Hiking the Maah Daah Hey Trail in North Dakota
The Maah Daah Hey Trail is a 144 mile non motorized footpath in the badlands and grasslands of Western North Dakota. It’s open to hikers, equestrian use, and mountain biking (for which the trail is becoming world renowned.) The name of the trail comes from the Mandan Indians and translates to land has been here or will be here for a long time. Every mile marker and sign outpost has a turtle as its symbol, via the Lakota Sioux, for perseverance, patience, and being persistent. The trail is also known to be a place to reconnect with your ancestors.
If you are interested in learning more about the maah daah hey trail and my 9 days hiking a total of 144 miles on the trail then read on!
The Maah Daah Hey Trail is a National Recreation Trail. (Not a National Scenic Trail like the famous AT or PCT but very similar in makeup.) What lured me to the Maah Daah Hey was the proximity of being a day’s drive from the trail while being in NW Iowa, the mileage was a nice number for two weekends and a week (for me), it’s well marked, has campgrounds/resupply town(s), and of course the name, symbol, and idea that it’s a trail to reconnect with ancestors. I hiked 144 total miles, doing a combination of out and backs, drops, must do sections, and really the most accessible points to park a car!
Let’s cut to the chase. The Maah Daah Hey Trail whacked me in the behind :). It was colder and windier than I thought, it was hotter than I thought, I tweaked my left foot and had to hike in sneakers the final three days, walked above a ridge and right into a buffalo walking down the trail, and so on and so on!
But guess what? I also LOVED the Maah Daah Hey Trail. You don’t try to hike 144 miles in 9 days and think it’s going to be like going for a stroll in your neighborhood. The trail was tough and challenged me in ways I hadn’t expected. In the end I did finish what I had set out to do, barely though. The final day had piercing winds and a high of 34 (this was early October) and every step pushed me in a way that reminded me of those final miles in a road marathon race.
I also truly enjoyed exploring a state I really hadn’t spent much time in. I had been to a Fargo for a day once and also two days in Medora North Dakota visiting Roosevelt National Park. But that had been it. I hiked the North Country Trail in the Sheyenne Grasslands, the Maah Daah Hey, slept in three different North Dakota towns, camped when it was not in the 20s overnight, and even stayed on a guest ranch that had a salad bar!
Things to know about Hiking the Maah Daah Hey Trail:
The guidebook is a great resource as is their website, run by the MDHT Association. The current president Curt was super friendly and helpful via email and sent me a hand written thank you note when ordering!
The campgrounds are spaced appropriately for a thru-hike, though I just did 144 total miles. Burning Coal Vein is the Southern Terminus and the CCC Campground is the Northern Terminus. In between there are several trailheads and campgrounds reasonably priced with pit toilets.
Water caches are vital and important for a thru-hike and there are several water boxes to cache. This is an almost mandatory item to do if you want to do a thru-hike and probably also necessary for a MTB thru-ride. Staging cars is also a way to have extra water if you’re doing this with others.
To thru-hike/ride you would need to make two fords of the Little Missouri River and I also had several instances of knee deep muddy crossings. I didn’t do the major fords since the temperatures were freezing and I was going out and back.
GUMBO is a THING and I was lucky. Make sure your footwear is appropriate for your adventures and you avoid the trail after a big rain! Especially for mountain bikers and horseback riders. I was able to maneuver on foot some spots that I have no idea how you could have done so with a bike! Gumbo is the messy and slippery mud that happens on the trails surface after a rain.
Mountain bikers are not allowed to ride their bikes through Roosevelt National Park. BUT the MDHTA has created an alternative route called the Buffalo Gap Trail. I hiked some of this trail as well and it’s a great alternative option!
Be prepared for wildlife. In the National Park you will likely meet up with a buffalo (I walked over ridges four different times to see one walking up the trail towards me.) You might also encounter wild horses in the National Park. You will DEFINITELY encounter cows and they can be problematic if you aren’t aware of how to respect them (the trail crosses a ton of ranch lands.) Rattlesnakes are also a common occurrence (I saw two on the trail even in cold temperatures but being a desert dweller I am used to my snake protocol. Here’s some more info on wildlife viewing in the National Park and a video on cows below!
#RuddsontheRoad Maah Daah Hey Trail Faves!
Eat:
Boots, Little Missouri Saloon, Buffalo Gap Ranch, Stonehome Brewing Company, and Little Missouri Grille
Sections of the Maah Daah Hey Trail:
Magpie Campground SOBO, Sully Creek State Park SOBO, Burning Coal Vein NOBO, and Roosevelt National Park NOBO.
Stay:
Rough Riders Inn and Cottonwood Campground
What else?
The C-Store in Medora has most everything you need for a resupply. Same with spots in Watford City or Dickinson North Dakota. The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame was fun to walk through and is really much more than that. If heading to North Dakota from a long distance the North Country Trail (the longest scenic trail in the US) has some really fun sections to hike on the Eastern side of the state that I did as a two day warm up!
The Maah Daah Hey Trail was a fun adventure that I’ll never forget! It’s not quite the AT or PCT in terms of “thru-hike” vibes if you’re looking for that. But what you will find is a dedicated group of individuals and communities that have done a fantastic job of creating an accessible and TOUGH trail through a part of the US I had never explored in-depth.
The trail meaning, turtle symbol, and roaming buffalo will forever be in my memories and I’m thankful for the chance to have walked these miles with my ancestors watching over me. The fact that I was able to finish in sneakers with a swollen foot reminds me that the Maah Daah Hey legends are true!
If you find yourself looking for a quiet and beautiful adventure that’s not on every hikers bucket list then consider giving the Maah Daah Hey Trail a journey. I imagine you won’t be disappointed.
Comment if you have any questions that I can help you with in planning your adventure on the Maah Daah Hey!
Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike R