This Montana State Park Is a Year-round Destination — But Here’s Why Winter Is Especially Magical

Anyone tasked with describing Montana often focuses on the sheer vastness of the state, from its expansive skies to its rugged landscapes. Most travelers center their trips around visiting classic destinations such as Big Sky or Yellowstone National Park, but very few venture eastward into the Great Plains region.

Tucked in this wide-open sprawl is Medicine Rocks State Park, a 330-acre parcel of land that usually slips right under most visitors’ radars. Here, the landscape is dominated by the Great Plains Badlands and the atmosphere is quiet, peaceful, and remote. As Teddy Roosevelt wrote in his 1885 book “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman” after visiting the area, it is “as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen.”

Medicine Rocks State Park is located between the city of Baker and the small town of Ekalaka — it’s about 3.5 hours from the nearest major airport, Billings-Logan International Airport (BIL). It’s relatively difficult to get to, and in 2023, Medicine Rocks welcomed a little over 21,000 guests. For comparison, around 2.9 million people visited Glacier National Park during the same year. But the lack of visitors is part of the state park’s charm.

People come to Medicine Rocks to get away from it all and to camp beneath its unique, Swiss cheese-like sandstone pillar rock formations. The park was also designated as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary in 2020, and many travel to Medicine Rocks to see some of the clearest views of the night sky in the country. And for people interested in wildlife viewing, the park is a haven for mule deer, antelope, grouse, and turkey.

To get an even bigger taste of solitude, plan a trip during the winter, which is considered to be the park’s offseason. Not only can you camp year-round in the park, but as General Manager Garrett Jericoff noted, when you visit in the winter, you’ll have it mostly to yourself — that’s a lot of land, stars, and wildlife all to your own.

Travelers who make the journey east to the Great Plains of Montana can stay at one of Medicine Rocks State Park’s eight campsites, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Dogs are allowed at Medicine Rocks (as long as they are on a leash that’s no longer than eight feet in length) and drinking water is available year-round. 

Campsite fees at Medicine Rocks range from $4 to $34 per night but tend to be on the lower end during the winter and spring. Similarly, the park entry fee is $8 for out-of-state visitors and free for Montana residents who pay the $9 state parks fee with their annual vehicle registration.