Itineraries
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library sits in the middle of the best road-trip country in America — and that is not an accident. Roosevelt came here as a young man, and what the Badlands did to him is why so much of the West is still worth driving across.
A visit here works as a day, a weekend, or the anchor of something much bigger. Point the car west from Chicago or east from Seattle and the route strings together as many as six national parks — Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Wind Cave, Glacier and Olympic — along with Devils Tower, the first national monument in the country, and Mount Rushmore.
Roosevelt protected roughly 230 million acres. These trips are a way to go see some of it.
Ordered shortest to longest. Filter by length below.
How much time do you have?
Most people come to Medora with one day. That is enough — if you spend it well. Painted Canyon on the way in, a morning in the Library, the South Unit loop, and dinner in town.
The places that made him: Painted Canyon, the Maltese Cross cabin, and the Elkhorn Ranch site — where nothing is left standing, and the going is the point. One day, or two with the Elkhorn.
Medora is closer than most people think. Long-weekend routes from Bismarck (2 hours), Fargo (4.5), Minneapolis (8) and Winnipeg (8) — each with what to see on the way and how to fill the days when you arrive.
Three days is enough to see Medora properly: the Badlands that shaped Theodore Roosevelt, the Presidential Library above them, and a town that still runs on Western hospitality. Painted Canyon, the South Unit scenic loop, the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Medora Musical.
Roosevelt protected roughly 230 million acres. Three days connects the Badlands that formed the conviction to Devils Tower, the first national monument, and Wind Cave, which he made a national park in 1903.
A four-day loop across North Dakota, from the state capital to the Badlands: the Missouri riverfront in Bismarck, the Heritage Center, Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Four days, four very different corners of the state.
Seven days from Billings, Montana to Bismarck: four national parks, the nation’s first national monument, and a string of Western towns. Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway, Cody and Deadwood, Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands that made Roosevelt.
Start in the Badlands that shaped Theodore Roosevelt, then trace his westward influence across Yellowstone, Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore on a seven-day route from Bismarck to Rapid City. Five national parks, a Pitchfork Steak Fondue, and the Presidential Library on day two.
Seven to nine days on I-90 and I-94: the Driftless Area and the Mississippi bluffs, across Minnesota and the width of North Dakota, with an optional Black Hills loop home.
A ten-day route from Denver through the Black Hills, into Roosevelt’s Badlands, and west through Yellowstone and the Tetons to Salt Lake City. Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, Devils Tower, the Presidential Library, five national parks, and Old West towns that still feel like the frontier.
Ten to twelve days across the northern tier: the Hoh Rain Forest and the Olympic coast, over the Cascades, through Glacier, and down into the Badlands. Rainforest to alpine to open range.
A thirteen-day arc from Denver through the Black Hills, into Roosevelt’s beloved Badlands, and across Yellowstone to the Tetons. Along the way: Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Old Faithful, a Snake River float, and a few covered-wagon cookouts to keep things interesting.
Roosevelt’s legacy across the Great American West — the Badlands of North and South Dakota and Wyoming, where a young New Yorker became the nation’s first conservationist president. A seven-page guide to the country that made him.
Half a million riders come to the Black Hills for the rally in August. US 85 — the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway — runs 224 miles north from Sturgis to Medora and the badlands that made him. Two days, or three with the North Unit.
Six days out of Medora and back: Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood and Seth Bullock’s grave, Custer State Park, Wind Cave — the first national park anywhere created to protect a cave — and Devils Tower, the first national monument. About 800 miles.
Six days following Lewis and Clark and the Missouri across North Dakota — Fort Abraham Lincoln, Fort Mandan, the Hidatsa and Mandan villages at Knife River, Lake Sakakawea and the confluence — then south into the badlands and the Library.
Thirty-two miles of giant scrap-metal sculpture running south from I 94 to Regent, built by one man to keep his hometown alive. Free, always open, and the easiest half-day detour on the Bismarck–Medora corridor.
Three or four days of fossils and deep time for families — petrified forest at Medora, mounted dinosaurs at Dickinson, a mummified Edmontosaurus in Bismarck, and a public dig where children can actually get in the dirt.
Seven days and roughly 2,600 miles linking this Library with Eisenhower, Truman, Lincoln and Hoover — four federal libraries and two that are not, which is the interesting part.
Six days up the I 29 corridor from Kansas City or Omaha — Osawatomie, Falls Park, the Corn Palace, Dignity above the Missouri, then west across North Dakota to the badlands.