Cottonwood Group Site (ND)

For people visiting the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Cottonwood Campground is a great place to stay. Located five miles (8 km) from the entrance to the South Unit of the park, the campground is open year-round, and the group site serves as a great central camping area providing easy driving access to a variety of locations and activities. Hikers can access the estimated 70 miles of trails within a short distance of the campground. Located immediately adjacent to the Little Missouri River and filled with cottonwood trees, bird watching in the campground can be a rewarding experience, and bison can be seen traveling through the campground on their way to a stop at the river. Just a few miles from the campground is Peaceful Valley Ranch, a former ranch from Theodore Roosevelt's time and one of the best sites in the park for outstanding night sky viewing. Toilets, drinking water and picnic tables are provided in the campground. The group site (site #25) can accommodate 7-20 people. There are no hookups and no dump station. A water fill station is available for campers through October 1 each year. All wheeled vehicles and trailers must remain on roadways or pads. The Little Missouri River is the central, unifying feature of this wild and broken land where, as a young man, Theodore Roosevelt ranched and hunted in the 1880s. The park is part of both the Northern Great Plains and the West, blending a rich natural beauty with diverse human history, and its rugged topography, with its flora and fauna, provides an opportunity to discover the badlands environment as Roosevelt once did. Cottonwood trees surrounding the campsite turn golden in the fall. Although the campground is moderately forested, most of the campsites are in partial to full sun, but visitors can cool off in the cold river when temperatures peak during summer. The town of Medora, approximately five miles (8 km) to the south, has shopping, restaurants, amenities and the Medora Musical. The Little Missouri National Grassland, the largest National Grassland in the nation at 1.03 million acres, is located in western North Dakota and provides additional recreation opportunities in the area.