Camping in Cutie RV: Custer, South Dakota to Medora, North Dakota

We got an early start driving to Deadwood for breakfast. We found an old gas station turned into a coffee shop in the historic section of town. Our route took us by Spearfish Canyon and then across the grasslands with cattle grazing and then past the towns of Buffalo and Bison with bison herds grazing along the road. We stopped at Painted Canyon Visitor Center in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park for a picnic lunch. The Medora Campground is within walking distance of the town of Medora and the entrance to the National Park. We strolled the town visiting a saloon with a bar on a second-story balcony and toured the Harold Schafer Heritage Center and old General Store by De Mores Memorial Park, the old photography studio, and the Chateau Nuts store for dark chocolate-covered cherries and blueberries. We dodged the sudden rain showers off and on all day.

Oldey Goldey decorated coffee shop

Historic Deadwood

Picnic shelter at the visitor center to shelter us from the roaring winds

The Painted Canyon and stormy sky

Beautiful colored rocks

Jacket time at the overlook at Painted Canyon

dusty Medora Campground at foot of the bluff

Camping right next to the National Park

Campground next to Chimney Park Picnic area

The teddy bear store

Saloon

Park and old General Store

We stood in line as the breakfast place opened in Medora and we got served first and were on our way into the south unit of the National Park by 7:30 am. We stopped at the Medora Overlook, Skyline Vista, and then rode through the Cottonwood picnic area and campground. We hiked the Jones Creek trail to the first fording of the creek and then came back and hiked the Civilian Conservation Trail that led to Peaceful Valley Ranch. We passed the bison herd and prairie dog town and hiked the Wind Canyon Trail. We hiked out from the Boicourt Overlook and did the Buck Hill Trail and Coal Vein Trail before our final hike to the Old East Entrance Station. The Scenic Loop Trail was closed so that we had to backtrack to the entrance. We s stopped at the Visitor Center on our way out and watched the film and viewed the exhibits and realized we have to take an outside road to get to the petrified forest that we will do tomorrow before heading to the north unit.

Boot birdhouses

Around town

Rabbit hopping down the street to breakfast

Jones Creek Trailhead

Not much water flowing the creek

Civilian Conservation Corp trailhead

Downed trees

Peaceful Valley Ranch

Winds blew my hat off on Wind Canyon Trail

Amazing windswept rocks

Beautiful blooms

Climbing to the top for the best view

The muddy Little Missouri River

Overlook trails to stunning vistas

Unbelievable views

One of several herds of wild horses

Up a gravel road to Buck Hill

The wind continued to blow on the hilltops

Lush views

Rare blooming flowers

A coal vein fire that burned for years

The fire turned the rock into terra cotta

Bright colored flower

The twisted trunk of the juniper tree

A bright spot in the landscape

The best hike across prairie dog town to the old entrance

Bison close to the hiking trail

Caught the prairie dog popping out of his hole

Everywhere we looked

Beautiful construction of the first park entrance

Superb stonework

Wild horses

We got up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise and head to the petrified forest trail that was outside the loop before heading to the north unit of the National Park 68 miles away. A bison blocked the trail as he was rubbing his neck against a petrified tree. Finally, he moseyed along and we explored the forest. We then headed back to Medora for another excellent breakfast before driving to the north unit of the national park. We stopped at the Cannonball Concretions pullout and then toured the Juniper campground and picnic area. We stopped at the Caprock Coulee Nature Trailhead to do the 4.1 trail by the River Bend Overlook. We followed the scenic drive to the Oxbox Overlook before retracing our path back to the Little Mo Nature Trail. It was another great day of spectacular scenery seeing bison up close on the trail.