caprock-coulee trail

This hike goes through all the topography of TRNP Northern unit. Woods, the Coulee, grasslands and mountains. It's @4.3 miles long and worth every step!

The entire four mile hike is amazingly diverse. We started through the nature trail which wanders through a coulee, overgrown but easy to follow. You then hike up a shady north slope of one of the ridges, where you come out on a ridge line with great views of the badlands. Then back across the grasslands to the Oxbow Overlook and the CCC "shelter" that overlooks the Little Missouri. Then back down another ridge line back toward the trail head where you get to hike over some of the more interesting rocky features of the badlands. Saw lots of tracks, but no wildlife. Long stretches of this trail are pretty easy hiking, but there are a couple stretches where the climbing makes it much more moderate difficulty. We covered it in just short of three hours. Through the grasslands and coulee, the trail is a bit overgrown--you might want to wear long pants on this hike.

Son and I have hiked many of the trails in TRNP and this is a good one. Gets you right into the badlands and short-grass prairie. You might even come up on a bison.

The hike takes about two hours, in a huge loop from the parking area. Tip: if you want to focus on the river views, cross the road from the parking area and hike the south side of the road to the Oxbow Overlook, and then back. The entire loop starting from the north side takes about the same time, but goes through the dry badlands.

The nature trail was nice but, restricted to the coulee, didn't have great views. The longer trail climbed through a forest to the caprock and opened up more vistas of the park. Could see bison on a distant ridge and numerous tracks of deer and other animals. After it crosses the road it gives a great view of the river and you can scramble on some rocks. On a September weekday morning, I had it all to myself.

This trail is located in the North Unit. It was a fairly steep trail but the views along the way and especially at the summit made it well worth the effort.