Theodore Roosevelt National Park guide · 2 min read
Elkhorn Ranch: Roosevelt's Remote Riverside Retreat
Roosevelt's wife and mother both died on one day in 1884, and afterward he went looking for a place quieter than the Maltese Cross Cabin.
He chose a spot straddling the Little Missouri River and named it the Elkhorn. He hired Wilmot Down and Bill Sewall to build the house and run the ranch, and by spring 1885 they had an eight-room house ready. Drought and blizzards wiped out his herds by 1887, and he moved back to New York to resume his political career.
None of the buildings are still standing, and only foundation stones mark where the house once stood. Standing on one helps you picture what ranch life was like here. Roosevelt sold the ranch in 1898, and by 1901 only a couple of half-rotted foundations were left. Panels on site explain daily life at the ranch and the surrounding floodplain, and some quote what Roosevelt wrote while he lived here.
Don't expect a visitor center or other facilities at this unit, though the drive in has plenty to look at. The trip from Medora covers 46 miles one way, and the last 30 are gravel that cross private land. Allow about an hour behind the wheel. Storms can wash out these steep, unpaved roads, so check current conditions at a park visitor center before you set out.
Hiking here is straightforward. From the parking area, a mowed pathway of seven-tenths of a mile leads to the cabin site. Along the Little Missouri River bottomland, cottonwoods shade the site, and their leaves rustle overhead. Plan three to six hours for the visit.
This unit has a solemn, quiet character, and few visitors make the trip, so you may have the place mostly to yourself. Pack out everything you bring, leave things as you found them, and keep your distance from animals. Never feed wildlife.
