In 2004 Jean
and I headed out to the Dakotas for our summer vacation. Our goal was to
complete the field work that we would need to finish a new third edition of my
trail guide to the Black Hills and Badlands. The key trails we needed to scout
were the south end of the Maah Daah Hey Trail and the new Buffalo Gap Trail in
the Little Missouri National Grassland of North Dakota. 
Buffalo Gap Trail Symbol
The Maah Daah Hey
Trail was initially envisioned by horse riders to connect the north and south
units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The trail was built with hikers and
horse riders in mind, but it was mountain bikers, lured by miles of remote
single track, that soon became the dominant users. But unfortunately for
mountain bikers, the trail sections in both units of TRNP passed through
designated wilderness areas, where the use of mechanical vehicles is
prohibited. The master trail builders of the Little Missouri National Grassland
quickly realized that a bypass trail around the TRNP South Unit wilderness area
was needed. They then built Buffalo Gap Trail from Sully Creek State Park, just
south of TRNP, to the USFS Wannagan Campground, just north of the South Unit.
Once we arrived
in the Badlands, Jean and I were able to complete the 35 mile section of the
MDH between the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the crossing
of the Little Missouri River as a three day backpacking trip. This finished the
MDH Trail for us! Just as we were arriving at Wannagan Campground, a lone
mountain biker was starting his ride. After three days of our hauling heavy
packs, we watched a rider who looked like he’d been born on a bike smoothly
zipping down the trail. I knew I couldn’t ride that well myself, but was
looking forward to the freedom and speed of rolling down the trail without a
heavy pack.
We’d packed
along my mountain bike (filling our Subaru to the brim with both biking and
backpacking gear) so that I could ride the Buffalo Gap Trail while Jean took a
rest day after our backpacking trip was complete. Completed in 2002, the Buffalo
Gap Trail was the first of the other USFS trails to be added to the Maah Daah
Hey trail system.
The next day,
Jean dropped me of at the Wannagan Campground for the start of the ride. The
plan was for me to ride the Buffalo Gap Trail, and its associated spurs, then
ride back to Medora to meet her at our hotel. Back then the trailhead was
located in the Wannagan Campground, so my ride started with a short jaunt on
the Wannagan Trail. The previous day Jean and I had hiked south on the Maah
Daah Hey Trail to the junction with the TRNP Petrified Forest Trail, so the
start of the ride was familiar ground for me.
In 2004 the
mileposts for the Maah Daah Hey were already in place, and I noticed right away
that my bike odometer was reading just a bit higher than the posts were
showing. The first potential obstacle on the trail was Wannagan Creek, but I
was able to ride across the shallow bed with no trouble. While the start of the
trail was a bit damp, by Wannagan Creek the trail tread was dry, and stayed
that way for the rest of the ride. In 3.5 miles I came to the junction of the
Maah Daah Hey and the Buffalo Gap trails by a large stock pond just outside the
TRNP boundary fence.
The north end of the Buffalo Gap Trail
The Buffalo Gap
Trail was marked by the same large, hopefully bison-proof, wooden posts used by
the MDH, but is branded with the symbol of a bison head. There were no mileage
markers in place in 2004, but the trail now starts at MP 19 and counts down going
south, the direction I was riding. The trail started around some small creeks.
I crossed one small tributary, just wide enough to coat half my tire with water,
then a fine layer of clay. But the trail was in great shape, a well-defined
tread and without the gumbo or pockmarks often left by cattle in the wet soil.
South of MP 17, and past a small prairie dog town, the trail rose to a small
ridgeline with a fun rolling, twisty section with good views. Two small draws
and a pair of stock ponds later I finally came across the first road since I’d
left Wannagan. FS Road 730 is just south of MP 12 and marks the point where the
trail turns from west to south.
There was
another small prairie dog town in the grassland about a mile south of FS 730. I
usually like to stop and watch the dogs frolic, but I wasn’t at all sure how
long the ride would take, and since Jean was waiting back in town, I didn’t
want to be any later than necessary. Just short of MP 9 was the signed crossing
of Knutson Creek. I had no trouble crossing here with only a small flow in the
creek. But in other conditions Knutson can be a tough crossing. While
backpacking in TRNP a few years before, Jean and I had been in the process of
crossing the muddy bottomed creek when a pair of bison arrived to shoo us out
of the way as we stumbled through the gumbo. In more recent times the Maah Daah
Hey Trail Association has improved the Buffalo Gap Trail crossing. Some areas
north of the campground were pockmarked from cattle using the trail when it was
wet, but all the riding was still plenty fun.
The trail would
cross one more gravel road before reaching the intersection with the Buffalo
Gap Spur Trail just north of MP 8. The spur trail leads 1.3 miles west to the
Buffalo Gap Campground on FS Road 726, just off I-94 at Exit 18. In 2004, the
spur was brand new, and the as yet unpacked surface made for some rough riding.
The relatively civilized location for the campground near Interstate 94 allows
it to have features unavailable deep in the backcountry including water and a
gazebo. The FS has since added the 1.3 mile Buffalo Gap Loop Trail to the
network around the campground. I rode into the campground and then back to the
main Buffalo Gap Trail, including part of FS 726 on the return. I saw my only
other biker of the day near the junction. Buffalo Gap CG makes a convenient starting
point for a shorter shuttle ride back to Medora, and this section now may be
one of the most popular in the system.
Back on the Buffalo
Gap Trail I rode past a guest ranch on the left. At MP 7 the trail swoops into
a small draw below a stock pond. The underpass below I-94 is a giant culvert,
long, cool, and shady inside. In another mile the trail entered another
badlands area with some sweet single track and a gradual twisty downhill ride.
I crossed paved US 10 and went under the railroad near MP 3, a sign that I was
making good progress and likely to get to Medora on time. A half mile later the
trail crossed Andrews Creek, another one of those creeks large enough to be a
nuisance to cross in wet weather. However, when I cruised across the 6’ wide
bed it was totally dry. Next up was another badlands area with a sparsely
occupied prairie dog town. The route became very convoluted, but the scenery
just kept getting better.
I reached the
MDH junction, and MP 0 for the BGT trail, at a four way junction. The current
MDH trail went left and right (north and south) while an older version of the
MDH had gone straight ahead. I’d left Wannagan Campground at about 8AM and
reached the MDH junction about 1:30PM. I turned right to follow the MDH to the
south toward Sully Creek. The remaining section of the MDH exited a Bighorn Sheep
lambing area and passed through a parcel of private Bar X Ranch land before
reaching the Little Missouri River.
When I would
visit TRNP while living in Lead, SD I never had any trouble fording the Little
Missouri River. It was always a simple matter of sloshing through knee deep
water across the gravel river bottom. Travelling with Jean was a different
matter. It seemed any plans we made to cross the river resulting in the Little
Mo flooding exuberantly in celebration of our arrival. Since Jean wasn’t along
this day, karma was with me, the water was low, and crossing by bike not an
issue. Once across, I rode through the Sully Creek Campground to the trailhead
and (at that time) southern end of the Maah Daah Hey.
Despite being
at the southern end of the trail, my ride wasn’t complete. I still had a half
mile of gravel on the campground road, and about another mile of gravel heading
into Medora before the road became paved. I finally cruised in Medora and met
Jean at the Badlands Motel for a total ride of 31.4 miles in about 7 hours.
My quick take
on the Buffalo Gap Trail was that compared to those in TRNP the trail wasn’t
scenic enough to attract too many hikers, but at biking speed it was still a scenic
ride. The trail was well built and had the twists, turns, and rolls that make
mountain biking so much fun. Given the proximity to Medora and the ease of
access via I-94, I suspected that the Buffalo Gap Trail might become one of the
most popular sections of the Maah Daah Hey system. The ability to schedule
shuttle trips to Wannagan Campground and Buffalo Gap Campground through Dakota
Cyclery in Medora continues to make this a popular and convenient ride. My
favorite section was the rugged badlands between Buffalo Gap CG and Highway 10,
offering great potential for short shuttle rides. The entire trail was nicely
ridable, though there were a few short steep sections where I’d elected to push
my bike.
As it turned out, my publisher was unable to proceed with the planned revision to the full Black Hills and Badlands guidebook, but was interested in splitting off the North Dakota material into a separate guidebook. We were able to include the entire Maah Daah Hey and Buffalo Gap trails in the new book “A Trail Guide: The Maah Daah Hey Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the Dakota Prairie Grasslands” which was published in 2006. A complete update for the guidebook is expected to be released in the spring of 2021.
For more
information on the Buffalo Gap and Maah Daah Hey trails see the Maah Daah Hey
Trail Association website: Here
For my new
trail guide to TRNP, the Maah Daah Hey, and other trails in the North Dakota
badlands and prairie: Here
For information on shuttles and other services from Dakota Cyclery in Medora: Here
