Backcountry Camping in North Dakota: Permits, Routes, Bear Notes

north dakota is the state everyone forgets you can backpack in. and honestly thats kind of the appeal — i did four nights on the Maah Daah Hey last fall and saw two people, both of them on horseback, both of them very confused about Patricia parked at the trailhead.

the backcountry camping scene here is small but real. were talking Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the Little Missouri National Grassland wrapped around it, and a handful of state parks and grasslands further east. permits are mostly free or close to it, which is wild compared to what im used to paying out west.

heres the rundown — where to go, what paperwork you actually need, and the bear situation (spoiler: you should be thinking about bison instead).

theodore roosevelt national park: the obvious one

TRNP is split into the South Unit (near Medora, off I-94) and the North Unit (about an hour north on US-85, near Watford City). both have backcountry zones. the South Unit gets more foot traffic because Medora is right there with cabins and restaurants and the whole tourist thing. the North Unit is quieter, weirder, and the canyon overlooks are arguably better.

backcountry permits are required and as of recent seasons they were free — you pick one up in person at the South Unit or North Unit visitor center the day before or day of your trip. no online reservation system, no Recreation.gov rigmarole. just walk in, tell them where you want to camp, sign the thing. check NPS.gov for the current TRNP page before you drive out because rangers occasionally close zones for bison rut or fire.

good routes: the Achenbach Trail loop in the North Unit is about 18 miles and crosses the Little Missouri River twice. water levels matter — in spring its a real crossing, late summer its often ankle deep. Petrified Forest Loop in the South Unit is shorter, around 10 miles, and you can dry camp pretty much wherever once youre 0.25 mile off the trail.

the bison thing

this is the actual safety issue in TRNP. bison wander through campsites. they do not care about you, they do not care about your tent, they will trample both if you set up on a game trail. scout your site, look for fresh sign, and give them 25 yards minimum. rangers will repeat this at permit pickup and theyre not being dramatic.

the maah daah hey trail

okay this is the one i actually love. the Maah Daah Hey is roughly 144 miles of singletrack through the Little Missouri National Grassland, connecting the two units of TRNP. its managed by the US Forest Service not the park service, which means rules are different.

dispersed camping on the grassland portions is allowed and doesnt require a permit. theres also a string of designated trail camps spaced roughly a days hike apart — CCC, Wannagan, Elkhorn, Bennett, Magpie, Buffalo Gap. each has a vault toilet, picnic tables, and a water tank thats sometimes filled and sometimes not. as of recent seasons there was a small per-night fee at the developed sites, payable via self-serve envelope. like $6-ish. dont quote me, check the Medora Ranger District before you go.

cell service: forget it. youll get bars near US-85 and basically nowhere else. download maps on AllTrails for offline before you leave Dickinson or Watford City. i use the paid version specifically for this kind of trip and its been worth it twice over.

state parks worth the backcountry effort

north dakota state parks lean toward developed campgrounds, but a few have real walk-in or paddle-in options:

• Cross Ranch State Park (near Center, on the Missouri River) — primitive walk-in sites along the river, plus a 7-mile trail system. quietest state park ive been to in the upper plains.
• Lake Sakakawea State Park (Pick City, off ND-200) — mostly RV-oriented but the shoreline opens up real options if you have a canoe.
• Lewis and Clark State Park (Williston area) — badlands-meets-lake terrain, some primitive sites.
• Icelandic State Park (Cavalier, way up north) — forested, near the Pembina Gorge, way less prairie-flat than people expect.
• Beaver Lake State Park (south central, near Wishek) — small, basic, but cheap and empty midweek.
• Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area — the most "northwoods" feeling spot in ND, near the Manitoba border.

state-park bookings go through the ND Parks system direct — parkrec.nd.gov. not Reserve America, not Recreation.gov. their site is actually fine, which is more than i can say for some state systems ive fought with. fees as of recent seasons were in the $15-25 range for primitive and you pay a daily vehicle entrance fee on top, which is annoying but at least its honest about it.

permits, fees, and the booking situation

quick map of who you talk to for what:

TRNP backcountry: in-person permit at the visitor center, no fee for the permit itself, but you do pay park entrance. no online option, dont waste time looking for one.

Maah Daah Hey / Little Missouri Grassland: no permit for dispersed camping. small fee at developed trail camps. Forest Service handles it via the Medora Ranger District.

State parks: book through parkrec.nd.gov direct. you can also walk up at most ND state parks midweek outside summer holidays without drama.

Sheyenne National Grassland (southeast, near Lisbon): dispersed camping allowed, no permit. tallgrass prairie, weirdly beautiful, ticks in summer are a problem.

the booking-fee racket on private sites is real and ND is one of the states where you genuinely never need to use them. go direct, every time.

bear notes (the honest version)

ND does not have grizzlies. black bears exist but theyre concentrated in the Turtle Mountains and the Pembina Gorge area up near the Canadian border, and even there sightings are uncommon. the rest of the state — including all of TRNP and the Maah Daah Hey — is functionally bearless.

this means you dont need a bear can in most of the state. you do still need to hang or properly store food because of rodents, coyotes, and the much-bigger problem: bison and feral horses smelling your snacks and parking on your tent. a regular dry bag in a tree works fine. if youre headed to Pembina Gorge or up by Lake Metigoshe, do the bear hang properly. for everything else, focus your worry budget elsewhere.

elsewhere meaning: rattlesnakes in the badlands (prairie rattlers, real, watch your step on warm rock), ticks in tallgrass country May through July, and weather. ND weather will humble you. ive had 95 degrees and a hail storm in the same afternoon. pack like the forecast is lying because it is.

gear notes for the plains and badlands

wind is the dominant factor out here. a freestanding tent with solid guy-out points beats a flappy ultralight shelter every time on the Maah Daah Hey. ive watched a guys pyramid tent fold like a lawn chair near Bennett Camp. bring extra stakes, not the flimsy aluminum ones — the V-stakes or Y-stakes hold in sandy badlands soil where regular pins just pull out.

shoulder season nights drop fast. a 20-degree sleeping bag is the right call from mid-September through mid-May. summer you can get away with a 40 or even a quilt, but bring a light layer because clear prairie nights radiate heat into space like nobodys business.

water is the actual planning challenge. the Little Missouri is muddy enough to clog squeeze filters fast — bring a pre-filter (bandana works, coffee filter works) and budget filter time. some of the trail-camp water tanks work and some are dry. assume dry. plan to carry 4+ liters between resupplies. a reliable stove matters less than your water plan does. more on full kit considerations over on the gear page.

routes id actually recommend

if you have one weekend: Petrified Forest Loop in the south unit of TRNP. 2 days, 1 night, you see hoodoos, bison, the painted canyon area. permit takes 10 minutes at the Medora visitor center.

if you have 3-4 days: the north end of the Maah Daah Hey from CCC Campground south to Magpie or Wannagan. quieter, more interesting topo, easier water access than the southern stretch.

if you have a week and youre stubborn: the whole Maah Daah Hey thru-hike, 144 miles, end-to-end. youll want a water cache plan and a ride at the far end. browse other trail writeups and the hiking section for adjacent ideas, and check the parks overview if youre stitching this into a bigger upper-plains loop.

honest take

north dakota is not where you go for postcard-famous backpacking, and thats exactly why its worth going. the Maah Daah Hey is one of the few long trails in the country where you can have a multi-day trip and reasonably expect to see nobody for 36 hours. permits are simple, fees are cheap, the rules make sense. just respect the bison, watch your stakes in the wind, and accept that your coffee budget is going to take a hit because the nearest decent espresso is two hours away in any direction. worth it anyway.