South Unit Visitor Center

The National Park Service visitor center sits at the entrance to the South Unit Scenic Loop in Medora. Stop here if you want help choosing your route or need a backcountry permit: rangers answer trip-planning questions and issue permits. Hours shift with the season, so check them before planning an indoor stop.

The museum brings together artifacts from Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and his time in the badlands. The theater screens Refuge of the American Spirit, the park film, for some context before you head onto the loop.

The bookstore sells books, postcards and other items, and entrance passes are sold here. There are public flush restrooms, a bottle-filling station, car and bus/RV parking, and a picnic table. The center is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms and wheelchairs available; it also lists assistive listening, audio description, Braille, captioned media and large print.

Maltese Cross Cabin stands just outside the center, so it’s easy to pair the two. You can visit the cabin on your own year-round; ranger-led cabin tours run in summer. The cabin is its own stop, separate from the center’s museum.