About
Length (round trip)1 mi
ShapeOut-and-Back
DifficultyEasy
Elevation gain50 ft up
Typical time4 hr 30 min
TrailheadElkhorn Ranch Unit, 35 miles of gravel road
SurfaceLevel prairie path to a foundation site
Best seasonMay to October. Bentonite clay turns to grease when wet, so avoid the backcountry after rain in any season.
DogsNot allowed
AccessibilityThe Elkhorn Ranch unit is a remote, 218-acre site with a flat 0.7 mile mowed trail leading to the former location of the Elkhorn Ranch cabin. The ground can be slippery in inclement weather. Service animals are allowed, but must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet.
What you'll see 🌊 River or creek🏛️ Historic site

The Elkhorn Ranch may seem like a long drive for little reward; after all, the cabin no longer stands, with only foundation stones remaining. However, make the trip, and you'll find yourself in one of the most peaceful parts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Roosevelt established the Elkhorn after the tragic loss of his wife and mother on the same day in 1884. Looking for somewhere more quiet and remote than the Maltese Cross Cabin, with its relative proximity to Medora, Roosevelt headed north, eventually choosing a spot that spanned the Little Missouri river. This location and the house he built there became a retreat for him. Take a moment and stand atop one of the foundation stones while visiting and imagine what Roosevelt's ranch life might have been like. "My home ranch-house stands on the river brink. From the low, long veranda, shaded by leafy cotton-woods, one looks across sand bars and shallows to a strip of meadowland, behind which rises a line of sheer cliffs and grassy plateaus. This veranda is a pleasant place in the summer evenings when a cool breeze stirs along the river and blows in the faces of the tired men, who loll back in their rocking-chairs (what true American does not enjoy a rocking-chair?), book in hand--though they do not often read the books, but rock gently to and for, gazing sleepily out at the weird-looking buttes opposite, until their sharp outlines grow indistinct and purple in the after-glow of the sunset." - From Hunting Trips of a Ranchman by Theodore Roosevelt.

Tips
Reached by 35 miles of gravel road with no services and no phone signal - check conditions first. Nothing stands but the foundation blocks and the cottonwoods, and the quiet is the point. Roosevelt called this the place his conservation ideas took shape.
Location

Elkhorn Ranch Unit, 35 miles of gravel road

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