North Dakota??

Definitely include Teddy Roosevelt NP on your list. We stayed at RV Park in Medora. Was totally adequate. Had some RR noise, but otherwise served us well. We especially enjoyed the Medora Outdoor theater and the Pitchfork Steak Fondue supper. Both were done with a lot of professionalism and were totally enjoyable. The park is beautiful and helped us better appreciate the life of Teddy Roosevelt. The visitor's center and his old ranch house were very good. Enjoy.

Fall color depends on the summer. Some times middle of Sept to early Oct. May last 2-4 weeks to a week. All depends on weather.

John - Big Thanks. I mapped the places out and will now have to decide what we are interested in and what not. Will definitely have some more question for you as I try to massage the route. Some of the places will have to wait until I can come back after retirement as we only have about one to two weeks to spend in the state.

When do the leaves start changing and what would you say to the first two weeks of September?

Most anytime from the end of June to end of August is good. Later June to early July is my favorite. 21 June is the longest day and up here our twilight lasts for 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, father north you go the later it sets. GREAT summer evenings. It is the tourist/ travel season but most people leave ND instead of come here. No crowds or traffic hold ups, unless you get some road construction.The roads are good, mostly flat. Gas stations are all over the place. Just remember in ND everything is spread out. 360 miles east to west on I-94 and hardly a curve in the road.
If you prefer to state or federal campgrounds this route would my choice would be.
Sorry this is going to be so long, but ND is a large place and everything is spread out.
Enter the state by I-29, go to Fort Ramson State Park real nice campground on the Sheyenne River. Spend a day exploring that area.
Next head up to Devils Lake and stay at Grahams State Park. Mostly fishermen stay there but a nice place, kind of like an island in Devils Lake. Take a day or two in that area. Go to Sullys Hill Game Reserve. Right next to that is Fort Totten Historical Site, worth the stop. Couple of nice little museums in town. If you like to fish Devils Lake is one of the nations top walleye, perch and northern producers. Several guides work on the lake.
After there head north to the International Peace Garden Peace Park. A joint effort park between Canada and the US. They have a campground there but I have not used it.
From there go to Riverdale/ Pick City. They are on the east and west side of the Garrison Dam. Dam tour is worth the stop.
From there you back track about 10 miles to Hy 83 and go to Washburn to the Lewis and Clark Visitor. They spent the winter in the area (179 days I think). Make sure you take in Fort Mandan, a rebuilt fort like what Lewis and Clark stayed in. Amazing history tour there.
When finished there go south to Bismarck and stay at Fort Lincoln State Park. Fort Lincoln is where General Custer headquarters was before he left for Little Big Horn. The fort has rebuilt Custer's house and some other buildings. They have rebuilt an Mandan Indian Village that is very interesting. Bismarck has a lot of things to offer. A river boat cruise, you can go up to the top of the state capital building. 18 stories high and the tallest building in ND. By the capital is the stat heritage museum a must see.
The trip from the peace gardens to Fort Lincoln should only take a day.
When done in Bismarck head west to exit 110, Glen Ullin, take HY 49 south to Elgin, get on HY 21 go west to Regent. From Regent go north on the Enchanted Highway. A local man has made some steel sculptors that are really nice, worth the side trip. When you get to I-94 north of Regent go west to Medora, only 60 miles. Pend a couple of days in Medora, go for a drive thru the park, take in the pitchfork fondue and see the musical. Take a day trip to the north unit of the park. 70 miles one way but worth it.
Leaving Medora you are only 275 miles from Custer SD, which is on the south side of the Black Hills. Deadwood is only 210 miles from Medora.
If you have any questions just ask. I have lived here for all but 1 1/2 years of my 62 and am one of the few who like it here.
Enjoy your trip here.

From what direction/ highway are you planning on entering the state? There are several nice state park campgrounds and lots of things to see and do here. You came make a big loop around the state.

We usually pick one point as a destination and head more or less in that direction until we get there, the turn and head more or less towards home until we run out of time. Nothing for us to turn left or right or even double back to spend time seeing something that caught our eye. We stop for the night when we get tired, run out of daylight, or find something worth stopping to enjoy.

Odds are we will enter and leave from the east and leave either in the southeast or southwest if we decide to visit Custer.

State, NP, NF and COE are our favorite campground types.

Was mainly wondering when is the best time to visit.

From what direction/ highway are you planning on entering the state?
There are several nice state park campgrounds and lots of things to see and do here. You came make a big loop around the state.

donkeydew wrote:
custer state park the last couple weeks of may can fill your entire wish list plus the bonus of lots of baby animals.

OP is asking about North Dakota. Custer State Park is in South Dakota. Two separate states.

kyhawk wrote:

donkeydew wrote:
custer state park the last couple weeks of may can fill your entire wish list plus the bonus of lots of baby animals.

We like Custer, but the last time we were there it was in SD?

i blew it!! send my back to the third grade to learn to read.
i apologize for my bad.

A few years ago we traveled up from Custer in SD to Medora and then all the way across North Dakota, west to east. We stayed in Medora for a brief visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then a couple of nights in Mandan (Bismark) at the Fort Lincoln State Park. While in the Bismark area we visited the Lewis and Clark fort and the Knife Indian Villages.

This web page and the next few photos will give a sample of that part of our trip:

North Dakota Trip

Check the campgrounds / RV parks out very carefully before making reservations.

Thanks for the reminder. Luckily, I almost always travel without reservations and almost exclusively stay in government run campgrounds as we don't need any hookups. And push come to shove, we have no problems boondocking or parking lot.