Road Closed: travel distance from Medora to the Petrified Forest has nearly tripled

MEDORA, N.D. — A recent road closure is requiring visitors to travel about three times the distance they did beforehand from Medora to the Petrified Forest trailhead. Some sources still reference a shorter route, but the National Park Service (NPS) is instructing visitors to the Petrified Forest to use exit 10 on Interstate 94 near Camels Hump Lake and urging visitors to “please use the approved legal route.”

The change follows a recent closure on Knutson Creek Road.

The Dickinson Press spoke with Lori Myers Elliott, who is the daughter and personal representative of Roger Myers who owns the land on which the closed portion of Knutson Creek Road is located. Elliott said liability risk and increased traffic led to efforts to close Knutson Creek Road and mentioned a traffic incident with an oil tanker last year.

During a special meeting of the Billings County Commission on Oct. 10, Commissioner Dean Rodne said “there is no easement on that portion of Knutson Creek Road.”

During the Billings County Commission meeting on Oct. 10, Mark ‘Olie’ Golberg, another area landowner, described incidents where visitors looking for the Petrified Forest have requested help from him after their vehicles have gotten stuck. Golberg also said during the meeting that traffic to the Petrified Forest has increased 20% in the past year.

The Billings County Commission also voted 2-1 during the special meeting to remove the county major collector (CMC) designation from the discussed portion of Knutson Creek Road, with commissioner Steven Klym dissenting.

The vote followed a lengthy discussion during the meeting of the road’s history, which included comments from the Billings County States Attorney Pat Weir on the North Dakota Century Code’s definition of public roads.

Billings County Sheriff Dean Wyckoff confirmed that some access to the closed portion of Knutson Creek Road is still available to emergency vehicles, saying any delay to emergency services created by the closure is “negligible.”

Directions for a shorter route to the Petrified Forest trailhead that included Knutson Creek Road listed a travel distance from Medora of approximately 9 miles, with an estimated 30-minute travel time. As of publication, alternate directions for the shorter route were publicly available via more than one source.

Directions to the Petrified Forest on Google Maps following the “approved legal route” from the NPS website list the distance of travel from Medora as about 31 miles. At time of publication, the NPS website listed an estimated travel time of 50 minutes.

The Petrified Forest in the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park contains the third largest concentration of petrified wood in the United States, according to the NPS website.

Nearby, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is scheduled to open July 4, 2026. The opening is expected to dramatically increase tourism and traffic to the town of Medora, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and southwest North Dakota.

During a visit to the trailhead on the morning of Oct. 11, nearly a month after the final 2025 performance of the Medora Musical, Dickinson Press staff observed two vehicles parked at the trailhead parking lot.

Further information about the new route to the Petrified Forest Loop, including specific directions for the ‘approved legal route,’ can be found on the National Park Service (NPS) website.

RubyAnn Stiegelmeier / The Dickinson Press