North Dakota camping! Must-do Theodore Roosevelt National Park camping! Cottonwood Campground 🦬 North Dakota travel blog

Hi there!

What might be considered an EPIC North Dakota camping experience?!

Camping with buffalo in North Dakota!!

It is possible that you might have the chance to see buffalo when you are camping in Theodore Roosevelt National Park… if you go camping at a certain campground!

There are 2 campgrounds in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

If you want a chance to see buffalo near the campground, then the Theodore Roosevelt National Park campground that you want to go camping at is the Cottonwood Campground.

Based on my experience anyway! And also an employee at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center gift shop of Theodore Roosevelt National Park said this campground is frequented by buffalo!

The Cottonwood Campground is the one that’s in the more convenient area of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is the South Unit, off of the South Unit Scenic Drive.

So the Cottonwood Campground is the South Unit campground.

This is the area of Theodore Roosevelt National Park that is pretty close to the interstate of I-94.

The other areas of Theodore Roosevelt National Park are the North Unit (there’s a national park campground) and Elkhorn Ranch Unit (there’s a Little Missouri national grassland campground nearby).

It might be possible to see buffalo in the North Unit campground, but I did not see any there when I stayed for 2 nights. (I did see plenty of buffalo throughout the rest of the North Unit along the North Unit Scenic Drive though!)

Buffalo at a Theodore Roosevelt National Park campground: Cottonwood Campground buffalo

I was camping at Cottonwood Campground for 2 nights.

I actually only saw buffalo on one of the days, on the day I arrived.

It was a warm buffalo welcome! 😆

On the first day, I arrived to Cottonwood Campground in the evening.

As I was setting up my tent around 7pm, there were buffalo walking by not too far away!

If you can’t see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park campground buffalo video above, you can watch it on youtube.

Later, the buffalo started walking in the grassy area not too far from my campsite.

If you can’t see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park campground buffalo video above, you can watch it on youtube.

As I was eating at the picnic table at my campsite, a number of buffalo walked right past my campsite… and even came onto my campsite as it walked past the grill! 

If you can’t see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park buffalo video above, you can watch it on youtube.

Buffalo are free to do what they want and go where they want, so there’s never any guarantee that you’ll see buffalo while camping in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

But as per that Theodore Roosevelt National Park gift shop worker, it seems like you do have a good chance, since buffalo seem to be frequent visitors to the South Unit campground!

🦬

Is it safe to go camping near buffalo in Theodore Roosevelt National Park?

The boring safety info!

Buffalo can be dangerous!

This Theodore Roosevelt National Park campground was one of 2 campgrounds I camped at in the Dakotas in which buffalo freely walked through the campground getting up close and personal to tents. (The other was Sage Creek Campground in Badlands National Park.)

And then there was another campground in which buffalo walked nearby. (That was Game Lodge Campground in Custer State Park when I was staying at the Game Lodge camping cabin.)

First, to be clear, do not underestimate buffalo!

They can seem like gentle giants as you watch them slowly move across the campground.

But they can turn aggressive really quickly if they feel threatened.

I even got it on video of one buffalo suddenly doing a light charge at another buffalo! Giving the buffalo a warning?! This video is below!

So basically, don’t do anything to make them feel threatened!

Or anything that will make the buffalo feel like they need to give you a warning!

That basically means stay away from them.

Don’t engage with them.

Just let them go by.

If you do that, then it’s an almost guarantee to camp safely with buffalo in Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you!

The general guideline that the National Park Service says is to “maintain a distance of 100 feet whenever possible” from the buffalo.

When you’re at the campground it’s possible that you may not adhere to this if the buffalo decides to walk by your campsite.

If this happens, just don’t do anything to provoke them and they will have no reason to stop to hurt you!

You may also hear buffalo being referred to as bison. They are the same thing.

It is also possible that you might see buffalo while hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park! Similarly, take care not to engage at all!

If you can’t see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park buffalo video above, you can watch it on youtube.

More for your trip to North Dakota

More ways to (maybe!) see wildlife in Theodore Roosevelt National Park:

• Ekblom Trail… maybe see buffalo?!
• Jones Creek Trail… maybe see buffalo, horses, and prairie dogs?!
• Badlands Spur Trail… maybe see horses?!
• Old East Entrance Trail… maybe see prairie dogs?!
• North Unit Scenic Drive… probably see buffalo!

More for planning your trip to North Dakota:

• Things to do in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
• South Unit
• North Unit
• Elkhorn Ranch Unit
• Best hikes in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

More wildlife and camping in the Dakotas:

• Camping with buffalo in Badlands National Park?!
• Camping near buffalo in Custer State Park?!
• Camping with prairie dogs in Badlands National Park?
• Where to see bighorn sheep in South Dakota
• Best campgrounds for a South Dakota road trip
• South Dakota state park camping cabins

HAPPY (MAYBE!) SEEING BUFFALO WHILE CAMPING IN THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK!