Order of Visit: High Point #20
Date Visited: August 24, 2020
Route Taken: Fence line trail (along private property owned by the Dennis Family) – 3.3 miles round-trip
Type of Terrain: Easy two-track road across a field for one mile, then steeper climbing up a sandy butte for the remaining 0.65 miles to the summit.
Elevation: 3,506 feet
Ancestral Lands: Mandan, Cheyenne, Sioux, Itazipco
What’s in a name?
It doesn’t take much research or imagination to figure out how White Butte earned its physically descriptive name.
The western portion of North Dakota is where visitors can find the badlands that comprise Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The high point is a prominent butte within this badland portion of the state, and it sits on private land about one hour south of the National Park’s main entrance.
White Butte and nearby Rattlesnake Butte were originally named the ‘Chalky Buttes’ on maps because of their milky white color and soft chalky texture. Other buttes sit nearby too, including Black Butte (the state’s second highest point), Round Top Butte, and East Rainy Butte.
Each of these distinctive rises on the Great Plains carries a geographic name that originated from the French word butte, which means “knoll.” Today, the word butte is used to describe an isolated hill with steep – often nearly vertical – sides and a flat top.
Geographers use the feature’s size to distinguish a butte from its similarly-shaped cousin the mesa. The rule of thumb is that a mesa is more like a dining table, with a flat top that is wider than it is high. Meanwhile, a butte is more like a bookcase, with a narrower top and more height.
One of the most recognizable buttes in North America is Devils Tower in Wyoming, a prominent 5,000-foot butte inside America’s first national monument. Other iconic buttes in the US include the vermillion-colored towers in Monument Valley near the Utah-Arizona state line and Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, which many pioneers passed on their journey west on the Oregon Trail.
North Dakota’s White Butte may not be as tall or famous as these other distinctive buttes. However, it does hold the honor of being the only butte that is also a state high point
TRIP SUMMARY
Summer 2020 was supposed to be filled with some epic high points. I was absolutely over the moon about scoring a Mt. Whitney permit in the annual lottery. But on June 1, 2020, the USFS canceled our permit because of concerns over COVID-19. And then Mt. Whitney was hit with a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on June 24, 2020, triggering a massive rockslide that closed Whitney Portal until further notice. So, I’m pretty sure hiking California’s highest peak is going to remain on my list of unclimbed high points for a good long while.
Adding insult to injury, we also had to scrap our 2020 plans to hike Boundary Peak (Nevada’s high point) when we developed an issue in our RV back in early July. But, that is life, right? This crazy, crazy year has gone nothing like we expected. And so, we pivoted and decided to head in a new direction for the summer. The Dakotas!
In preparation for this hike, I learned that White Butte is still one of the handful of high points that lie on private land. In the past, visitors needed to coordinate with the landowners to access North Dakota’s highest point. The owner routinely gave permission, but I’m sure it became a bit of a hassle to have so many strangers calling or knocking on their door after all those years. So now, a red donation box sits out on the road near the high point’s parking area, and visitors can make a monetary donation in exchange for the opportunity to hike to the summit.
With our permission and trespassing worries set aside, the next challenge was to figure out how the heck to get out to the trailhead. This detail was – by far – the most frustrating part of our journey.
White Butte isn’t exactly a hotbed of tourist traffic, but every place I looked (online and in my paperback guidebook) seemed to have a long-winded, detailed route to get there, with vague directions like “turn right at the blue farmhouse.”
The research left me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. So, I decided to disregard all the bizarre sets of directions and just use Google Maps, instead.
As it turns out, the trailhead wasn’t nearly as difficult to find in 2020 as people made it out to be. Google Maps brought us right to the parking area. And let’s be honest, this was flat, open North Dakota. We could see the butte for miles and miles before we arrived. There was even a big sign on Highway 85 marking our turn from the highway onto the dirt road. Easy as pie.
The parking area was a small pull-out just barely big enough for 2-3 cars to park on the side of the dirt road. We knew we found it when we spotted the bright red donation box. Plus, there was a nice big white sign announcing it as on the White Butte Parking area courtesy of the Highpointers Club.
We were somewhat surprised to discover that there was one car already parked there ahead of us. We foolishly expected to be the only people interested in hiking up White Butte this warm summer weekday. But perhaps this high point was a more popular sight than we’d anticipated!
After dropping our donation in the box, we grabbed our trekking poles and got ready to hit the trail. The trekking poles weren’t coming along to assist us with the terrain. As you can see from the photo above, the beginning of this hike was anything but arduous. Our poles were there just in case we encountered a snake.
Some of the reviews I read about this trip warned us that rattlesnakes were native to this part of North Dakota. I wasn’t expecting to get close enough to NEED to remove a rattlesnake with a trekking pole (that’s just crazy!). The poles were more about making sure we were making enough noise and vibration on the ground to encourage the snakes to shake their rattle if we started to walk too close.
The sign in the parking area was direct and to the point. We needed to walk about a mile due south and then we’d be at White Butte’s true trailhead. Just follow the cattle fence line on our left the entire way. Luckily there was also a two-track jeep trail paralleling the electric fence so we didn’t need to wander into the tall grass where snakes might be lying in wait.
Halfway down this dirt access road, we came across an old wooden house. It was clearly no longer in use, and we didn’t venture off to explore it. I assumed that since it was private property, the owners wouldn’t appreciate our nosiness. Besides, it seemed on the verge of collapse. One more hard winter might just do the structure in.
After that sight, we kept walking toward the white-colored buttes which were growing larger and larger with each step. It’s easy to see how this state’s high point got its name. But, these buttes are a bit misleading. The summit (which was hidden at this point) wasn’t white or bare like these initial foothills ahead of us. Instead, it was covered in green grass. But, maybe Green Grassy Butte doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily.
Almost exactly a mile after we departed the parking area, encountered a fence marking our entry and the official trailhead. A nice, bright white sign gave us some rudimentary instructions to the summit and warned us (once again) about the risk of rattlesnakes. And then it was time to climb.
The trail quickly bent around to the left, but it super was easy to follow, thanks to the tall cairns along the route. As long as we were paying attention, It would be pretty difficult to get off track.
Once we began our ascent up the butte’s side, though, it felt like a whole new adventure. It was steep, and the ground was loose. Even though it was perfectly dry when we hiked it, it was evident that this sandy, fine dirt would make a slick mess with even just a little rain.
About halfway up to the top, we encountered a nice open meadow. The terrain was nearly flat here and allowed us to catch our breath before the final push up the grassy summit ahead of us.
As we made the final turn of our climb, we finally spotted our fellow highpointers. A family of four was sitting on the rocks eating a picnic lunch. The kids were mere preschoolers, and I was impressed they’d made it the entire way and were in such high spirits. Kudos, kids!
We pushed on toward the summit, which was marked with a large rock cairn and a survey marker suspended several feet in the air. After a quick, obligatory photo, we dug inside the green ammo can in search of the summit register but were disappointed to discover it was completely full. The entries on the register’s final page were from May 2020 – a few months earlier – and there was no more room to add our names to the tally.
The scenery from the peak was surprisingly interesting, too. It’s North Dakota, so it’s not as if we were nestled in the middle of the mountains. But, it was certainly a more scenic journey than some of our other high points (I’m looking at you, Florida and Rhode Island).
In one direction, we had cow pastures and fields as far as the eye could see. But, to the south, there was a much more varied and visually interesting series of badlands.
After five minutes atop the rooftop of North Dakota, it was time to descend and get some lunch. Our stomachs were growling, and we hadn’t brought any food with us to celebrate this quick hike.
We didn’t spot (or hear) any rattlesnakes on the journey back to the car, which I was exceptionally grateful for. The only fauna out there seemed to be the cattle from nearby ranches and some flying grasshoppers. Not super spectacular in terms of wildlife, but far better than the heart-stopping sound of a rattle in the grass!
Next up, South Dakota!
DETAILS
When to Visit: This hike is open year-round, but it is best tackled between July and September to avoid getting lost on dirt roads covered in snow, slush, and rain. The final 2/3-mile trail up the summit is steep in places and is sure to become a muddy, slick mess when it’s wet too.
Getting There: White Butte is located approximately 55 miles of Medora, ND (Theodore Roosevelt Natl Park) or 150 miles west of Bismark. The lack of street signs on the rural dirt roads you’ll take on your last 6 miles to the trailhead has resulted in far too many people posting confusing directions online. Ignore them all! Just enter “White Butte Trailhead, Bowman, ND” into Google Maps instead. That pin accurately marks the parking area where your hike will begin.
Entrance Fees: This high point is on private property and the owners ask visitors make a donation to help maintain the area ($5 is the suggested contribution amount). To facilitate these donations, a red drop box is available at the trailhead’s parking area.
Parking: There’s room for 2-3 cars in a small parking area just off the road. A white sign clearly marks the parking area, and informs visitors to use the fence line as a guide to the butte in the distance. There are no port-a-potties of bathrooms at the parking area or along the trail.
Accessibility: The first mile of the hike is a very easy walk across a flat field. However, this changes at the official trailhead, which is marked by a gate and prominent white sign near the base of the butte. From there, the trail climbs upward for 2/3 of a mile, and it can be pretty steep in several places. If it’s wet from rain or melting snow, this section of the trail will be super slick and quite difficult, especially as you are coming back down from the summit. Bring trekking poles for assistance. Most people can expect their roundtrip hiking time to be about 1.5 hours.
Bonus: Theodore Roosevelt National Park is only 55 miles from the high point. This national treasure is known for the Painted Canyon, herds of wild bison, and the Maltese Cross Cabin (where President Teddy Roosevelt once lived).
Resources:
- An Overview of White Butte (SummitPost.org)
- White Butte Route Map (AllTrails.com)