Parking
Use the Peaceful Valley Ranch trailhead in the South Unit. The on-foot approach crosses the Little Missouri River before joining the named route.
Overview
About Big Plateau Trail
Why go
- A strenuous canyon climb opens onto broad plateau and badlands views.
Heads up
- The 1.8-mile distance is one way, and access includes a river crossing.
Big Plateau Trail is a 1.8-mile, one-way hike from the Peaceful Valley Ranch access to the open plateau west of the Little Missouri River. The NPS calls it strenuous. The mapped tread is close to 2 miles and gains about 460 feet, so the short mileage understates the work. Allow around an hour and a half for the climb itself.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe climb worth takingMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Theodore Roosevelt map
Full mapElevation2,228–2,677 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Theodore Roosevelt alerts
- ClosureRidgeline Nature Trail inaccessibleDo not plan to use the South Unit’s Ridgeline Nature Trail; it is currently inaccessible because of a road collapse. - The trail is 0.6 mile long.Official details
- InfoChanged access route to Petrified Forest trailheadUse the approved legal route from I-94 Exit 10 to reach the Petrified Forest trailhead; follow the clearly marked posts.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Theodore Roosevelt Tour Guide
Your drive to Big Plateau Trail, narrated.
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.
Recorded for this trailhead
Peaceful Valley Ranch: Ranch House to Park Headquarters0:00 / 0:35
“You're nearing Peaceful Valley Ranch, a short stop for a white ranch house, log bunkhouse, and stable beside the Little Missouri valley.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Theodore Roosevelt Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Halliday Well: Lower Paddock Creek
- The Pronghorn’s Replaceable Horns
- How the River Starts a Forest
- Cottonwood Campground: A Riverside Base
- 45 audio storiesacross Theodore Roosevelt’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bison, Wild Horse, Wapiti, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 38 trails, 35 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Big Plateau Trail
Cross the river, then climbThe approach from Peaceful Valley Ranch crosses the Little Missouri into the park’s backcountry…
The approach from Peaceful Valley Ranch crosses the Little Missouri into the park’s backcountry wilderness. From there, the named trail climbs through a canyon and opens onto the plateau. Current river depth and passability weren’t confirmed, so check with the park before setting out.
The park’s visitor brochure map is not meant for trail navigation. Pick up the current trail map at a visitor center and follow it through the wilderness junctions.
What you see aboveThe canyon gives way to a broad sweep of grassland with the broken badlands rim along the…
The canyon gives way to a broad sweep of grassland with the broken badlands rim along the horizon. It’s a good hike if you want to leave the scenic drive behind and spend time in the park’s open backcountry. From a safe place on the trail, include a little foreground grass with the rim to show the scale of the plateau.
Plan your returnThe 1.8-mile figure is one way. Retracing the trail makes about a 3.
The 1.8-mile figure is one way. Retracing the trail makes about a 3.6-mile out-and-back, plus the access to and from the river crossing. A separate 5.4-mile loop combines Big Plateau with the Ekblom and Maah Daah Hey trails if you want a circuit. Dogs are prohibited on park trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Theodore Roosevelt
1,082 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
346 sightingsWild HorseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
27 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
45 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.
