Best Stops on I-94 in North Dakota
Interstate 94 runs the width of North Dakota, about 350 miles of mostly open prairie between Fargo and the Montana line. The best of it waits at the western end. At Exits 24 and 27, Medora sits at the edge of the Badlands, home to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and the entrance to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Medora is a natural break between the Upper Midwest and the Mountain West, and it is worth far more than a gas stop. Here is what to see on the way, and how much time to give it.
Exits 24 & 27
Medora and the Library. Westbound, take Exit 27. Eastbound from Montana, take Exit 24.
Exit 32
Painted Canyon Overlook, the first full view of the Badlands, seven miles east of Medora.
About 3½ hours
Time to plan at the Library, plus extra time if you’d like to walk the one-mile Boardwalk.
Open year-round
Seasonal hours, with timed-entry tickets. Check hours before you go.
The World's Largest Buffalo above Jamestown, home of the North American Bison Discovery Center.
The North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck.
Geese in Flight at the I-94 exit for the Enchanted Highway.
Westbound from Fargo
Fargo to Medora is about 330 miles, roughly 4½ hours, straight west. These stops earn a place on the drive.
- Jamestown, Exit 258, about 1½ hours out: the North American Bison Discovery Center (formerly the National Buffalo Museum) and the World’s Largest Buffalo, a 26-foot concrete bison with a live herd grazing below.
- Bismarck, Exit 159, the halfway point: the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum is free and right on the route, with the Art Deco State Capitol tower next door.
- The Enchanted Highway, Exit 72 near Gladstone: Geese in Flight, 110 feet tall, stands beside the interstate. The full 32-mile run south to Regent adds about 2 hours.
Somewhere west of Bismarck the clocks change. Medora runs on Mountain Time.
Painted Canyon, Exit 32
Seven miles east of Medora, Painted Canyon Overlook gives the first proper look at the Badlands: bands of rust, gray and ochre cut hundreds of feet down into flat prairie. Theodore Roosevelt stepped off the train at the Little Missouri stop in September 1883, in the dark, and saw this country for the first time the next morning.
- Seasonal visitor center, restrooms and a short rim trail.
- Plan 30 to 45 minutes.
The trail at Painted Canyon Overlook.
Bands of red scoria, tan clay, and gray bentonite stripe the buttes at Painted Canyon, where the erosion of ancient river sediments carved the North Dakota Badlands over millions of years. (Wikimedia Commons)
Bands of ancient clay, sandstone, lignite, and scoria record millions of years of Earth’s history in the exposed strata of the Little Missouri Badlands. (Wikimedia Commons)
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on the butte above Medora.
Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin behind the South Unit Visitor Center.
Medora, Exits 24 and 27
Medora is small enough to walk and big enough to fill a day. On the butte above town, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library tells Roosevelt’s story in eight chapters, from a New York City childhood to these Badlands, Cuba, the White House and beyond. Plan about three and a half hours, plus extra time for the one-mile Boardwalk.
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park: the South Unit entrance is right in town. The 36-mile scenic loop takes about 1½ hours with stops, for bison, prairie dogs and wild horses.
- The Maltese Cross Cabin: Roosevelt’s first ranch house, behind the South Unit Visitor Center. You can walk through it.
- Lunch at Salt+Scoria, the Library’s restaurant, or in downtown Medora.
For the Roosevelt story behind the scenery, see where to see Theodore Roosevelt’s North Dakota.
Eastbound from Montana and the Black Hills
From Billings, Medora is about 4 hours east on I-94. Take Exit 24 and follow the signs into town, then continue to Chateau Road and the Library. On the way in, the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site overlooks Medora from the bluff.
Coming up from the Black Hills? US-85, the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, runs north from Sturgis toward Medora. Rapid City is about 4 hours away.
Flying in? Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport (DIK) is the closest airport, about 35 miles east of Medora.
Downtown Medora, with badlands bluffs rising behind the storefronts.
The Chateau de Mores, built in 1883, overlooks Medora from the bluff west of town.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills.
Stopping on I-94: quick answers
Yes. The Library is in Medora, minutes from Exits 24 and 27, on a butte overlooking the Badlands. Plan about three and a half hours to explore the exhibition, and pair it with the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, whose entrance is right in town.
Westbound from Bismarck or Dickinson, take Exit 27. Eastbound from Montana, take Exit 24. Follow the signs into Medora and continue to Chateau Road. The address is 3410 Chateau Road, Medora, North Dakota. Get directions
Painted Canyon Overlook, at Exit 32, seven miles east of Medora, is the first full view of the Badlands from the interstate. It has a seasonal visitor center, restrooms and a short rim trail.
Yes. The Library is open year-round, with seasonal hours. Check current hours before you go, and look at road conditions in winter.
Yes. Use the designated parking area near the Medora Musical rather than the Library’s main lots, which are sized for passenger vehicles.
Make a trip of it
Fargo to Medora: A Long Weekend
330 miles straight west on I-94, with the stops worth making and two days in the Badlands.
The Enchanted Highway
Thirty-two miles of giant scrap-metal sculpture south of Exit 72, the easiest half-day detour on the drive.
One Day at the Library
Painted Canyon on the way in, a morning at the Library, the South Unit loop and dinner in town.