Painted Canyon Nature Trail (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) Hiking Guide
Most people see Painted Canyon from the overlook behind the visitor center at I-94 exit 32 and drive on. The nature trail takes you off that rim and down among the striped buttes and juniper, then makes you earn the view back. It is the quickest real taste of the South Unit badlands for anyone driving across North Dakota.
Permit: Theodore Roosevelt National Park requires an entrance pass year-round: $30 per private vehicle, $25 for motorcycles or $15 per person arriving on foot or by bike (16 and older), each good for 7 days. Painted Canyon is not an entrance station, so buy the pass online or at the South Unit Visitor Center in Medora. Card or mobile payment only.
The Loop
The park lists the trail at 0.9 mile round trip and about 45 minutes. Hiking Project maps it as a 1.1-mile lollipop with roughly 262 feet of descent and the same back up, and a second Hiking Project entry measures 0.8 mile, so expect about a mile either way. From the visitor center, a paved path on the north side leads left along the rim to the trailhead. The trail then drops into the canyon, loops through the bottom and climbs out. Hiking Project measures the steepest pitch at about 20 percent grade. As the park puts it, every step down means a step back up.
What You Walk Through
Down in the canyon, the park says, you get up close to the rock layers you saw from above, along with the junipers and the wildlife. Bison wander through this corner of the park often enough that the park warns about them on its Painted Canyon page, and feral horses live in the South Unit too. Give any animal at least 25 yards and step well off the path if a bison is coming your way.
Visitor Center Season and Winter Access
The Painted Canyon Visitor Center and rest area runs seasonally, and the park's posted hours show it closed from late October 2026 to mid-June 2027. Hiking Project's contributors say that in the off-season you can still take exit 32, park outside the gate without blocking it, and walk in through the pedestrian gate; confirm with the park before counting on that. When the building is closed, don't count on restrooms or water. Backcountry permits are never issued here, only in Medora.
Fee, Dogs and Footing
Painted Canyon sits inside the park, so the standard pass applies even though there is no booth at the exit: $30 for a carload for a week, bought with a card or online. Dogs cannot go on the trail, but the park points to the paved rim sidewalk here as one of its better places to walk a leashed dog, with a 6-foot leash limit. After rain the bentonite on the canyon floor turns greasy and can stay slick for days, so wear shoes with real tread.
When to Go
May through October is the easy window, with summer highs in the 70s and 80s. There is little shade below the rim, so carry water even for this short walk; the park suggests about a liter per person per hour. Winter brings single-digit lows from December through February, steady wind and the occasional blizzard.
Hiking tips for Painted Canyon Nature Trail (Theodore Roosevelt National Park)
- Save some energy for the climb out; the steep part comes at the end.
- Buy your entrance pass online before stopping, since Painted Canyon has no fee booth.
- Walk dogs on the rim sidewalk instead of the trail.
- Skip the loop for a day or two after heavy rain, when the clay is slick.
- Check the visitor center's posted hours if you are passing between late October and mid-June.
Nearby trails to explore
- Painted Canyon Trail (Theodore Roosevelt National Park)
- Coal Vein Trail (Theodore Roosevelt National Park)
- Wind Canyon Trail (Theodore Roosevelt National Park)
Hike this trail with TrailMates
Painted Canyon is an easy stop on a road trip, and better with company for the climb out. Set up a hike in TrailMates, agree on the meeting time at exit 32 in the event's group chat, and walk down into the canyon together. Download TrailMates on the App Store or Google Play.