Deciding where to pitch your tent or park your RV in Theodore Roosevelt National Park is pretty straightforward if you're looking for a front-country campground: If you're in the South Unit, you head for Cottonwood Campground. In the North Unit, the Juniper Campground is your destination. If you plan to take your horse, there’s the Roundup Group Horse Camp in the South Unit.

Juniper Campground visitor, Theodore Roosevelt National Park / NPS file

If you're flexible, you just might find you prefer a spot at Juniper.

Here's why:

* Both campgrounds are along the Little Missouri River that created the wonderful and curious badlands around which the park rose up.

* Both offer plenty of shady sites thanks to the tall stands of cottonwood trees that are so common along the river bottom.

* Both campgrounds offer campfire programs with rangers.

* Both campgrounds can bring you face-to-face with bison.

* Both offer grills and picnic tables at each site.

* Both are first-come, first-served.

But....

* Only at the Cottonwood Campground will you hear road noise from Interstate 94 that runs along the park's south boundary.

Cottonwood Campground

Looking at the park maps, you might not think you'd hear the trucks and cars that travel the interstate 24/7. But as former Theodore Roosevelt Superintendent Valerie Naylor pointed out, those sounds can travel quickly up the Little Missouri River Valley when conditions are just right.

“You do hear the interstate noise in Cottonwood, and as a crow flies it's about 3 miles [4.8 km]," she said. "Really, it depends on the weather and the wind, but it travels long distances in the Little Missouri River Valley."

Aside from that, though, the 76-site Cottonwood Campground (12 are walk-in sites) is a solid basecamp for exploring the South Unit, and not just because it's the only campground in the unit.

Located near the southwestern corner of park's South Unit, the campground is a short drive from Medora and its restaurants, shops, and the park's Medora Visitor Center (where you'll find the cabin Theodore Roosevelt lived in during his time at the Maltese Cross Ranch). The South Unit's scenic loop drive also is just minutes away, as are many hiking trails (Paddock Creek Trail, Jones Creek Trail, Lone Tree Loop Trail, etc).

As I mentioned, there are nice stands of cottonwoods to provide shade throughout the day. And these trees attract birds, which in turn provide some nice background sound (despite the interstate noise). Sites 5 and 10 are ADA accessible.

You'll find four well-spaced restrooms with running water (cold) and flush toilets, (flush toilets work only during the main visitor season, though pit toilets are available year-round) and water spigots located in various spots about the campground.

Each site comes with its own picnic table and a spot or two to pitch a tent. (Somewhat curiously, when I stayed there one couple pitched their tent on the small area where you park your rig...) There's also a nice amphitheater for ranger talks.

There are no hookups for RVs, and no dump station, though there is a water-filling station in the campground. The nearest dump station is in Medora.

Fees are $14 per night during the main season, half that during the off-season. Plus, Senior Pass and Access Pass holders get a 50 percent discount.

During the winter, standard campsites are $7 per night, with Senior/Access passholders receiving a 50 percent discount.

Odd-numbered campsites are reservable up to 6 months in advance, May – September through recreation.gov. All campsites are first come, first served the rest of the year.

There’s a group site at Cottonwood Campground that will accommodate 7-20 people. This site is by reservation only at recreation.gov and costs $30 per night (no discounts).

Some Juniper sites are heavily vegetated. Kurt Repanshek photo.

Juniper Campground

This 50-site (9 tent only) campground is located roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) from the North Unit Visitor Center in a nice copse of cottonwoods. The Little Missouri meanders just west of the campground.

If you want river views, aim for a site between 28 and 44. Handicap sites are 1 and 3.

The many cottonwoods here seemed unusual to me in that many featured just one trunk, not a grouping of two or three, and they were nodding over like a lazy 'L." The sites are well-placed among the vegetation to offer the most privacy. Those that front the river are sandier than the others, and so might just offer better tent sites in terms of sleeping comfort. You'll find a path down to the river between sites 40 and 42.

RVers will find a dump station operating during the main visitation season, as well as a water-filling site, but no hookups.

There’s also a group site at this campground open May – September that will accommodate 7 – 60 people. This site is by reservation only at recreation.gov and costs $30 per night (no discounts).

From this basecamp you're directly across from the geologically intriguing "cannonball concretions" site. Within the campground you'll find a trailhead for the Achenbach Trail, as well as one for the Little Mo Trail, which ties into the Buckhorn Trail, an 11-mile (18 km) loop. With little work, you easily could piece together a backpacking trek beginning and ending at this campground.

Unfortunately, neither campground offers campfire rings; fires, if you want one, need to be built in the upright grills.

Also, an issue here as in many other national park campgrounds is that there are no tent pads. Such pads -- box-shaped platforms typically filled with sand and free of rocks, roots, and other debris that could be painful to sleep on -- would not only give tenters a better setting on which to pitch their domiciles, but also would be easier on the environment. Vegetation would be saved, as would the ground, which can get chewed up by campers digging out roots and rocks for comfort's sake.

Roundup Group Horse Camp

Open May 1 – October 31 (2024-2025) Roundup is the park's only camping facility in which horses are permitted. This private campsite is located 12 miles from Medora, ND in the park's South Unit. It is reserved by one group at a time through recreation.gov; space is not be shared among different parties. This site can accommodate up to 20 people and 20 horses, or 30 people without horses for $30 per night, with a maximum stay of 5 nights. Note: the NPS website page for this horse camp indicates the campground is closed, but recreation.gov reports it is open.

For more detailed information about each campsite and for site maps, click on each campground name above.

A site at Cottonwood Campground, Theodore Roosevelt National Park / NPS - Jeff Van Hooser