Riding the Maah-Daah-Hey Trail
The ride begins shortly after sunrise on a Saturday morning, while the air is still cool. The cloudless sky and calm air do nothing to blunt the promise of serious heat later in the day. For now though, it feels just great, and there is a faint hint of sage in the air. My oldest daughter and I are setting out on our first encounter with North Dakota’s newest riding trail, the Maah-Daah-Hey. First comes the short paved ride out of Medora, going easy and stretching. Then, the steep climbs up the amphitheater road. It is gradual at first, then forces us down in the gears. I'm breathing hard now, in first gear and spinning. The rear tire grunts on the pavement twice with each revolution of the crank, and for the first time I feel my muscles working. Soon enough we are near the top, clicking up through the gears, then coasting and enjoying our first shot of cool water.
The short level ride across the amphitheater parking lot and the smooth dirt trail to the gate permits full recovery. After lifting the bikes across the fence and starting again down the double track, the trail slowly angles downhill, and the fun begins. Turning left away from a self-closing gate, I start south down the Maah-Daah-Hey trail. Wooden posts, each with the brand of a turtle on the top, mark the trail. Once on the Maah-Daah-Hey, the trail turns from a road any pickup could easily navigate to an easy but fast bouncing downhill single-track romp. As I blast down along a high-gear side hill, nearly silent except for the staccato puffs coming from my overworked front shocks, I swing around a small outcrop. A coyote meets me at the other side, and nearly turns himself inside out reversing directions. Laughing, we gear down to begin the climb up the other side of the valley. The song dog, fully composed now, is loping away through the sagebrush, giving me those questioning over-the-shoulder glances.
Water always tastes good, but when my throat is dry and the sweat is running in my eyes it tastes even better. The flat terrain at the beginning of the trail has blossomed into a true badlands environment, where everything is vertical. A long climb follows, in low gear, and steep enough to make me thankful for the bar ends. Then an adrenaline hit from a nearly-too-fast downhill rush, and another climb to a second self-closing gate. At the top is a flat table rock, inviting a rest and offering an incredible view south across country that looks like true wilderness. It is still early enough so that the crags and gullies throw long, curving shadows. In the distance the hills turn almost blue, with a light fog hanging in the deepest valleys. We enjoy the view for a half-hour, while the morning matures and the temperature rises.
A short ride away from the main trail across a plateau rewards us with another spectacular vista, this time looking east over the Little Missouri river with Medora in the distance. The ride out to this point requires crossing a ridge that is little wider than the trail, with a hundred foot drop on each side. No real danger for an experienced rider, yet it is imposing enough to keep me alert. The views here seem more spectacular than in the nearby Theodore Roosevelt National Park itself, probably because of the adrenaline and sweat required for admission.
We are back across the ridge, and on the Maah-Daah-Hey single-track following the turtles. The name Maah-Daah-Hey comes from the Mandan Indians, and means an area that has been around for a long time. The turtle was chosen for the trail markers because of its steadfastness, patience, and long life. The trail makes a wide circle, dishing out more downhill endorphins and a steep satisfying climb before returning us to the second self-closing gate. Here I make the choice to try the more technical Canyon trail for part of the return trip, and my daughter follows. The Canyon leaves the Maah-Daah-Hey at a sandy unmarked intersection, and almost immediately drops onto the vertical side of a canyon, with not much room for carelessness. The trail is barely wide enough to keep both wheels planted, especially when the track nearly meets itself in one of the several sharp switchbacks. Twice I consider walking, but pride and momentum force me to maneuver down the cliff, continually tickling the brakes. The kid, who has more sense than I, dismounts at a few of the more frightening trail sections. I occasionally scrape my left foot on the side of the wall when balancing my way around blind corners. Fist-sized rocks sprinkling the trail add to the fun. Once at the bottom I stop and take a deep breath, then smile as the fear in my gut turns into elation. After a few minutes, I turn around and ride part way back up to experience the final part of the descent again.
We stop for the horned lizard as he scampers off the trail at our approach. He nearly disappears by morphing into a rock when he stops. He perfectly matches the color of the clay here, and his bumpy body matches the contours of the nearby eroded rocks. At the bottom the Canyon trail turns civil again, eventually leading to a prairie dog town. They whistle and pause at their holes as we approach, eventually disappearing until we roll past. A pair of cows study us as we pedal past their leaky stock tank. The canyon trail swings back west, and soon we see a turtle post ahead. Now we are back again on the Maah-Daah-Hey, retracing our earlier path back uphill for about a half-mile. At the top is the self-closing gate we passed early this morning. Now, instead of taking the easy way out back to the paved amphitheater road, we go north through the gate. After a short ride along the top of a hill, I see below a long, winding downhill trail of over a mile. I attack hard, quickly turning elevation into speed. The drop is gradual but steady and the trail here is relatively smooth, allowing good speed. Near the bottom a deep cattle trail intersects our run, bottoming out my fork and forcing me to grab handfuls of brake. Then we spray across a stream, about 8 inches deep but with a hard bottom. The trail winds around, intersecting the stream twice more, each time providing us with additional refreshment.
I hear a car whiz by on the highway, making me realize that our ride is ending. The Maah-Daah-Hey crosses the highway here and goes North toward the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but we follow the road about a mile back to Medora. At camp I stretch, then relax with a cool drink. I have ridden less than three hours, but I am comfortably beat. As I relax, I glance at the map. I have another day to play, so I begin to eyeball a route for tomorrow.
Today we enjoyed the far south end of this trail. The Maah-Daah-Hey trail is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, and some private landowners. The trail is 120 miles long. It will connect the North and South Units of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and is open to hiking, horseback riding, and biking. The trail crosses the Little Missouri National Grasslands, state, and private land, along with parts of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The North end of the trail begins at a Forest Service CCC Campground 20 miles south of Watford City off Highway 85. The south end actually begins at Sully Creek State Park just a few miles south of Medora. Seven overnight campsites will be constructed along the trail during the next few summers. These campsites will include vault toilets and campfire rings.
The trail is open for year-round use, but will be naturally obstructed at several times of the year. Most of the trail is built on clay, which becomes impassable after rains and the snow melt. If you don’t take the advice of the local riders and try to ride too soon after a rain, you will soon wish you would have waited. The gumbo will quickly plug up the bike’s moving parts, and leave ruts in the trail. And don’t even think about riding next to the trail on the sparse grass, unless you have cactus-proof tires. The good news is that hard rains are relatively infrequent in summertime North Dakota, and things dry out quickly in the typical summer heat.
The North Dakota badlands consist of incredibly rugged, eroded terrain surrounded on the top by smooth prairie. Besides the coyote that I spotted, trail riders can expect to see mule deer, whitetail deer, golden eagles, and maybe even elk or bighorn sheep. Buffalo roam free within the borders of the National Park, but bikes are prohibited inside the Park. The U.S. Forest Service will supply bikers with information for alternative routes around the portion of the trail that winds through the South Unit of the National Park.
Sunday was a repeat of Saturday; calm, sunny, and warm. I led my family on an early morning ride on a nearby trail, which eventually connected with the Maah-Daah-Hey. We cover many of the same routes we enjoyed the day before, and familiarity makes it even more exciting. Anticipation of the tough sections keeps me smiling. My youngest daughter and her friend are impressed with the trail right from the start, and quickly learn to respect it. Twice I stop to help the girls drag their bikes out of a gulch after one or the other bailed off at particularly challenging corners. Depending on the portion of the trail chosen, the difficulty level ranges from very easy beginner trails to technical single track.
I am already planning a return engagement. This time I plan to start near the middle, and ride North into the North Unit of the National Park.
Follow the turtles!
Read a story on riding the north end of the Maah-Daah-Hey!
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