Sunday September 21st, 2025 - Fall trip to oregon - Day 10, Driving from Williston ND to Hill City SD, hiking at Theodore Roosevelt NP North Unit on the Caprock Coulee Loop - 4.9 miles, 500 feet elevation gain

We were up very late last night and we had to do laundry at the hotel before we could head out so it was about 80 degrees when we arrived at the trailhead after driving south about 60 miles on US-85.  The sun was very intense and I couldn't find my sunscreen this morning so I used a hand towel from our hiking backpack as a cover for my ears and neck as best as I could.  We bought a big jug of water but should have had a third 'spare' water to supplement our ever present 27 ounce metal bottles.  We had to be very judicious with our water consumption throughout this hike.  Low humidity and a cooling breeze made the temperature and intense sun more comfortable but it was still a little rough for me for the first 2 miles.

We chose to start the trail by crossing the scenic road immediately and doing the loop in that direction.  The trail worked its way up into a few of the many buttes found along the 16 mile scenic road that goes through the North Unit of the park. There was a lot of climbing up dried dirt or dried muddy slopes, many of which have debarked tree branches used as steps and maybe to reduce erosion.  Some parts of the trail required a bit of choose your own adventure path finding to get around certain areas.  

Once we finished almost all the elevation gains it was a much more easy going trail for a while along the top or a ridge along the buttes.  Later the trail crossed the main park road and weaved its way through narrower and shadier areas as it gradually lost the altitude it had gained and eventually returned us to the parking lot where we started out. 

 

 

After the hike we headed back out to US-85 and continued for many miles south, passing the South Unit of the park.  That South Unit has a 36 mile (!) scenic loop drive just in that one unit.  A third unit of Theodore Roosevelt NP is more remote and has no paved roads.  This third unit is the site of the building that once formed part of the President's old ranch property.  Someday I hope to come back (in the late fall for milder temperatures?) and visit more of this impressive park.

I was pretty drowsy after the intense sun and exercise from the hike and Brian was nodding off in the passenger seat.  Thankfully, a surprisingly tasty lunch from a relatively new 'Burger Junction' in Belfirled North Dakota woke us both back up and while it wasn't captivating driving, the rest of the drive on US-85 and later SD-79 to Sturgis didn't put us to sleep.  From Sturgis to our hotel was on I-90, I-190 and US-14, none of which were as hypnotizing as the desolate and arrow straight highways we had been on to the north of I-90.

Our hotel for the next 3 nights seems good.  It has an indoor and outdoor pool, a park like setting and a large gift shop etc.  It's nice to have a home base for a few days instead of living out of a train car or our suitcases.