Visitor center · Theodore Roosevelt National Park
A 17-minute film before the North Unit's 28-mile out-and-back drive.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Theodore Roosevelt Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Theodore Roosevelt National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Theodore Roosevelt audio tourRecorded for this place
North Unit Visitor Center: Help for the Drive“You're coming up on the North Unit Visitor Center, a small ranger station where you can get help choosing stops and walks. Pick up a map, or watch the seventeen-minute film if you'd like more background.”
Plays as you drive up to North Unit Visitor Center in the Parkwolf Theodore Roosevelt Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
North Unit Visitor Center is a small ranger contact station by the unit's entrance. It's a useful first stop before the 28-mile round-trip Scenic Drive: ask for trip-planning help, pick up a map and park newspaper, or get a backcountry permit. The 17-minute film gives you a quick orientation, and the small bookstore carries books and souvenirs. Allow at least 1 hour 15 minutes for the drive itself; nearly all of it is paved, with one gravel stretch.
The center is at 208 Scenic Drive, by the US 85 entrance, about 14 miles south of Watford City. Hours change seasonally, so check before making a special trip just for the center. The North Unit uses Central Time.
Wildlife
1,082 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
346 sightingsWild HorseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
27 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
46 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
87 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
162 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Theodore Roosevelt. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingBuckhorn Trail11.4 mi · 7 hr · 0.9 mi awayA full-day loop through prairie dog towns and difficult open prairie.
EasyLittle Mo Trail — Unpaved Outer Loop1.1 mi · 38 min · 3.5 mi awayThe unpaved 1.1-mile loop pairs river-bottom woods with open badlands.
EasyLittle Mo Trail — Paved Inner Loop0.7 mi · 36 min · 3.5 mi awayA short paved loop beneath the cottonwoods, with a creek footbridge.
ChallengingAchenbach Trail18 mi · 11 hr · 3.7 mi awayA full-day loop with two Little Missouri crossings.
ModerateCaprock Coulee Trail4.3 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA wooded coulee climbs to a narrow ridge over the Little Missouri.
EasyCaprock Coulee Nature Trail1.6 mi · 1.3 hr · 4.5 mi awayA short badlands walk where water has drawn the walls into folds.EasyPrairie Dog Town via the Buckhorn Trail1.5 mi · 1 hr · 4.5 mi awayA short Buckhorn walk to a prairie dog town.
ChallengingNorth Achenbach Trail5.5 mi · 4.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA one-way badlands crossing to Oxbow's river overlook.
Campground · 1.2 mi awayCCC CampgroundA trailhead campground just across the river from the North Unit.
Scenic pullout · 1.5 mi awayLonghorn Steer PulloutA good roadside pause for the longhorn story, not a sure sighting.
Scenic pullout · 2 mi awaySlump Block PulloutA quick geology stop in bighorn sheep country.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayCannonball ConcretionsSpheres reach about five feet across, just off the scenic drive.
Campground · 3.4 mi awayJuniper CampgroundThe North Unit's only campground, where bison may wander through.Parkwolf’s Theodore Roosevelt ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
