This was the last ride of my 2019 visit to the North Dakota Badlands to update my trail guide to the area. The major change between the two guidebook editions would be the addition of 46 miles of new trail from the former southern end of the Maah Daah Hey Trail at Sully Creek State Park to the new terminus at the Little Missouri National Grassland Burning Coal Vein Campground. This ride would both complete the necessary field work for the second edition of the book, and allow me to finish the entire Maah Daah Hey rail, again.
With Jean, I
had hiked the original 97-mile long Maah Daah Hey Trail primarily in two
backpacking trips in 2001 and 2004, not long after the trail was complete. Our
2001 four-day trip from the Little Missouri River Crossing to north end at the CCC
Campground was marked by a bewildering shuttle trip through a maze of gravel
roads until we magically stumbled upon the trail, and by near desperate searches
for water where several times we ended up getting water from stock tanks. By
2004, on our three day trip from the Little Mo south to Wanagan Campground, the
construction of Elkhorn and Wanagan campgrounds added new water sources, and we
were also able cache water during the shuttle trip. The forest service and Maah
Daah Hey Trail Association have since addressed water availability by
installing water pumps at all the campgrounds along the trail, and by
installing water boxes to allow users to easily cache their own water.
Even in the
early 2000s the plans for a Maah Daah Hey extension to the south were in place,
so we knew that our “completion” of the MDH was only temporary. The southern extension
was first dubbed the MDH II or the Deuce, but the forest service now prefers to
call it the southern section of the Maah Daah Hey Trail.
Jean and I had mountain
biked some of the new section in 2011, and had hiked other parts earlier in our
2019 trip. The previous day I had ridden the trail south to Toms Wash, now it
was time to complete the final section. Without Jean to help shuttle, I decided
to try combining the long C-shaped section of trail with the gravel forest
service road that connected the two trailheads to form a combined single track
and gravel loop.
One advantage
of the southern MDH is easy access. The trailheads are mostly along Forest
Highway 3, a well maintained gravel road that starts just south of Medora. I
had a quick, easy drive from Trapper’s Kettle in Bellfield down to empty Tom
Wash Trailhead, despite a few sprinkles that weren’t enough to keep the dust
down. My plan was to leave the car at Toms Wash, ride the road to the start of
the trail at Burning Coal Vein CG, and then ride the MDH back to Toms Wash.
The gravel
riding was nice and straight forward. I passed only two maintained side roads,
one leading east to the Third Creek TH, before turning off to the Burning Coal
Vein CG. Gravel grinding on mountain bikes over the maintained roads in the
Badlands has been becoming more popular, and while speeding down FH3 I could
feel the allure of fast, smooth cruising through this scenic terrain. I reached
the start of the MDH after an easy 7.3 miles of riding, much better than having
to set up a shuttle.
Before starting
up the MDH, I had one more guidebook related chore, finding the start of the
Burning Coal Vein Trail. Unfortunately, all I found was an unmarked parking
area and a short trail leading to the backside of a small butte, the end
obscured by a network of cattle paths. I rode back through the campground and saw
one party of bike riders waiting for their shuttle. They had encountered some
cattle pockmarked trail riding north of Medora, but otherwise were having a
great time. While I was there, Jen from Dakota Cyclery pulled in to pick up
their gear. She even remembered me from the shuttles she ran for Jean and I
previously; I guess they don’t get too many backpackers.
Back at the
start of the Maah Daah Hey, I was surprised by the lack of fanfare for the
start of the trail. There are several nice signs and displays at the north end
of the trail, and I was expecting something similar for the start. Oh well,
start modest and deliver big time.
The Start of the Maah Daah Hey Trail
After a quick
quarter of a mile I was out of the campground and into the backcountry. The
trail was extremely well constructed and very scenic. When the original Maah
Daah Hey was built, the target users were hikers and horse riders, so it was a
bit of a surprise when so many mountain bikers began using the trail. The
construction of the new southern section allowed the trail builders to adapt their
trail construction to mountain biking. The new trail has great flow, the dips
and turns that can make riding so much fun. Many thanks, again to Curt, Russ,
and all the crew on the grasslands.
One down 143 to go!
This day I
would have the trail all to myself. This area of badlands isn’t as rugged as
the landscape around Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but the trail builders
took care to visit the buttes, ravines, and narrow ridgelines where the best
scenery lies. There were a few areas with cow tracks, but nothing too long or
too degraded. Though the southern section is open to horse riding, I saw little
damage from horses, and almost no evidence of their use. Mostly the trail was wide,
obvious to follow, and looked like it had been newly surfaced with fine gravel.
I was lucky again with the weather, after one short spell of drizzle the skies
cleared for the day. With gentle terrain and no long climbs the riding was
smooth and easy.
Third Creek Trailhead
After ticking
off my progress on the handy mileposts I reached the Third Creek Trailhead
seven miles in. The site featured a comfy bench and lone cottonwood for shade,
but not much else. Approaching Hanleys Wash around nine miles, the trail passes
a grove of shady trees and a small reed-filled pond. The bridge over Hanleys
Wash was one of the last major construction projects along the trail. I had to
push the bike a short way coming out of the draw, so much for any improvement
in fitness after two weeks of nonstop hiking and biking! Climbing to Hanley
Plateau I saw the first petrified wood of the day, some buried stumps along a
switchback.
The trail along the plateau was the blazing fast grasslands riding with seemingly endless vistas.
Trail across the grasslands.
Not too far
beyond was a section of classic badlands riding, perfect single track carved
into the soft bedrock and gumbo of the badlands. There was one more shady
section in the junipers, then the long gradual descent to Toms Wash.
Trail across the badlands
My loop ended
up as about 16 miles of single track on the MDH and about 9 miles on gravel,
including my quest to find the Burning Coal Vein Trail. Most importantly, I had
finished the Maah Daah Hey Trail, again. This time instead of primarily
backpacking the trail, most of the new, southern section was covered by
mountain bike.
Right now it looks like any plans to extend the trail are unfortunately far off. There are plans to upgrade sections of the trail and perhaps to add other connectors, but it does not appear that connections south to White Butte or north to Watford City are close at hand. Use of the Maah Daah Hey Trail continues to grow and the MDHTA and other groups are working closely with the forest service on maintaining the trail.
To help support the Maah Daah Hey join the Maah Daah Hay Trail Association at: mdhta.com.
To help support the trail and
learn about mountain biking and running race opportunities on the trail visit: https://www.experienceland.org
For detailed
information on the Maah Daah Hey look for my revised guidebook due in 2021 from
Bower House Books at; bowerhousebooks.com/shop/trails-of-the-north-dakota-badlands-prairies
