Review Date
January 15, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: arly ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
After hearing from friends who'd ridden parts of this trail and claimed it was gorgeous, we decided we should get out there and see the Maah Daah Hey ourselves. We arrived with a group of friends and attempted to ride it in 4 days. We thought that since we were experienced and fit MTB riders we'd skip a campground, how much harder could a measly 20 extra miles be? Hate to admit but after riding 30 miles with over 3000 feet of climbing we were spanked so we sagged the remaining distance in. Going that far made the tour more a like a death march than we could appreciate as a vacation. Despite that mistake just as our friends had said we found an incredibly scenic trail crossing a wide variety of terrain. Every bluff we climbed offered a different vista than the one before, in fact the whole trail was surprisingly unpredictable. We'd cross a fairly flat prairie and imagine the trail was going to become a boring grassland, but then we'd drop into another canyon filled with exotic colors. Near Wannagan camp was a petrified forest laid out as if the trees had just fallen. Since we failed to see the trail's entire length during our first trip we retuned a 2nd time and managed to see the entire trail over 5 days largely riding campground to campground. Some of the trail we missed the first time was breathtaking, especially the descents into the Littile Missouri river valleys. If you have the time to ride the whole trail, be sure to ride every mile without missing any segments. Our computers said we did over 120 miles as we rode into Medora. Along the trail we saw the many strange colors of the badlands, fossils, animal life and vegetation, including a hen turkey and her brood of chicks. After out two trips the total number of cyclist we've seen there might be around 8 so we're still wondering why this trial is so underused!! If you care to join us we're planning to ride it again this fall. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=258260
We've also posted a assortment of trail photos at the gallery section here.

Arlyn & Sandy Aronson arlyn@superiortandems.com

Recommended Route:
All of it

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Review Date
July 20, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: iwander ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This middle-aged lady found the trail very challenging, but a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the spectacular scenery as I took the bike for a nice walk in these very steep hills. It took 5 days to ride most of the trail. I went with a tour group which provided a water refills 3 or 4 times per day, meals, and carried our bags. I've posted photos at www.waywardpoints.com

Review Date
July 12, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: leadville ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Grew up in North Dakota and, after 8 years of riding in Colorado, thought I should check out the premier trail in the "Old Country". Unfortunately, we picked the two hottest days of the year where the temp hovered on either side of 100 degrees. Nevertheless, the riding was awesome and already planning the next trip. This is a great singletrack that is 99% rideable.

Just a few things to add to other posted reviews:

*Beware of the rattlesnakes at the Magpie Campground. I got the warning rattle as I was heading to my sleeping bag and met a young feller about eight feet from my pillow. Spent the night, comfortably, sleeping atop the picnic table. Best to bring a tent...

*It's been a very wet year by NoDak standards and the Little Missouri was not crossable by our SAG vehicle (FS Road 712) near mile 45 on the trail. Water was knee deep (and had come down in recent days) so check on river height ahead of time if you've got vehicle support.

Recommended Route:
We started just north of the Bennett Camp Trailhead off of the road through Lang's Ranch so we made sure we got in the China Wall section. Lots of clumped up, dried out cow hoofprints in this section makes for tough going, especially on a hardtail. South of Bennett's it smoothed out a bit and we got rolling. We made it to Magpie and five hours and think this is a pretty good ETA, but never thought it would take five hours to cover 25 miles anywhere. We started here because it was the northernly most point where we could avoid the north unit of Theodore Roosovelt N.P. where riding, technically, is off limits. Glad we did as we met two riders at Magpie who tried to circumvent the park and ended up in a box canyon out of water. DO NOT take the well worn path along the park boundary fence. There may be other ways but can't speak to them.

Review Date
May 25, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: firedudecndn ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Basically one of the best trails anywhere in its class. I've done all or parts of it 4 times now. This year I rode on semi slicks and the only time I could have used knobbies was on the high speed descents. Otherwise the lower rolling resistance was welcomed. Like everyone says, stay away when it's wet, you will not be able to ride it. We usually camp at Magpie, the best site of all the campsites and you can ride out in either direction from there. Devil's pass and China Wall are both worth riding out to. The ice caves are cool too. The trail is well marked and well documented on the web and with the available map from US forest service. Bring toilet paper and lots of water. I managed to get digital cell service from the highest points. Most locals are pretty friendly and there are a couple of them who run "lodges" out there. We've used one of them and you can contact me for his contact information if you like.
Kick azz trail, worth driving 500 miles from Winnipeg for, no question.

Review Date
October 24, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: ZR2915 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This trail kicked my ass! Im in good shape, but after biking this I was just dead. I rode 11.5 miles-in and back from the CCC campground on the north end. The first few miles are mostly up hill climbing the plateaus(?) and then "levels" off once you get to the elkhorn ranch site. There were absolutely beautiful views and hard riding. Some of the uphill parts on the trail requires getting off your bike and pushing it up because the dirt is too clumpy and cows use alot of the same path. It was quite windy and very dry so pack alot of water. I had a camelback and a water bottle with was good for me. Also dont forget the energy bars!

Recommended Route:
I started at the CCC campground and the only was to go from there is south.