A white Tacoma with a camper shell parked on a rise above a broad, empty basin under building cloud.

Overlanding

North Dakota

Why North Dakota is a grassland to drive, not a mountain range to climb

North Dakota is low, wide and thinly held. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the highest point at 3,506 feet on White Butte in Slope County and the lowest at 750 feet on the Red River of the North in Pembina County, a spread of under 2,800 feet across the whole state. The 2020 Census counted 779,094 residents. Federal agencies hold 1,736,495 acres, 3.9 percent of the state’s 44,452,480, so most of what you drive past belongs to somebody.

Nearly three fifths of that federal land is one place. The Little Missouri National Grassland covers 1,033,271 acres in McKenzie, Billings, Slope and Golden Valley counties, and the Forest Service calls it the largest grassland in the country. North Dakota Parks and Recreation counts more than 1,000 miles of country road across it. Theodore Roosevelt National Park sits inside the same badlands on 70,446.89 acres in three separate units, and the rest of the federal ground is the Fish and Wildlife Service with 492,461 acres of refuges and waterfowl land and the BLM with 58,674, mostly in Dunn and Bowman counties.

What the state asks of a driver is patience with weather rather than skill on rock. The North Dakota Geological Survey says the bentonite clays in the badlands can absorb several times their weight in water and are extremely slick and mobile when wet, and the Forest Service tells drivers to check road conditions during and after rain and to turn around before the terrain becomes rutted, muddy or unsafe. Winter is longer than the map suggests: NOAA puts the chance of a blizzard here in any given year above 50 percent, one of the highest in the nation.

North Dakota by the numbers

Acres of federal land 1
1.74M
3.9 percent of North Dakota’s 44.5 million acres
Acres in the Little Missouri National Grassland 7
1,033,271
The largest grassland in the country, by the Forest Service’s own count
White Butte, the highest point in North Dakota 3
3,506 ft
Slope County. The lowest point is 750 feet, on the Red River of the North
Acres in Theodore Roosevelt National Park 21
70,447
46,159 in the South Unit, 24,070 in the North Unit, 218 at Elkhorn Ranch
Miles of country road on the Little Missouri National Grassland 35
1,000+
The state’s figure, printed on its off-highway vehicle brochure
Federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 5
19
9 Army Corps of Engineers, 5 National Park Service, 4 Forest Service and 1 BLM. 18 take reservations
Chance of a blizzard in any given year 6
Over 50%
One of the highest in the nation, NOAA says. Snowfall averages 30 to 55 inches
Residents counted in 2020 2
779,094
Across 44.5 million acres, which is why the gaps between services are long

The ground: one grassland, one park, and a lot of land that is not yours

North Dakota’s 1,736,495 federal acres are split among five agencies: the Forest Service with 1,103,162, the Fish and Wildlife Service with 492,461, the National Park Service with 71,359, the BLM with 58,674 and the Department of Defense with 10,839. At 3.9 percent, the federal share is small, and the practical consequence is that the public ground comes in defined blocks with private and state land pressed up against them. In the badlands the Game and Fish Department says cattle grazing is the most prevalent land use.

The Dakota Prairie Grasslands administer four national grasslands across North and South Dakota, more than 1.2 million acres in total, from a supervisor’s office at 2000 Miriam Circle in Bismarck. The Little Missouri is the big one, and it is run by two districts: the McKenzie Ranger District takes the grassland north of the Ice Caves and the Medora Ranger District takes everything south. In the southeast the Sheyenne National Grassland holds 70,180 acres of public land alongside 64,769 acres of private land, on sandy soils laid down as the delta of an ancient river, with terrain that runs from flat deltaic plains to choppy sand dunes.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is three units, not one: the South Unit at Medora, the North Unit 14 miles south of Watford City, and the 218-acre Elkhorn Ranch Unit reached only by gravel. The Park Service keeps the park open 24 hours a day, year-round, and runs the North Unit on Central time and the South Unit on Mountain time, which is worth knowing when you plan a day around both. Two smaller National Park Service units stand in the Missouri valley: Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site at Stanton and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on Highway 1804 west of Williston.

State land is where visitors get caught out. The Department of Trust Lands allows hiking, bird watching, berry picking for personal consumption, hunting and fishing on School Trust Lands, and says absolutely no trucks, dirt bikes, ATVs, UTVs or specialty off-road vehicles may be driven there by the public without written permission. Camping and campfires are prohibited. The Game and Fish Department runs 200-plus wildlife management areas where motor vehicles are limited to constructed roads, established trails and parking areas used by passenger cars, and camping for more than 10 consecutive days is prohibited.

Source 1

Clay, snow and the two seasons that shut a road

The badlands run along the Little Missouri River, which the Geological Survey says began carving them about 600,000 years ago after a glacier turned it from its northward course. The rock that matters to a driver is bentonite, a clay the survey says can absorb up to several times its weight in water and is extremely slick and mobile when wet. Game and Fish describes the region as badly eroded clay-scoria slopes, buttes and steep canyons. The red rock you will see in the cuts is clinker, which the survey defines as rock produced by the burning of coal beds.

The agencies say the same thing three ways. The Forest Service tells visitors to avoid driving on soft or wet ground, to check road conditions before heading out and especially during or after rain, and to turn around before the terrain becomes rutted, muddy or unsafe. If you are stuck, it says, do not spin the tires, because that is how deep ruts get made. The Park Service warns that slippery clays and soft sediments can yield underfoot on the steep slopes, and that weather in the North Dakota badlands is harsh, with extremes in temperature and sudden, violent storms.

Winter is the other closer. NOAA puts average January temperatures between about 4 degrees in the northeast and 18 in the southwest, annual snowfall at 30 to 55 inches, and the odds of a blizzard in any given year above 50 percent, one of the highest in the nation. The Park Service says portions of the South Unit Scenic Loop Drive and the North Unit Scenic Road may be closed in winter for snow and ice. No agency publishes opening and closing dates for them, so treat the season as a matter of what the weather has done lately rather than a calendar.

Summer has its own limits. NOAA says temperatures of 100 degrees or higher occur nearly every year and are most common in the drier southwest and south-central parts of the state, and that severe thunderstorms can bring straight-line winds above 75 miles per hour. The Park Service tells summer visitors to plan on about a liter of water per person per hour and points out there is very little shade in the park. Annual precipitation ranges from under 16 inches in the northwest to about 24 in the southeast, so water is something you carry, not something you find.

Source 49

What North Dakota asks of a vehicle

Range and self-sufficiency come first. NDDOT maintains nearly 7,500 roadway miles of highway for a population of 779,094, and once you leave those highways for the grassland the Forest Service says to carry a map, GPS or downloaded offline navigation because cell service may be unreliable. The Park Service is blunter about its most remote unit: there is no cell phone signal at the Elkhorn Ranch or along much of the route to it. Carry water, a first-aid kit, a tire repair kit and basic tools, which is the emergency kit the Forest Service asks grassland visitors to bring.

The surface is mostly graded gravel and dirt, and what defeats it is water rather than rock. The Park Service says the last three miles of the route to the Elkhorn Ranch Unit sometimes require four-wheel drive or a high-clearance vehicle, especially in winter or during and after rain showers, and the approach to it from the North Unit includes 12.2 miles of gravel on Black Tail Road and Forest Highway 2, while the approach from the South Unit starts with 8.8 gravel miles on County Road 11. The Forest Service asks drivers to go slowly on gravel.

Watch for working traffic. The Forest Service says industrial oil and gas sites are common on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands and tells visitors not to enter them, and those sites are served by the same county and grassland roads you are using. Where you park matters too: the Forest Service tells visitors never to park or drive on tall, dry grass, because hot vehicle parts can ignite a fire, and warns against blocking roads, gates, trails or other travelers, which can bring a citation.

In winter the vehicle becomes shelter. NDDOT publishes a winter survival kit, tells drivers to leave with a full tank and to double the normal following distance behind a snowplow whose blade can extend up to 10 feet, and says the Highway Patrol may temporarily close a highway that is no longer safe. Its road reports run daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Central, and a snow route takes its crews two to three hours to complete, so a road that was clear when you checked may not be when you get there.

Source 14

Passes and routes

  1. Scenic Loop Drive, Theodore Roosevelt National Park South UnitPaved

    36 miles

    A loop from Medora, at exits 24 and 27 on I-94

    The Park Service describes a 36-mile two-way paved loop through the South Unit, open to motor vehicles and cyclists, in a unit of 46,158.57 acres. A separate page on the same park’s site calls it a 48-mile scenic drive beginning and ending in Medora and allows two hours of driving alone; the loop figure is the one used here. Speed limits are posted and enforced, and the park warns that winding roads and abundant wildlife produce surprises, so take it slowly and use extra caution at night. 22

    Vehicle
    Open to motor vehicles and cyclists
    Season
    Open all year. Portions may close in winter for snow and ice
  2. North Unit Scenic Drive, Theodore Roosevelt National ParkPaved

    28 miles round trip

    US 85, 14 miles south of Watford City, east to Oxbow Overlook

    An out-and-back drive of 28 miles round trip through the 24,070.32-acre North Unit, past River Bend Overlook to Oxbow Overlook at the road’s end. The Park Service says the road is almost entirely paved with only one stretch of gravel, and to allow at least an hour and a quarter without stops. The North Unit runs on Central time while the South Unit runs on Mountain, which costs an hour if you plan both in a day. 23

    Season
    Open all year. Portions may close in winter for snow and ice
  3. Elkhorn Ranch Unit approach roads

    Black Tail Road and Forest Highway 2 from ND 16 in the north; County Road 11, Westerheim Road and Bell Lake Road from Medora in the south

    The gravel run to the park’s most remote unit, 218 acres on the Little Missouri. The Park Service says the last three miles of the route sometimes require four-wheel drive or a high-clearance vehicle, especially in winter or during and after rain showers, and to ask about road conditions at a visitor center first. From the north the route includes 12.2 gravel miles on Black Tail Road and Forest Highway 2 then 3 miles on Bell Lake Road; from the south it starts with 8.8 gravel miles on County Road 11. There is no cell phone signal at the ranch or along much of the way in, and a 0.7-mile mowed path leads from the parking area to the cabin site. 24

    Vehicle
    Four-wheel drive or high clearance may be needed for the last three miles
    Season
    Hardest in winter and during or after rain
  4. Little Missouri National Grassland road network

    More than 1,000 miles of country road

    McKenzie, Billings, Slope and Golden Valley counties, around and between the park units

    This is the drive in North Dakota: a million-acre grassland laced with county and Forest Service roads that the state puts at more than 1,000 miles. The Forest Service publishes a Motor Vehicle Use Map and an off-highway vehicle brochure for the grassland and asks you to carry and follow the current one, because wheeled cross-country travel is prohibited and only the roads shown on the map are open. The same map governs where a vehicle may leave a route to reach a dispersed campsite. The Forest Service also says industrial oil and gas sites are common across the grasslands, and those sites use the same county roads you do. 17

    Vehicle
    Only the roads shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Map, and not when they are wet or soft
  5. Maah Daah Hey Trail corridor

    144 miles

    Burning Coal Vein Campground, 49 miles south of Medora, to CCC Campground, 16 miles south of Watford City

    The Forest Service gives the trail a cumulative 144 miles through the badlands and prohibits all motorized vehicles on it, including e-bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and snowmobiles. A separate Forest Service page puts it at 96 miles, winding 97 miles to a southern end at Sully Creek. For a driver the value is the corridor: the campgrounds at either end and along the way are reached by grassland roads, and Rough Rider State Park near Medora opens onto the trail, which crosses the Little Missouri River a short way north of the park. Treat the trail as scenery and the roads beside it as the route. 18

    Vehicle
    No motor vehicles on the trail itself
  6. Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway

    63 miles

    The Sheyenne River valley in southeastern North Dakota

    One of only two North Dakota routes in the federal byway system, and a National Scenic Byway at 63 miles. The Federal Highway Administration describes a dip into a tree-speckled valley with a snaking river and a winding roadway, and 27 interpretive sites along it covering historic sites, trails, bridges, antiques, birds and starry nights. It runs through the same corner of the state as the Sheyenne National Grassland, which makes the two a natural pair for a weekend. 52

  7. Native American Scenic Byway

    350 miles across two states

    North Dakota and South Dakota along the Missouri River

    The other National Scenic Byway on the Federal Highway Administration’s North Dakota list, 350 miles in total, running through the reservations of four tribes of Lakota Sioux: Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Cheyenne River and Standing Rock. Its North Dakota contact is Sitting Bull College. The route runs through tribal land, where the rules are the tribe’s own, so ask locally before you leave the highway for anything. 53

  8. Roughrider OHV Trail

    22 miles

    Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park to Fort Rice Campground, along Highway 1806 south of Mandan

    A 22-mile state off-highway vehicle trail running south from Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park along the Missouri. North Dakota Parks and Recreation says it can accommodate most current side-by-sides and gives access to fishing, camping and other recreation along the way. Every machine on it needs the state registration, or the non-resident permit if it is plated elsewhere. 36

    Vehicle
    Registered off-highway vehicles
  9. Pembina Gorge trail system

    More than 16 miles

    Pembina Gorge State Park, near Walhalla in the far northeast

    North Dakota Parks and Recreation describes steep valley cliffs, quiet prairies and pocketed wetlands, surrounded by what it calls the largest continuous undisturbed forest in the state. The park page counts more than 16 miles of trails; the department’s 2022 off-highway vehicle brochure says over 15. The trails are open to registered class 1, 2 and 3 machines 60 inches wide or less, the trailhead parks large trucks and trailers, and this is the only off-highway vehicle campground in the state park system. 37

    Vehicle
    Registered class 1, 2 and 3 off-highway vehicles 60 inches wide or less
  10. Turtle Mountain State Recreation Area

    Over 12 miles of motorized trail

    About six miles northeast of Bottineau, near the Manitoba border

    Hilly, heavily wooded country that looks nothing like the rest of the state; the Geological Survey says the Turtle Mountains rise about 600 to 800 feet above their surroundings. The recreation area page counts over 12 miles of motorized trails open to off-highway vehicles, while the department’s trails page calls it a 10-mile trail. There are play areas as well, and the trailhead has parking for large trailers. The same ground carries hiking, biking and horse use. 38

    Vehicle
    Registered off-highway vehicles
  11. Kimball Bottoms Recreation Area

    Off Desert Road, eight miles south of Bismarck

    Known locally as The Desert, this is a 400-acre motorized recreation area managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and listed among North Dakota’s off-highway vehicle riding areas. The state describes it as a play area rather than a trail system, which makes it the closest thing in North Dakota to ground set aside for practice. State registration, or the non-resident permit, applies here as it does anywhere else on public land. 35

    Vehicle
    Registered off-highway vehicles
  12. Sheyenne National Grassland roads

    Eastern Ransom and western Richland counties, about 12 miles east of Lisbon

    The other end of the state and the other kind of grassland: sandy soils laid down as the delta of an ancient river, running from flat deltaic plains to choppy sand dunes, with 64,769 acres of private land mixed into the 70,180 public acres. A 30-mile section of the North Country National Scenic Trail crosses it, part of a 4,800-mile footpath that begins here and ends in Vermont. Camping is at Hankinson Hills and Jorgen’s Hollow. Carry the 2018 Motor Vehicle Use Map: the public and private ground is interleaved and the map is how you tell. 10

    Vehicle
    Roads shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Map only

Rules worth knowing

Four grasslands in two states, run as one
The Dakota Prairie Grasslands take in four national grasslands across North and South Dakota, administered together. The Little Missouri is in western North Dakota and covers 1,033,271 acres in parts of McKenzie, Billings, Slope and Golden Valley counties, in that order of area, which makes it the largest national grassland in the country. The McKenzie Ranger District manages the part north of the Ice Caves and the Medora Ranger District the part south of them. 8
One office runs a million acres
The Dakota Prairie Grasslands supervisor’s office is the single point of contact for four grasslands spread over two states. Alerts, motor vehicle use maps and orders are published there rather than per unit, which is worth knowing when a search for a specific grassland turns up nothing. 9
Camping on the grassland is general, with conditions
The grasslands publish their camping guidance as one page covering developed sites and dispersed camping together. The dispersed permission is real and it is what makes western North Dakota worth the drive, but it comes with the conditions on the same page rather than as a free-for-all: stay on existing roads to reach a site, and leave the ground as you found it. 12
Do not drive on wet ground, and stay out of the oil sites
The grasslands ask visitors to avoid driving on soft or wet ground because it causes rutting and soil damage, and are explicit about the other hazard on this landscape: industrial oil and gas sites are common, and visitors are told not to enter them. Both are about the same thing, which is that this is working ground with other traffic on it. 15
Where to park, and what not to block
The Forest Service’s parking guidance for the grasslands is short: stay on existing roads and trails unless dispersed camping, and do not block roads, gates or cattle guards. On a landscape where the road is the only firm ground for a mile in any direction, a badly parked vehicle is a real obstruction rather than an inconvenience. 16
The Maah Daah Hey carries no motors at all
The Maah Daah Hey Trail winds through the badlands for a cumulative 144 miles, from the Burning Coal Vein Campground about 49 miles south of Medora to the CCC Campground roughly 16 miles south of Watford City. All motorised vehicles are prohibited on it, including e-bikes, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, utility vehicles and snowmobiles. The Forest Service’s national destination page gives 96 miles for the same trail; the grassland’s own figure of 144 is the one used here. 19
Bentonite is why a dry road turns to grease
The grasslands explain the geology behind their own warnings: bentonite is a clay made largely of montmorillonite, which absorbs water and swells. That is the mechanism behind every piece of advice in this guide about not driving badlands roads when wet. It is not mud in the ordinary sense, and four-wheel drive does not solve it. 20
Theodore Roosevelt is open around the clock, in two time zones
The park is open 24 hours a day, year round, and the North Unit runs on Central time while the South Unit runs on Mountain, which is an hour’s difference between two halves of the same park about 70 miles apart. Plan the day on the clock the unit uses, not the one on the dashboard. 26
The park publishes its own directions for a reason
The units are far apart and reached from different interstate exits, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit is reached on gravel from either one. Use the park’s own directions rather than a routing app, which is a piece of advice the Park Service gives in badlands country generally and which holds here. 25
Wet badlands slopes are a safety warning, not a texture
The park warns that climbing on the steep slopes in the badlands can be dangerous, especially when wet, because of slippery clays. The same clay under a tire behaves the same way, which is why the road advice and the hiking advice in this state are effectively one rule. 27
Every campground in the park is primitive
All campgrounds at Theodore Roosevelt are primitive: no hookups and no showers. Backcountry camping is by a free permit. If the trip needs power or water, the state parks and the Corps campgrounds are the answer, not the national park. 28
The South Unit loop is 36 miles of paved two-way road
The park describes its South Unit scenic drive as a 36-mile two-way paved loop open to motor vehicles and cyclists. It is the single best introduction to the badlands from a vehicle, and it is worth driving in both directions because the light does entirely different things to the same buttes. 29
Knife River is a village site, not a drive
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site preserves the ground where earthlodge people hunted bison and farmed the river bottoms. It is a walking visit off a highway rather than a driving destination, and it is the best context anywhere in the state for the country the rest of this guide crosses. 30
Fort Union was the fur trade’s centre for forty years
Between 1828 and 1867 Fort Union Trading Post was the most important fur trade post on the upper Missouri. It sits near the Montana line at the far west end of the state, which makes it a natural stop on a route between the Little Missouri country and eastern Montana. 31
The BLM here is minerals, not surface
The North Dakota Field Office manages over 4.1 million acres of federal and Indian trust mineral estate across the western third of the state, and only about 58,000 acres of public land surface. Its recreation is the Schnell Recreation Area near Richardton, with three miles of hiking trail and six primitive campsites. Do not plan a BLM trip here the way you would in Wyoming. 32
Des Lacs is 10,500 acres of river and wetland
Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge covers 10,500 acres along the Des Lacs River, a mix of natural lakes and managed wetland in the north of the state. Refuge ground in North Dakota is mostly water and prairie managed for birds, with day-use roads rather than camping. 33
Little Missouri State Park is built around horses
The park carries over 40 miles of trail open to horseback riding and hiking, with 81 corrals for visiting horses. It is the most rugged state park in the badlands and its trails are not motorised, so for a vehicle it is a place to camp and look rather than a place to drive. 39
Rough Rider State Park is in the heart of the badlands
The state’s newest badlands park sits minutes from the country the Little Missouri grassland covers, which makes it a useful base with facilities in a part of the state that otherwise offers dispersed camping or nothing. 40
Sakakawea is the third largest man-made reservoir in the country
Lake Sakakawea State Park sits on a 368,000-acre lake that the state calls the third-largest man-made reservoir in the nation. Lewis and Clark State Park sits on one of its upper bays among the buttes. Between them they are the developed camping for the middle of the state. 41
Two hundred wildlife management areas, ten days each
North Dakota has more than 200 wildlife management areas, and camping on any one of them is limited to 10 consecutive days. They are scattered through the farmed east of the state where public land is otherwise scarce, and the short limit is the price of that access. 43
What the badlands are, in the state’s own words
The state describes the region as badly eroded clay-scoria slopes, buttes and steep canyons. Scoria is the baked red clay that surfaces most of the good roads out here, and it is the reason a grassland road can be excellent in dry weather and impossible an hour after rain. 44
Driving past a road closure device is a crime
The Department of Transportation states that it is against the law to drive past a road closure device, punishable by a fine. In a state that closes interstates in winter, the gate is not advisory. Treat a closure device the way you would a locked gate on private land. 46
No Travel Advised means what it says
When the department issues a No Travel Advised statement, it means conditions have reached the point where travel is not recommended at all. It is published on 511 alongside road conditions, and in a plains winter it can appear on a clear day because of wind and old snow rather than a storm. 47
Snow and ice control is the department’s winter
The state publishes how it runs snow and ice control, which is the context for the closure and advisory system: a small department covering very long distances, prioritising what it can keep open. Read the priorities rather than assuming a numbered highway will be plowed at the hour you need it. 48
North Dakota has two federally designated byways
The Federal Highway Administration lists only two byways for the state. Everything else worth driving here is a grassland road, a park road or a state-designated route, which is a fair summary of how public driving in North Dakota is organised: by land manager rather than by tourism designation. 54
Dispersed camping: 14 days in 30, and 300 feet off the road
The Dakota Prairie Grasslands allow dispersed camping for up to 14 days within any 30-day period, free and outside the developed campgrounds, with no toilets, water, tables or trash service. Motorized vehicles may leave a designated Forest Service road by up to 300 feet to reach a campsite, and beyond that you walk. Set up within 150 to 300 feet of a designated road, camp at least 100 to 200 feet from lakes and streams, use the same track in and out, and do not drive on wet or soft ground to get there. In Theodore Roosevelt National Park the equivalent is a free backcountry permit from the North or South Unit visitor center; there are no developed backcountry sites and the park’s two campgrounds are primitive, with no hookups and no showers. 11
Cross-country travel is prohibited, and the trails are not for machines
On the Dakota Prairie Grasslands wheeled cross-country travel is prohibited and off-highway vehicles must stay on the designated roads shown on the Motor Vehicle Use Map. Every trail on the grasslands is intended for non-motorized use, so ATVs, UTVs and motorbikes are barred from all of them, and e-bikes count as motorized for that purpose. Inside developed campgrounds, off-highway vehicle use is limited to entering and leaving by the designated roads and parking areas. The Maah Daah Hey Trail is closed to all motorized vehicles including snowmobiles. Always carry the current map for the grassland you are on, because the published maps differ in date: Sheyenne is 2018, Cedar River and Grand River are 2025. 13
Register the machine, even if you are only visiting
Registration is required to operate any off-highway vehicle on public land in North Dakota. Resident registration costs $20 and covers a two-year period, paid through the Department of Transportation, and some vehicles are exempt under Century Code chapter 39-29. Owners of out-of-state registered machines must buy a non-resident public trails and lands access permit, $10 a year, valid January 1 to December 31, sold at any state park, by phone or online. Drivers must be at least 12 and hold an off-highway vehicle safety certificate to ride on public land, helmets are required for everyone under 18, and the operator must be able to show proof of liability insurance. A plated truck is not an off-highway vehicle and needs none of this. 34
School trust land is walking access only
The Department of Trust Lands opens School Trust Lands to hiking, bird watching, berry picking for personal consumption, hunting and fishing, and states that absolutely no trucks, dirt bikes, ATVs, UTVs or specialty off-road vehicles may be driven there by the public without proper written permission. Camping and campfires are prohibited. Lessees may post three department signs at no charge: Closed to Public Access, which shuts the parcel; Notify the Lessee Before Entering; and Walking Access Only. Only signs furnished by the department may be posted, so a homemade sign on a trust parcel is not the rule. Wildlife management areas are separate ground again: vehicles stay on constructed roads, established trails and passenger-car parking areas, and camping is capped at 10 consecutive days. 42
No Travel Advised is not the same as closed, and both matter
NDDOT publishes three road condition categories. A Travel Alert means motorists can still travel but may meet areas of challenging winter weather driving conditions. No Travel Advised means motorists should not travel because conditions may make it unsafe; the roads are not closed, but anyone who goes anyway travels at their own risk and may become stranded. Roads Closed or Blocked means the roadway is not open to traffic. Motorists are not allowed to travel on a closed road and may be fined: driving past a road closure device is against the law and carries a fine of up to $250. The Highway Patrol makes the closures, road reports run daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Central, and a snow route takes crews two to three hours to clear. 45
Fire restrictions are posted county by county
North Dakota publishes a single Fire Declarations and Burn Restrictions map where you can check burn restrictions, fire danger ratings, red flag warnings and local declarations before you light anything. The state warns that the map may not be all-inclusive, that incorporated cities may have their own permanent restrictions under local ordinances, and that the current word comes from the local fire department or emergency management office. On the grasslands, the Forest Service asks you to check for restrictions or burn bans before any campfire, to use existing fire rings, to keep fires small and to drown, stir and feel them out. It also tells drivers never to park or drive on tall, dry grass, because hot vehicle parts can start a fire. 51

How high is North Dakota?

From Walhalla at 981 feet to White Butte at 3,506. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

  1. Bowman Services in the southwest where US 12 meets US 85. Much of the BLM’s North Dakota public land lies in this county and in Dunn. 2,969 ft
  2. Beach The first town inside North Dakota on I-94 from Montana, at the west end of the badlands. 2,769 ft
  3. Belfield Where US 85 meets I-94. The North Unit entrance is 50 miles north up US 85, through grassland and oil country. 2,582 ft
  4. Dickinson Full services on I-94 and the home of the BLM’s North Dakota Field Office, which manages about 58,000 acres of public land and the mineral estate under the western third of the state. 2,412 ft
  5. Killdeer Under the Killdeer Mountains, which the Geological Survey says stand about 700 feet above the plains around them. Little Missouri State Park and its horse trails are north of town. 2,285 ft
  6. Medora The gateway to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where the 36-mile paved scenic loop starts and ends. Rough Rider State Park and the Maah Daah Hey Trail are minutes away. 2,268 ft
  7. Watford City Services for the North Unit, 14 miles south on US 85, and for the north end of the Maah Daah Hey Trail at the CCC Campground about 16 miles south. 2,123 ft
  8. Garrison North of Lake Sakakawea and Garrison Dam, near the Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds at Wolf Creek and East Totten Trail. 1,925 ft
  9. New Town On the north side of Lake Sakakawea, between the badlands and the Minot road. 1,901 ft
  10. Williston The main town of the northwest, with Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site out on Highway 1804 toward the Montana line. 1,876 ft
  11. Bismarck State capital and home of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Supervisor’s Office. Kimball Bottoms, the Corps of Engineers motorized play area, is eight miles south. 1,694 ft
  12. Mandan Across the Missouri from Bismarck. The 22-mile Roughrider OHV Trail runs south from Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park along Highway 1806. 1,648 ft
  13. Bottineau Services for the Turtle Mountain State Recreation Area, about six miles northeast, which keeps motorized trail open to off-highway vehicles. 1,637 ft
  14. Minot The largest city in the north, on US 2 and US 83, between the badlands and the Turtle Mountains. Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge and its 10,500 acres lie northwest. 1,614 ft
  15. Valley City On I-94 where it crosses the Sheyenne River, in the country served by the Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway. 1,221 ft
  16. Walhalla The town at the Pembina Gorge, where the state park keeps the only off-highway vehicle campground in the North Dakota park system. 981 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

  1. White Butte The highest point in North Dakota, in Slope County. The USGS publishes 3,506 feet; our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 3,507 3,506 ft
  2. Black Butte A badlands summit in Slope County, west of White Butte 3,461 ft
  3. Sentinel Butte In Golden Valley County, west of Medora and south of I-94 3,426 ft
  4. Bullion Butte A flat-topped butte in Billings County, south of Medora 3,339 ft
  5. Killdeer Mountains The high point of the Killdeer Mountains, which the Geological Survey says stand as much as 1,000 feet above the Little Missouri floodplain 3,314 ft
  6. Pretty Butte In western Slope County, near the Montana line 3,171 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

54
  1. Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau. 2020 Census Apportionment Results, Table 2. Resident Population for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  4. U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot.. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  5. Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  6. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. State Climate Summaries 2022: North Dakota (NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 150-ND). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  7. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Little Missouri National Grassland. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  8. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. About the Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  9. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Dakota Prairie Grasslands home, with the Supervisor’s Office address. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  10. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Sheyenne National Grassland. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  11. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Dispersed Camping in the Grasslands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  12. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Camping in the Grasslands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  13. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  14. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Travel and Vehicle Safety in the Grasslands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  15. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Safety and Outdoor Ethics, including oil and gas sites. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  16. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Protocols to Prevent Pastoral Prairie Path Parking Pitfalls of Pachydermic Proportions. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  17. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Visitor Maps and Guides, with the Motor Vehicle Use Maps and the Little Missouri National Grassland OHV Use Brochure. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  18. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Maah Daah Hey Trail. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  19. USDA Forest Service. Maah Daah Hey Trail destination page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  20. USDA Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Geology. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  21. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Park Statistics. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  22. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. South Unit. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  23. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. North Unit. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  24. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Elkhorn Ranch Unit. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  25. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Directions. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  26. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Operating Hours and Seasons. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  27. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Safety. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  28. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Camping. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  29. National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Things To Do, with the 48-mile South Unit scenic drive figure. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  30. National Park Service. Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  31. National Park Service. Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  32. Bureau of Land Management. North Dakota Field Office. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  33. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  34. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. OHV Permits and Registration. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  35. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Off-Highway Vehicle Riding in North Dakota (brochure, April 2022). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  36. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  37. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Pembina Gorge State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  38. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Turtle Mountain State Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  39. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Little Missouri State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  40. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Rough Rider State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  41. North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. Lake Sakakawea State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  42. North Dakota Department of Trust Lands. Public Access and Posting. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  43. North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Wildlife Management Areas: Regulations. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  44. North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Habitat Types: Badlands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  45. North Dakota Department of Transportation. Road Conditions and Weather Resources. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  46. North Dakota Department of Transportation. Winter Driving. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  47. North Dakota Department of Transportation. North Dakota 511. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  48. North Dakota Department of Transportation. Snow and Ice Control Information. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  49. North Dakota Geological Survey, Department of Mineral Resources. North Dakota’s Badlands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  50. North Dakota Geological Survey, Department of Mineral Resources. North Dakota’s Mountainous Areas. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  51. North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. Burn Restrictions and Fire Danger Maps. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  52. Federal Highway Administration, America’s Byways. Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  53. Federal Highway Administration, America’s Byways. Native American Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  54. Federal Highway Administration, America’s Byways. North Dakota byways. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages North Dakota

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Each bar is the whole state. The filled part is federal land, divided by the agency that manages it. Choose an agency to see only its ground.

  1. North Dakota

    3.9% 1,736,495 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of North Dakota

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.

Map layers

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Base map
Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • US Forest Service (USFS)
  • National Park Service (NPS)
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  • Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • Department Of Defense (DOD)
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Other Federal
  • State
  • Local
  • Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
  • Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

  • State land
  • County and city land
  • Regional agency or district
  • Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

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