The Maah Daah Hey Trail is one of the quietest, loneliest, most remote, and yet beautiful trails you will find. This 150 mile single-track dirt path has stunning Western ND badlands around even bend and corner. I set out to the hike the whole thing with a friend this year, and while we almost made it halfway (in terms of miles), we learned quite a bit about it. This trail has been somewhat of an obsession of mine in recent years, and I've been on different parts of it many times; I'd like to share my perspective of the trail from a hiker's view, when most of what you will find on the internet is from the perspective of mountain bikers.
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Here are the basics that I took into account when planning my trip:
1.) The single most important thing on this trail is access to drinking water. You should not expect to have any water to filter at any point along the MDH. You may find some in cattle ponds, but overall don't expect it.
2.) Roughly every 20 miles along the trail are primitive Forest Service campground areas with drinking water, usually from a hand-pump spicket. These are your best and most reliable sources of water on the MDH. Camping with a tent at these locations is usually $6, with the exception being a state park with a camping fee of $12.
3.) In between many of the campgrounds along the trail are waterboxes where you can pre-store water for yourself to pick up. On some of these 20 mile stretches without water, waterboxes about halfway in between campgrounds can be critical. Some of the waterboxes have water put there for free by good Samaritans, but you CANNOT rely on that.
4.) Storing water at these waterboxes will take a few hours. Some of these sights are quite a drive on remote Forest Service roads, but this extra day of driving will pay off with huge dividends on your hike.
5.) There is very little to no shade on this trail. On a hot summer day with the sun high in the sky, you might go 7 or 8 miles without coming across any shade on the trail, especially on the Wannagan<-->Elkhorn section.
6.) There may not be mountains, but the topography of this trail is quite difficult. The amount of elevation gain and loss is ridiculous for a non-mountainous area, and if you aren't in decent shape, you will be defeated. My hiking partner and I were both recent D1 track distance runners, and we averaged around 3mph while hiking, and 2mph including breaks.
7.) The only town near to the trail is the town of Medora, near mile 50. It's about a mile off the trail and during the summer has many services. After the summer season is over though, options become severely limited.
8.) The trail can become quite overgrown at times. The trail maintenance team usually goes out in July, so if you're hiking in June or early July, you will likely need long pants because of at least knee-high grass in many areas. After trail maintenance is completed (usually mid to late July to be ready for the foot and bike races) the trail has a decently wide swath of mowed grass and you'll be fine with shorts.
So anyway, about the hike! We got all of our stuff situated and loaded up our bags. I carried with me:
- Food, including oatmeal, gatorade powder, clif bars, peanut butter, jelly, tortillas, apples, carrots, and mountain home freeze-dried meals
- Water, including a 2-liter water bag with a drinking tube, 2 1-liter water bottles, and 4 0.5-liter water bottles (3 of which were picked up at a waterbox early on)
- Backpacking tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad
- Backcountry cooking set- propane canister, jetboiler, boiling pot, fork and spoon, and a lighter
- Phone Charger, toothbrush, headlamp, sunscreen
- One extra set of clothes
- A book to read during breaks
- Mini first-aid kit
Our plan was to start all the way at Mile 0, Burning Coal Vein Campground. You can choose to start from the North end and go south, but we decided to start from the south, where mile 0 is. Also, by going North you actually slowly lose elevation throughout the hike by following the river downstream. So, we left a car at the CCC campground (the north end) and drove south, dropping off water at the Long X Waterbox, the Beicegel Waterbox, and the Magpie Waterbox. We chose not to go to the Roosevelt Waterbox because it was on the other side of the river, which is a LONG drive. We chose to leave a gallon (3.7 liters) for each of us at these waterboxes just to be on the safe side of things.
Long story short, something on those scoria gravel roads punctured my tire and we had to put a spare on in Belfield. This waste of time made it so we couldn't make it all the way to Burning Coal Vein Campground. So, when we got to Medora and turned south on East River Road, we put 3 water bottles each in the Plumely Draw Waterbox, and my wife dropped us off at Coal Creek Campground (approx mile 28). Had we followed East River Road further, we would have hit 2 more waterboxes and eventually ended up at Burning Coal Vein Campground (mile 0). NOTE: East River Road is all gravel. Scoria gravel is a much tougher gravel that what you find on most roads in the US.
Coal Creek Campground was the best campground we stayed at on our hike. The area was full of trees and plenty of shade, with great views of the Badlands all around. At night, from the campsites on the hill, you could see the lights from Medora more than 10 miles away. Also, this was the only campground on our trip where the night sky wasn't obscured by the scourge of oil development and flares. We could see the whole milky way in all of its splendor.
DAY 1- 20 Miles, Coal Creek Campground to Sully Creek State Park
Total People Seen on the Trail: 2
With our hike being in mid-July and temperatures predicted in the 80s and 90s all week, we left early in the morning. We were on the trail by around 6:00am every day, but sunrise is at 5:10am, so we should've been up even earlier. Honestly, the best situation probably would have been to get on the trail by 4:45am every day to take the most of the coolness of the morning hours, because by 10am each day the sun was beating down and getting quite warm, and would stay that way for the next 6 hours.
We made good time on the hike north from Coal Creek Campground. We hiked through the trees and low areas, then some valleys. By the time we got the waterbox around mile 33, we weren't really ready for a water pickup yet, but this would be the last water for 15 miles on a humid day with temperatures reaching up into the 90s (producing heat indices over 100F). We hiked through a beautiful section of badlands, followed by some ridge walking with a spectacular view of the lower badlands to the east. We continued by descending into a valley and ascending into the next butte range, followed by ridge walking for awhile. We had to take frequent breaks, and when we finally found some shade took some rest.
Cell service is pretty good when you are on top of the buttes. We could usually grab 4G and 2 or 3 bars on the top, but in the valleys, you will have no service of any kind. Also keep in mind that Verizon is always your best bet for service in western North Dakota, and even that will be spotty in some places.
We continued hiking until we got to the Bully Pulpit trailhead, 2.5 miles north of the state park. Because of the miserable heat of this day, we sought refuge on the Bully Pulpit Golf Course clubhouse patio, and they were kind enough to let us fill up on water at their water fountain. Don't expect to rely on them as a water site, though. We needed it. After resting for an hour or so, we finished up our hike to the park, which included a stunning panorama of the Little Missouri River Valley about a mile north of Sully Creek (must see views!!).
Sully Creek State Park has primitive campsites in the shade and in the open, horse corral areas, and campsites with hookups. In the summer, expect to not have more than a single tree of shade if you don't reserve ahead of time. This park has $12 primitive camping and $1 showers. The Little Missouri River is literally right by the park and offers a refreshing dip on a hot day. This park is about 2 highway miles south of Medora, the only town on the MDH trail. It also has a large MDH trailhead marker, but that's because the MDH used to start at this location and go north. Since then, however, a 50-mile section called "The Deuce" has been added to the south.
DAY 2- 17 Miles, Sully Creek State Park to Wannagan Campground via TR National Park
Total People Seen on the Trail: 10 (6 of whom were in TRNP)
The one thing you need to know about the Maah Daah Hey Trail and Sully Creek State Park is this: the first thing you do once you leave the park is cross the Little Missouri River. At this river crossing you will find no bridge, no gravel path, no raised road, and no general improvements at all; you will be crossing the river on foot, no matter how deep the water is. During low-water years the river can be as low as your shins by mid-summer, but in high water years (such as when we hiked), the deepest areas were up to our knees. Also note that the closer to snowmelt and spring rains you hike, the deeper the water will be, even to flood stage. Crossing this river on foot will likely be almost impossible during the months of April and May. The bottom of the river at this crossing is very rocky, with many different sized rocks and many of them sharp. You have to be VERY careful if you choose to take off your socks and shoes (like we did). It's very easy to lose your balance.
The first mile past the river is like walking through a loose, sandy beach shore through the woods. Footing is tough because walking through sand is tough. I actually walked this section barefoot to let my feet dry off before putting my boots back on, and it works quite well. Please note that there will be lots and lots of horse poop on the trail, since this section is very popular with horseback riders. After that, you ascend steeply to the top of the buttes, and then slowly back down to the river again.
NOTE: At this point, before descending towards the river, you will hit a fork in the trail. By going on the Maah Daah Hey, you are choosing to continue your route via Theodore Roosevelt National Park. By turning left, you are choosing to take the Buffalo Gap Trail. The Buffalo Gap Trail bypasses the national park and meets the MDH again on the other side, and this is because bikes are not allowed in the National Park, and with this being a popular trail for mountain bikers, you can see the problem. The BGT has a campground to stay at, and ends up adding a few miles to the hike.
Choosing the National Park route, you walk under the interstate and the highway that goes into Medora. This is your chance to hop on the sidewalk and walk the mile into Medora. If not, you will immediately enter Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I have to be honest, this section of trail pretty much sucked. The Maah Daah Hey outside of TRNP is well-marked and easy to find. The section of trail inside TRNP was not well-marked and was hard to find in some areas. The first 3+ miles are through thick, overgrown, sage-covered river bottom in the exposed sun. We lost the trail a couple of times here, and the few signs to mark the trail were hard to see. We were COVERED with ticks from this section as well, as least 50 for each of us. I also saw my first rattlesnake in this area. After that, you spend a few miles climbing out of the valley, and when you summit, the view is amazing and almost worth the hike before. Then, you finish with a 3.3 mile hike on pretty much flat prairie. This section is essentially a giant plateau on top of the badlands, and you walk a trail through the grass prairie for the whole stretch, sometimes not even seeing the badlands. In terms of hills, it's quite a relief for your legs actually.
NOTE: In Theodore Roosevelt National Park, there is a campground about halfway through the day's hike, and it has water and services. However, you would need to bushwack through the sage-brush (watch out for rattlers!), and then cross the river on foot to get there. Of course, then you would need to do all of that back to the trail afterwards. BUT, the option is there if you want/need it.
Then you exit the park, meet up with the Buffalo Gap Trail, and have a tough 3 mile hike to the next campground. Wannagan campground is very primitive, with no shade or services, except the water pump and campfire pits. $6 to camp overnight here. This park has oil development near it, so the sounds from those places ate into the pristine silence overnight, and left a orange-ish tint to the sky. We had nice time chatting with a couple at the campground. The man was biking the trail, and the woman was assisting him on his journey.
DAY 3- 22 Miles, Wannagan Campground to Elkhorn Campground
Total People Seen on Trail: 1 (trail maintenance worker)
The thing to know about this 22 mile stretch is that your only hope for water is storing water at the waterbox ahead of time. If not, you must carry enough water for 22 miles. There are some stock tanks along the trail that you should be ok with a water filter, but we didn't need to do that. On a day with a high temp of 84 degrees, I carried 6 liters of water with me, after downing a liter in the morning before we left and then refilling, and I was fine.
The first thing you do from the campground is immediately climb a steep set of switchbacks to one of the highest points for miles, and the views are amazing! You then ridge walk for a little while, enjoying the scenery. Then you descend into the valley for a few miles of absolutely stunning badlands hiking- woods, valleys, ridges, grasslands! After that, though, you are ridge walking under the sun for the next 8-9 miles. After that, you hike up and down valleys, until a beautiful descent into Elkhorn Campground.
Elkhorn Campground has many campgrounds in the shade, with beautiful views of the badlands right in front of you. The last thing you see coming into camp is a large oil derrick, but fortunately the campsite was incredibly quiet and peaceful. We had a nice conversation with a trail maintenance couple right next to the campsite where the BIG DOG of the Maah Daah Hey Trail (Nick Ybarra, kind of organizes everything related to this trail and is a big reason for its continued existence) was camping for the night. We didn't get to talk to him though.
DAY 4- 20 Miles, Elkhorn Campground to Magpie Campground (had to stop at Magpie Waterbox)
Total People Seen on Trail: 0
If there were any section of this trail that I would recommend somebody do, it would be this one. The first few miles of this section were fairly flat through cattle pasture (with the whole herd of cows running away from us and making all sorts of noise at us). Then began a couple miles of incredibly rugged, yet amazing country. You are essentially messing around in the steep slopes right next to the Little Missouri River for the next few miles. The views are to die for, and the hiking is very tough. All of this concludes with a summit where you can see for easily more than 10-15 miles in every direction. Beautiful. Then you hike down into a valley for the next few miles, come out, hike on the prairie for a little bit, and then finally the big descent to the Little Missouri River. You hike some switchbacks into the valley, and then walk through the valley a half mile before hitting the river.
This is river crossing #2 on the trail. This river crossing is rural, remote, quiet, and has some great scenery immediately by the river. The riverbed this time is mostly sand with a few rocks, and so a MUCH easier crossing overall. This is a great place to rest and take a break, about 9 miles into a 20 mile hike. After we played in the water and rested for a bit, we started the long hike out of the river valley. It takes a few miles, but you end up at the Maah Daah Hey Halfway trail marker, representing the original halfway point of the 98-mile MDH. It's not the halfway anymore, but this tall, stainless steel marker in the middle of nowhere, overlooking the wonderful Little Missouri Valley is not worth missing.
We hiked another mile or so to the Magpie Waterbox, where we each had a gallon stashed. Unfortunately, my hiking partner developed a foot injury and couldn't keep going, so we had to call it there and get picked up by the county sheriff, but the views while we sat and waited were amazing!
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In conclusion, this trail is HARD. If you've never been hiking before, or aren't in great physical shape, do not attempt to hike campground to campground each day. A better option would be to put plenty of water in the waterboxes and try to hammer out 10-15 miles each day, instead of 20. This trail is difficult and remote, with little room for error. On top of that is lack of water, abundance of potentially dangerous wildlife, and the weight of the pack you have to carry as a result. I would ALWAYS recommend this beautiful trail to anybody willing to take a trek to ND, but make sure you plan ahead.
There is a detailed, interactive trail map online at mdhta.com, as well as a group dedicated to saving the Maah Daah Hey through volunteer trail maintenance, awareness, and doing all sorts of cool races and events. Check them out at http://www.experienceland.org/.
You bet I'll be back to tackle the whole 150 someday!
