Sully Creek State Park

Out of the 7 campgrounds we stayed at on our trip, this was the best, beautiful, very cheap, and the site says its primitive, but there was access to water, electric, and a dump site. You have to pay for showers, but the showers were very large and clean. There is horse camping on the back side, but we did a pull through, spaced great, beautiful view, loved this park.

This state park is located within the valleys of the badlands and has some of the best horse riding trails in the state. Camping, hiking, and biking are also popular here and it is simply gorgeous to look at.

We pulled into TRNP without reservations and found the Cottonwood Campground full, with several RVs playing musical chairs in the hope that a first-come, first-served site would open up. We left and quickly found Sully Creek State Park just a few minutes down the road. Sully Creek caters to horseback riders and mountain bikers who are riding the park’s many trails, and it also serves as the trailhead for the famous 96-mile Maah Daah Hey trail that crosses Teddy Roosevelt National Park and ends in northern North Dakota. The north end of the campground (Little Muddy Breaks Campground) is for horses and their owners, and the corrals were full. South of the horse area there are about 20 spots for tent and RV camping, and this area was almost empty. You can choose a shaded site in the Cedar Campground (we did, as it was quite warm), or an open site in the Whitetail Flats Campground. Rigs longer than 40’ or taller than 10’ should opt for the Whitetail Flats area. All sites are primitive.

Sully Creek offers beautiful scenery, easy access to Medora and Teddy Roosevelt, and miles of dog-friendly hiking trails. As TRNP is not dog-friendly, we visited the national park, and then gave our Lab all the exercise she wanted at our state park home base. Hiking trails follow the Little Missouri River, and some particularly scenic hikes go up into the hills at the south end of the campground. The mix of equestrians and RVers made camping here a unique experience, and we would pick this campground for a return visit.

It was early in the season (Mid-May 2016) and I was the only camper in the campground most of the time. A few tent campers on the weekend, otherwise the campground was mine. So very peaceful and great for having a dog since there is not much for them to do at the Theodore Roosevelt NP. I stayed in the main campground loop that is basically a big grass field ( site #9), which all of these sites will have excellent solar because there are no trees. The Cedars Loop area is very nice but I didn't know how long I was going to stay and there was snow forecasted for the area, so I just took the easy way. The Cedars Loop can be doable for many trailers but I would advised to park your trailer and just walk the loop initially as there are a few sharp turns and low hanging trees. Some of the sites will be better accessed by going left from the gate into Cedars Loop versus right. Most of the Cedar Loop sites will see shade at some point during the day, but there are still many sites that solar will be okay. Also there is a 14' limit to enter the park which will probably not be a problem for most campers. As far as cellular service, my site (#9) was closer to the canyon walls and thus did not get great service (3G most times and very slow). However, it seemed that further away from this site, the service was better.

The perk for this park is updated, private showers which cost $1.00 for 8 minutes which gives most people adequate time. Water faucets around the campground area and a dump station here. However, without a state park pass, there is a daily entrance fee.

Sully Creek State Park is a nice lazy getaway near Medora North Dakota. We are not big on the "RV Park" camping experience. So when we visit Medora we never choose either of the two RV parks that are right in the city. Previously we exclusively camped at the Cottonwood Campground in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We tried Sully Creek for the first time and all I can say is I'm impressed.

The site quality and amenities are better than those we have experience in the National Park and yet you are still only 3 miles from Medora. Cell coverage was good and for the most part usable. The park is well kept and clean. We especially liked the dollar a shower, shower-house and the availability of an onsite dump station was also a plus.

The campground is divided up into three distinct areas. One is for equestrian campers only and the other two are traditional primitive camping spots. The Cedar campground is much more protected but does have a 40' length and 10' heigh maximum to enter. The Whitetail Flats campground is wide open and offers excellent views of the Little Missouri River Valley. Our site in the Cedar campground was VERY spacious and well maintained. Access is given 4 stars only for the limited access to the Cedar campground and there is about 1/2 mile of gravel road to get into the park.

The city of Medora is 3 miles away, Bully Pulpit golf course is about 2 miles away and the trailhead for the Maah Daah Hey Trail is right at the entrance to Sully Creek State Park.

Overall I was very impressed with the sites and the experience at Sully Creek State Park! The campground was very quiet and peaceful with more open space then you get at Cottonwood Campground in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Showers and a dump station really helped elevate it to my new favorite campground in the Medora, North Dakota area.

Camped here years ago, in the '90's. A wonderful bare-bones place to enjoy living a part of the old west history just south of the town of Medora. It is especially fun when the horse people are here, that is if you like horses and the smell of horses. The camp is friendly, the rangers helpful and you are just a few miles from an bivouac campsite for George Custer's 7th Cav. on their march towards what would end up the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It was an off-road trail drive unmarked until you reach the site, The rangers can probably help you find it.

We were greeted by coyotes the first time we drove in. Nobody else was there. By the weekend we share space with dozens of horses and cowboys there for a trail ride. A great experience.

Spacious site with sun for our solar panels. Hardly anyone there. Great boondocking spot.

Very quiet campground catering to horses but camping sites also available. Excellent steel panel fencing for most sites with cleanup tools. It had rained for a couple of days before we stayed so the access road was very muddy but the campground was well gravelled. $1 showers for 8 minutes. Plenty of time to get clean and very nice hot water. Close access to the national park where we seen buffalo and deer. Park officer was very helpful.

After traveling a mildly bumpy dirt road, check-in was a breeze, as soon as we figured out where to do that. The host was super nice and helpful. We got a little lost trying to find our site but it provided a nice tour of the whole campground including the horse corrals in the Little Muddy Breaks loop. Once we found our site we had to kick some day-use people out of it but they kindly moseyed. We had a pull through site in the Cedar loop. The sites in this loop are super private and of good size. You have to drive around the Whitetail Flats area which is basically a wide open area, great for large groups. Our site was right on Sully Creek which is a small creek but provides lots of vegetation and wildlife including whitetails right in our site in the morning. The site also provides a great view of some North Dakota Badlands. I really enjoyed listening to the horses in the corrals nearby and thought the donkey we could hear was absolutely hilarious. It was as if he knew the quiet hours. We used this as our base camp in the middle of August to explore the National Park and I'm so glad we did. I would have loved to stay longer.

Our huge, incredibly private site was just minutes from Teddy Roosevelt National Park, but unlike the NP campground this park has showers and a dump station! The park has three campgrounds: Little Muddy Breaks (must have horses to camp here), Cedar (shaded and private), and Whitetail (large, open, grassy area). We stayed in Cedar and loved the VERY private sites, which had tons of trees in between but still enough open sky to generate plenty of solar power. However, bigger rigs MUST pay attention to the length and height limits posted at the entrance to this area. We watched a 5th wheel rip its A/C off the roof passing under a low branch. The turns in the Cedar area are also very narrow with trees close to the loop. The Whitetail loop is basically an open grassy field, with sites designated by the gravel parking spots and the picnic tables, so this is the place for large rigs. The open field has great badlands views and incredible dark skies at night, but obviously no privacy between sites. There is a trailhead for the Maah Daah Hey Trail right in the park, and Medora (and Teddy Roosevelt NP) is 5 minutes away. The bathhouse was immaculate, with showers priced at $1 for 8 minutes -- which was plenty, with nice hot water. For the overall price of the campground, we thought it was a great deal especially compared to the Cottonwood CG inside the national park. The only downside is that we had no service on AT&T, even with a booster. It's possible that we might have been able to get a boosted signal from the Whitetail CG area, which is a little further away from the canyon wall.