the far finish of the world and it’s value the additional stroll to see these bigger trunks and chunks of petrified wooden.
Overlooking the south space from the plateau.
You’ve the choice to hike uphill to the plateau for a pleasant view over the world. On the plateau, we noticed a number of bison close to the path and a big herd off within the distance.
Observe: Should you select to do the complete Petrified Forest Loop, the vast majority of the hike will probably be by way of grasslands. From what we learn on boards, most individuals state that a lot of the hike is monotonous and never definitely worth the effort and time.
To complete the hike, retrace your steps again to your automobile.
What to Carry on the Hike
Mountaineering footwear. You can too get by with a great pair of strolling footwear or trainers for this hike.
Water and snacks. Carry no less than 2 liters of water in the summertime.
Sunscreen, hat, and sun shades. There isn’t any shade on this path.
Digital camera. Even a smartphone will do.
Mobile Service: We use Verizon and had a good mobile sign for almost all of this hike and on the roads to get right here.
