Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Exploring the Great West: Day Four, Part Three: Painted Canyon and Medora's New Pancratz Trail


This is a continuation of a travel series to The Great West.  To start at the beginning, go HERE,, HERE, and 
HEREHEREHERE,, HEREHERE, and HERE!

The past two weeks I've been sharing our adventures of all the trails and scenic views on the Scenic Loop Road in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  When we completed the loop we returned to the town of Medora to grab an early dinner.  I plan on doing a post just on the town of Medora in a future travel post where I will share all the great shopping and places to eat.  After dinner we drove to the Painted Canyon.  


Painted Canyon Trail


Now technically, the Painted Canyon is part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  However, you don't need to pay to see this part of the park.  It is located right off the highway, and you can just pull in and walk around the rim of the canyon, visit the Painted Canyon Visitor Center, or take a hike for absolutely nothing!


The rim of the Painted Canyon reminded me of walking the rim at Bryce Canyon National Park.  It is a lovely, paved walk people of all skill levels can enjoy.  But beware, buffalo patties were spotted everywhere in this area, including right by the Visitor Center and paved walk way.  

The Painted Canyon is about a ten minute drive from the town of Medora.  It got its name from the colorful rock layers.  On the rim walk, you see a magnificent panorama of the badlands and colorful hues. We were there when the sun was still quite strong, so the hues in the photos appear more washed out than they are in real life.


We didn't hike much today, and after a refreshing dinner, we were ready to try another short hike, so we decided to take the Painted Canyon Trail.  This trail was a disaster.  We thought it would take us deep inside the canyon so we would be looking up at the topography but the markings were so obscure and there were so many buffalo trails, that we kept getting lost.  It was very desolate, and we were terrified of running into a buffalo as we kept seeing so many patties.  We kept hiking until we reached a dry river bed that was taller than us on either side.  We both felt very uncomfortable because we couldn't see if anything was ahead, so we decided to turn around and go back.  When we got to the top of the trail and I saw the map, I think we only made it to the blue river line.  I'm not sure exactly.  It was a very confusing trail.


If you were to complete the entire trail, it would be 4.3 miles out to the Paddock Creek Trail and back.  It is rated as Moderate.  I would agree with the rating because once you make it through the slightly steep descent, the land is relatively level.  


There is another trail in this area called the "Painted Canyon Nature Loop".  This one is a one mile loop close to the Visitor's Center.  We did not take that trail, but I sure wish we did.  Maybe another time.


Since I've been home I've read a lot of reviews about this trail and many of them said they came across buffalo, elk, and other wildlife.  Many hikers said they couldn't complete the trail because of the bison.  I feel fortunate that we did not encounter any on the day we there.

Other hikers also said the trail was tricky.  Apparently the buffalo like to use the trail signs as scratching posts, so they keep knocking them over,  Those naughty bison! 😁


The trail walks you through prairies where you see lots of wildflowers and sage brush in addition to the colorful buttes.

 
The buffalo trails look exactly like the actual trail (pictured below) that is why it's so easy to confuse them and get lost.


Even though I found this trail frustrating, a little scary, and confusing, it was still a pretty nature hike.


Pancratz Trail

Well, believe it or not, we weren't finished with our hiking adventures for the day yet!  We drove back into town, then decided to walk across the street to the Pancratz Trail.  This trail is brand new to Medora.  It takes you high above the town to enjoy beautiful vistas of the town of Medora.   Unfortunately, we were hiking it at sunset so I didn't get the greatest of pictures as the sun was hitting my camera lens.  If we ever make it back to Medora, I hope to hike this trail at sunrise or midday.


There are only two hotels located right in the town of Medora and that the Badlands Motel and the famous Rough Riders Hotel.  We are budget travelers, so we stayed at the motel.  We could see people hiking this trail from our motel window.  The Badlands Motel is the long building behind the blue construction fence.  They were building a water park while we were there.  In front of the water park, is a miniature golf place.


Once you make it to the top of the trail you have a decision to make...take a very steep ladder to an even higher point, or take the chickens way out and walk along the bluff line without climbing the ladder.  I had just climbed one of these ladders in the Badland's National Park and I ended up with a thigh injury I was still trying to recover from, so I chickened out and took the "easiest" path.  However, I would not call this path "Easy" as there were some treacherous and very scary drop offs.  In fact, I didn't take many pictures after this point, because I had to put my camera away and cling to the walls.



Hubby on the other hand, wanted to try the ladder, so up he went.  It was very difficult, and he did have to stop and rest at the first landing, but he said the views from the top were amazing!


At this point we separated.  I stayed below, and followed the side of the butte while he hiked above me.  Every now and then I would hear him holler at me so I knew he was around.  I had planned on going up to meet him when I got to the end, but by then it had gotten so dark, we decided to just descend and walk the road home.




I did see this interesting rock formation on my trail, so even though I wasn't able to climb the very top and enjoy the same views my hubby did, I saw things he missed!




The Pancratz Trail is 1.5 miles and ascends 728 feet.  If you're not afraid of heights, it's a really great trail to take when you first get into town.  You can see everything from up there and get a great layout of the land.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
 

22 comments:

  1. What a happy face! :) Great pictures and whole trip ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sure would be scary to get lost on those trails, glad you found your way around safely and without meeting any buffalo on the trails. It does look so pretty though! Great photos! And what an interesting rock formation you saw in that last picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well we were never really lost because we could always see the rim of the canyon, it was just frustrating because with all the buffalo trails and knocked over posts it was hard to figure out where the actual trail was. It was scary too cause the brush was pretty thick at times and we nervous we'd run into a buffalo.

      Delete
  3. Wow...your hubby going up that ladder is quite the photo.
    I had to laugh at the naughty bison knocking over the trail signs!!
    XOOX
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, he is not afraid of heights at all. I thought that was funny too when I read the reviews of the hike. I thought 'Oh that explains everything!"

      Delete
  4. What lovely views. Your husband looks like that ladder was no big deal; in that photo he appears to be running up it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they are. He is very athletic (definitely was an athlete in his younger years). The first part, the part I took the picture, he was able to just run up but then he took a break on the first landing, and after that it gets really steep and you have to climb.

      Delete
  5. Such a beautiful and wonderful place.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We traveled out west with our family 10 years ago--5 weeks coast to coast. Marvelous experience!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am always so impressed with the hikes you do. Did they really label a trail "easy" where you had to cling to walls for dear life? I am always surprised by how not easy some of these easy trails are hahaha!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I try to lay my fears aside and be adventurous. I agree with hiking trails ratings. I always feel they are rated incorrectly. Maybe they thought it was "easy" because once you reached the top it was all level? But "easy" to me is when anyone can hike it...children, the elderly, wheelchair accessible, etc. I would rate this trail as moderate (for the part I did) and difficult (for the part my hubby did).

      Delete
  8. A beautiful part of our country, and an area I would love to visit. The rock formation in the last photo looks super interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's a shame you couldn't go up the ladder but it's nice you got to enjoy things your husband missed! It's good that you still enjoyed it for the most part despite it being a confusing and difficult trail!

    Hope that you have a great weekend ahead! We have a couple of fun Christmas parties to look forward to :)

    Away From The Blue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes between my leg injury and my fear of heights, it wasn't something I wanted to do, but I still got the views. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  10. Wow. That's a lot of steps to run! #SharonsSouvenirs

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous scenery and amazing rock formation!! Even looking at the picture of your hubby climbing the ladder is making my hands and feet shaky. I would have taken the "chicken's" route as well :)

    -Soma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha! It's good to know I'm not alone. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love feedback from my readers. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.