Help me plan my trip! North Dakota (TRNP) & Minnesota (VNP)

[alesis]

Hey y’all.
You’ve helped me in the past with flying colors, and I hope you can do it again!
We are visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and then Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota in early July this summer.

I’m wondering if there are better areas to stay near these parks, and looking for CG recommendations at each location.

We’ll have 3-4 full days at each location. We want to stay at full hookup CGs hopefully in very scenic areas, with lots of options for day trips and things to do within and hour or 2 of the CGs.

I see there are multiple Visitor Centers at each park, so I’m not sure if there are more preferable areas to stay via others.

We have kids that are 11,16 and 18 and love scenic and adventurous stuff to do, as well as typical tourist trap stuff.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!

[John_Burke]

All the campgrounds in the area are just plain campgrounds. Not destination places where there are tons of things to do. Just a place to sleep eat and enjoy the outside.
That being said Medora campground is the best bet. Easy in and out, decent size sites, trees and full hook ups. The other full hook up campground in town, Red Trail, is small and tight.
Be sure to take in the musical it is OUTSTANDING. If you are a veteran check the times for the vet discount. The Pitchfork Fondue is very good. Eat under the awnings with great views. If they have two shows a day again this year my recommendations would the early show. They run on mountain time an hour later then central. You can see the countryside much better. The show is outdoors in a natural Ampitheater, the scenery is unbelievable.
Before, or after, your trip to Medora a couple of nights in Fort Lincoln State Park is well worth the time. The campground is on the confluence of the Heart and Missouri rivers, very nice campgrounds with full hook-ups. They have rebuilt General Custers home and several of the fort's buildings, the Mandan Indian Village (On-A-SLANT village) has rebuilt earth dome homes really interesting. Up on the hill they have rebuilt the 3 corner block guard towers. Well worth the day. Next day go 50 miles north to Washburn to the Lewis and Clark Center and Fort Mandan. The Fort Lewis and Clark spent the winter in. It is an extremely well done restoration. It is well worth the trip.
On your way back to Fort Lincoln take in the Heritage Musuem on the State Capital grounds and go to the top of the Capital Building, tallest building in ND. Take an evening ride on the river boat in Bismarck.
Just a little of the history in North Dakota but well worth the time.

[alesis]

kyhawk wrote:
Way back in July 2010 we spent 5 nights in the Medora Campground and liked it a lot. It was about 20 minutes from the edge of the South unit of TRNP. The only problem we had with it was the train track that ran close by. The trains blew their whistle several times each night, so we ended up with earplugs to sleep soundly. We did drive 70 miles to the North unit for a one day tour there. It made for a long day, but it was an ok trip. We liked the South unit better, and spent most of our time there. The town was neat too, with lots of attractions.

Thanks for the info! Are there many close days trips and things to do around there to spend 3-5 days there?

[docsouce]

An interesting day trip when in the Medora ND area is the "Enchanted Highway" between Gladstone ND and Regent ND. Huge metal sculptures along the side of the road. Our grand children loved them. DW and I did too!

[Bob806]

Wow, we're planning a similar trip.

Regarding Voyageurs NP, I'm not crazy about the cost of this place but we booked it anyway Pines Of Kabetogama.

For TRNP North area, I'm looking at Grassy Butte. Like someone else mentioned, the north unit doesn't have a bunch of options so we'll play it by ear.

The TRNP South area, I'm looking at Sully Creek SP.

We've never been to North Dakota & the state parks look so nice. I'm sure we will also stop at Lake Sakakawea SP or Graham's Island SP on the way home.

Safe travels!!

[Flapper]

Voyageurs is light on the full hookup campgrounds available. Most are adjuncts to established resorts, and cater to campers there for the whole season. The park itself does not have any RV camping - you need a boat to get to any campsite!

As they say on their site:
** Voyageurs is a water-based national park **
All campsite types (except primitive) require a watercraft

The park does offer day boat tours of the park, leaving from their Kabetogama center.
Or you could check out resorts for RV parking and boat rental. One great alternative the kids would never forget is to rent a houseboat for several days, and use that to tour the park,

[dedmiston]

A few years ago we stayed at a little USFS campground called Buffalo Gap. It was the cheapest spot on our 11,000 mile trip and one of our favorites.

I think there were only three or four of us when we were there, but it was late Sept / early Oct so camping season was pretty much over.

This was a perfect launching spot for us to visit TRNP and drive part of the Custer trail.

We even stumbled on a gorgeous golf course at the end of our sightseeing just before sunset. My wife told me to stop so we could hit a bucket of balls, and the people there took such great care of us (we stink at golf). For $4 each for the balls, they also lent us all the clubs we needed, gave us each a bag of tees, and tossed us the keys to a cart since it was "such a long walk" down to the driving range. It was the best eight bucks I've spent in years.

On the down-side, make sure to do all your grocery shopping somewhere else, because there's not much commerce in the area. And don't pass up a fuel stop, because there's not much there. We had to drive 20 miles west (almost to Montana) to fuel up.

One of my other fond memories was my wife doing what seemed to me like a pretty dumb thing. The fall colors were just about spent and there were leaves all over the place. Our campsite was spacious enough that we could have fit three fifth wheels side by side and I guess the cover of leaves seemed messy to her, so she busted out the leaf blower and "cleaned" the site. I liked it better the way it was before, but I'm sure the wind put things back to normal after we left.

We loved it there.

LINKS:

* Buffalo Gap Camp Ground (USFS)

* Bully Pulpit Golf Course

* Far away fuel stop - there's gotta be something closer...

[Rocky2]

The south unit of TRNP at Medora has several commercial campgrounds which fit your needs. The north unit, about 65 miles away, not so much. The north unit is one of the least visited national parks and the park campground is considered primative but I liked it.

[kyhawk]

Way back in July 2010 we spent 5 nights in the Medora Campground and liked it a lot. It was about 20 minutes from the edge of the South unit of TRNP. The only problem we had with it was the train track that ran close by. The trains blew their whistle several times each night, so we ended up with earplugs to sleep soundly. We did drive 70 miles to the North unit for a one day tour there. It made for a long day, but it was an ok trip. We liked the South unit better, and spent most of our time there. The town was neat too, with lots of attractions.

[enblethen]

Roosevelt National Park have campgrounds on both north and south units.
Best place to look for information is NPS.