Makoshika State Park — Attraction in Glendive

First off, motorcyclists be aware that once you enter the park and get maybe 1-2 miles down the road that weaves through the park, the pavement abruptly ends towards the top of a hill. There is a sign that indicates the pavement ends and when it does, it turns to dirt and what I consider to be relatively loose gravel. I ended up turning around simply because I didn't feel comfortable riding on it - your experience may be different depending upon your bike and skill level. The road itself that runs through the park is not maintained very well either.

People were openly running and walking right in the middle of the two lanes that loop through the park in either direction since, apparently, there aren't paths that connect the various trails running through the park. Given there are a few steep inclines and near blind curves on a few parts of the road, I don't think it's healthy to have your visitors walking in the middle of the road intended for vehicle traffic. Now, this may have been more the fault of the people who saw fit to walk in the middle of the road more than the park itself, but still.

Upon arriving at the entrance, there is a sign that says to pay inside the visitor center, but there was nothing indicating that it's free for Montana residents. When I stopped inside to double check, there was no one at the front desk and there were several other people wandering around trying to find an employee as well. I wandered around the inside of the center to see the various exhibits for about 20 minutes and by time I was done, an employee had shown up at the desk. I asked about the fee and was told so long as I had Montana tags, I was good to go - not that anyone was actually enforcing this in the park anyway. There doesn't appear to be anything stopping out of towners from simply driving into the park without paying the fee except the honor system.

The visitor center is nice enough with some exhibits and a small gift shop, but I found it to be lacking in basic amenities like a decent restroom - restroom only had one toilet and if occupied, you would have to wait or use one of the vault toilets inside the park.

I'd be interested in coming back here to do some hiking, but that would be the only thing bringing me back. The park is pretty enough, but it's nothing you can't already see in the surrounding area. I suppose if you were visiting here from out of town, you might have a...

This is a very unique park with beautiful badland canyon scenery. There is terrific ½ mile nature trail with a trail head in the middle of the rustic tent sites up a very steep (15-20 degrees) dirt road. The trail goes into a badlands canyon that allows you to experience the beautiful rock formations up close and personal. Not for children under 5 or seniors with any kind of mobility issues as some of trail is steep and slippery. We most enjoyed the walk but wish the park provided self-guided tour maps of the trail to coincide with the numbered signs. We could not find any maps ourselves at the information kiosk.

We stayed at rustic tent campsite 20 which had its own very clean vault toilet and private location far away from anyone. There was no drinking water nearby. It also had great views. Two mule deer came walking by in the evening. The driveway to the site was very steep and not for low hanging cars. Our minivan did fine with its higher clearance. While we loved the site, we were most surprised that it rained all night when we were there despite this being a desert area. The rain made it extremely treacherous driving out the next morning on the very slippery, muddy 300 yard driveway up a steep 20 degree hill. We were very lucky to get out without being stuck in the mud for several days. Most of the driveway is not visible from the main dirt road so you could be stuck for days there until it dried out. It reminded me of the scenery in the Australian outback. Thus we recommend you avoid campsite 20 if there is rain in the forecast or unless you have a 4 wheel drive truck. Otherwise it is a wonderful campsite. Most of the other rustic sites have flat, long driveways but these often fill up fast. Overall, this is a great campground for tents and small van RV’s. We highly recommend it and it was one of our favorite places on our...

This is an amazing State Park facility! Super close to the town of Glendive and easily accessible from I94. Our car blew up on the interstate as we were making our way to Yellowstone. We were absolutely delighted to find this park which served as our alternative to Yellowstone.

The visitors center is nicely laid out with a variety of displays and a small retail store. It is staffed by a ranger. Bonus: 50cent penny smasher!!

There is a self serve option for registering and paying to get in. If you are broke or on a budget, it does seem possible to visit without paying. I am not recommending that at all, but I do know that life can be tough sometimes and this place appeared accessible.

The views off of the paved and dirt roads were significant and delightful. It’s possible to feel quite alone and wild without traveling all too far. It was sparsely populated, and we felt like we were the only people there during most of our visit.

We hiked a few trails. They were rugged and wild, but marked enough with arrow posts that we never felt lost. We quickly found ourselves in valleys and peaks, of badlands and even Grand Canyon quality (not quite the scale, but certainly the color and wildlife).

There are extensive disc golfing opportunities, which made me sad I didn’t have equipment. The visitors center did have a very nice selection of discs for purchase.

Since our car blew up, we had to walk from town. It’s just a little over a mile from the center of town. There is a taxi service (Henderson, highly recommended) that can pickup/deliver to the...