Its name comes from the Mandan tongue and means, roughly, an area that has been or will be around for a long time — a fitting title for a trail that threads more than a hundred miles of badlands between and beyond the units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Maah Daah Hey is among the longest continuous single-track trails in the country.

The Trail That Will Be Around a Long Time

Marked by turtle-emblazoned posts, the trail climbs buttes, drops into cottonwood draws, fords the Little Missouri and crosses long stretches of open prairie where the only sound is the wind. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers all share it, each finding a different rhythm in its miles.

From the almanac's reckoning:

• The trail runs more than a hundred miles through the badlands.
• Turtle-marked posts guide hikers, riders and mountain bikers.
• Its name means, roughly, an area that will be around a long time.

Water is scarce and the sun is honest, so the trail rewards the prepared and punishes the careless. But for those who take it slowly, it offers the badlands as few ever see them — quiet, immense and utterly wild. The almanac counts the Maah Daah Hey among the finest long trails of the plains.