Bikepacking the Maah Daah Hey Trail

I’m drawn to wide open and extreme landscapes. The Maah Daah Hey trail is 150+ miles of single track through the Badlands of North Dakota. To say its an extreme landscape is a understatement. This trail has been on my wish list to ride for a decade at least.

It didn’t take much arm twisting to get Rob to commit to the trip so we began making plans. We arranged a shuttle with Jen from Dakota Cyclery in Medora. https://www.dakotacyclery.com/ Jen was very helpful in ironing out the details and setting up a plan. We made the drive up from Tennessee and arrived in time for beautiful fall weather to roll in.

We shared the shuttle from Medora up to CCC campground with two other riders who were planning on bike packing a portion of the route. Once at CCC we packed up the bikes and headed out on the trail a little before noon. We knew we had a short weather window to ride as a storm was supposed to hit the badlands around 4 in the afternoon. The bentonite clay isn’t ridable once wet so we wanted to be in camp and set up before the storm hit.

We began riding through the badlands on the outskirts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The trail alternated from badlands formations to climbing up and rolling across sections of rolling prairie. The Maah Daah Hey isn’t technical riding at all, but the scenery kept me engaged the whole ride.

We cruised in and out of drainages, up and over buttes, across prairie land and back down into badland canyons. We had been told that the northern part of the trail was the the toughest and that assessment rang true. The gradients on the original MDHT aren’t as friendly to climb, especially on a loaded bike. Overall though the trail flowed fantastically. As we would go farther south the gradients would improve, especially on the last 50 miles known as “The Deuce”. My only complaint with the trail was all the gates. This would be a hassle for the whole trip. Instead of roll over cattle guards used all over the west, there were heavy gates that have to be lifted over head to pass through. And they seemed to always be right in the middle of a flowy down hill… but overall it was a small nuisance.

We stopped at the Beicegiel Creek water catch and filled our bottles. The Maah Daah Hey 150 race had just happened so there were jugs of water left over from the race. Even with the cooler weather that had moved in, it had still been a warm day and we had used more water than anticipated. We made camp and settled down to wait for the rain. The evening was beautiful and even though we could hear thunder in the distance the rain held off until around 7:30. As the first rain drops began to fall we crawled in the tent and fell asleep.

We were up early the next morning but took our time to let the trail dry out from the nights rain. It hadn’t seemed to rain a lot and the trail close to camp seemed rideable so we packed up and headed out. A little ways out of camp we passed the last MDH150 racer that we would see on the trip. He told us it was nasty down in the bottom of the badlands we were about to drop into. After descending down into the bottom we found he was right. Our tires caked up immediately and the wheels on my bike wouldn’t even turn. I scraped my tires clean with a stick and began to carry my bike out of the low lying areas. For the next few hours we would battle the mud until the sun came up enough to dry everything out good. I can only imagine what it would be like if it had rained or snowed a lot. One would be stuck for sure riding and maybe even hiking would be out of the question.

We cruised throughout the morning. As the trail dried the riding became fast and fun. We stopped in at Magpie campground to eat lunch and fill up on water at the well. The handpump was a little finicky but the alternative was filtering silty filter clogging water from the Little Missouri River.

After lunch the riding continued to be so good. Fun, fast trail, great vistas and even a angry Prairie Rattler. After an especially good descent we peeled off our shoes and sock and waded across the Little Missouri.

The climb out of the river valley was steep with some hike a bike but the views were killer. As we made the climb we could see storm clouds on the horizon and see the lightning. Not sure what was coming we dug deep and tried to make some mileage.

At one point the trail passes above a beautiful valley where in his younger years Theodore Roosevelt had a small ranch. I would have loved to stop and check out the ranch but the storm was closing in and I didn’t want to get caught.

I caught up with Rob and we stopped in at Elkhorn Campground to fill up with water at another finicky water pump. We climbed and descended a few more passes and then the rain hit. Within a mile the light rain turned the hardpack trail into peanut butter. We found a flat spot on the edge of a small gorge and setup camp. And of course, it stopped raining. As sky turned blue, we settled in to relax. The ridding had been surprisingly tough but also fantastic. We both agreed it had been a awesome day and as the sun began to set we were treated to a gorgeous sky.

The sky was bright and sunny on the morning of day 3, and climbing out of camp it began to warm up quickly. We climbed out of the badlands and spent the morning riding prairie. That’s not to say it was flat, we rode up draws around buttes and back down other draws. The prairie can be deceptive, from above the land can look flat or slightly rolling, but once in it you realize you could hide a army in its valleys and gulches.

We stopped to eat lunch and refill our water at Wannagan Campground. The sun and the heat had sapped me and I had been struggling all morning so loading up on salt loaded soup brought me back to life. As we headed towards Medora the wind began to pick up. It was a head wind of course and the bags on the bikes began to act like a sail on a sailboat making even the downhills hard work.

We finally hit the Buffalo Gap section of the Maah Daah Hey. The grades became a little more gradual and the trail a little more flowy. About 10 miles from Medora we stopped at the Buffalo Gap guest ranch in hopes of grabbing a burger. Unfortunately the cook had left so we settled for a soda and a frozen pizza. You cant win them all.

We rolled into Medora later that evening and stopped by the car to grab a little more food for the following day. Once packed up we stopped by the Little Missouri Saloon for that burger that we had missed out on earlier in the day. Once loaded up and with full bellies we headed out toward Sully Creek State park to jump back on the Maah Daah Hey and find a campsite.

The following morning was clear and cold. I devoured the leftover pizza for breakfast and we rolled out. We rode a ridge above the Little Missouri River before turning south on “The Deuce” section of the MDHT. It was just over 50 miles to the end at Burning Coal Vein Campground and I was confident we would make it that day. Everything I had heard about the deuce was that it was easier riding than the first 100 miles.

The riding was fantastic and we made good time, climbing up along the prairie rim of the badlands, then dropping down into them. Most of the morning Rob and I rode at our own pace, regrouping every 5-10 miles. The sun was out and it was warm like the previous day. I could feel energy levels dropping in spite of my constant eating and drinking so I knew my sodium levels had dropped. We found a nice shaded hollow and I fixed another batch of chicken noodle soup. As it had the previous day, the sodium packed broth did the trick and I was feeling good in no time.

As we rode along I was constantly amazed by the lack of people we had seen so far. On the entire 50 miles of the deuce we only saw 3 other riders and no hikers or equestrians. The solitude on this trail is special, there’s not to many places you can go this far and see so few people.

As evening approached we made the final climb above Burning Coal Vein, we stopped at the top and savored it. The view over the badlands hadn’t gotten old no matter how many times we were seeing it. We descended down to the campground as the pink hues spread across the sky. This would be our last night out before we drove down to the Black Hills in South Dakota to do some riding down there. The following morning we packed up and began riding back toward Medora on gravel roads.

Aside from the lack of people I think the biggest surprise was how good of shape the trail was in overall. The trail is open to hikers, mountain bikes and equestrians but Im not sure of how many long distance hikers or horse riders are using it. The logistics around water are probably the main deterrent. It being the west most of the land is leased out for grazing to ranchers and the cattle are hard on the trail in places. And then there is the prairie, without use and maintenance the trail would disappear. It almost did until a group of volunteers brought it back to life. A big shoutout to Nick Ybarra and Save The Maah Daah Hey for all their work. They literally mow the entire trail every year to to keep the prairie from reclaiming it. If you plan on doing the trail send a donation their way to help with the cost of maintenance. https://www.experienceland.org/

Thanks for reading!