Parking
Use the gravel parking area at Peaceful Valley Ranch Trailhead, reached by the ranch access road. The route ends at East River Road by the Jones Creek junction; arrange a pickup or retrace the 0.93-mile trail.
Overview
About CCC Trail
Why go
- Nearly flat walk through the Peaceful Valley floodplain
- Connects the ranch trailhead to the Jones Creek junction
Heads up
- The creek crossing has no bridge
- A point-to-point hike needs a pickup or a same-route return
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Theodore Roosevelt map
Full mapElevation2,241–2,254 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 CCC 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
- Beef Corral Bottom: Prairie Dogs and Cattle History
- 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 CCC Trail
A short valley walkFrom Peaceful Valley Ranch, the CCC Trail heads east and then northeast through open grass and…
From Peaceful Valley Ranch, the CCC Trail heads east and then northeast through open grass and cottonwoods for about 0.93 mile one way, ending where it meets Jones Creek Trail by East River Road. This is a quiet lowland walk with the badlands rising beyond the valley rather than a climb. Allow about 30 minutes one way; without a pickup at the road, retrace the path for roughly 1.86 miles and about an hour total.
Creek, tread and markersThe route crosses Paddock Creek without a bridge.
The route crosses Paddock Creek without a bridge. Low ground can be swampy after rain, while dried bison tracks can make the tread rough and lumpy. Wildlife paths and damaged trail markers can complicate wayfinding, so follow the marked route toward the road junction rather than branching onto game trails.
Peaceful Valley historyThe trail passes through the historic Peaceful Valley landscape near the site of a 1930s…
The trail passes through the historic Peaceful Valley landscape near the site of a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps camp, which gives the route its name. Hikers and horseback riders are allowed on the trail; pets 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.
