Killdeer Mountains WMA
IMPORTANT -- THIS ONE IS NOT OPEN EVERY NIGHT. North Dakota Game and Fish closes Killdeer Mountains WMA to camping on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (except holidays); it is open to camping Thursday through Monday, and ALL your equipment must be off the area on the closed days. Plan around that or you will be moved along. Killdeer Mountains Wildlife Management Area is 6,995 acres of state wildlife land, managed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, and you may camp on it free. That is not a rumour off a listing site -- it is how the state rule works: North Dakota Administrative Code 30-04-02-01 opens every WMA to 'public hunting, fishing, and trapping, or other compatible public use', and 30-04-02-11 sets the only real limit, 'camping for longer than ten consecutive days on any wildlife management area is prohibited'. There is no camping fee and, unlike South Dakota and Oklahoma, North Dakota does NOT make you buy a license or a conservation pass just to be on the land. Now the honest part: this is primitive dispersed camping on a wildlife area, not a campground. Assume NO toilets, NO drinking water, NO tables, NO fire rings and no marked sites unless you happen to find them. You may gather downed wood for a campfire, but you may not mow or cut vegetation to clear a campsite, you may not leave a trailer or tent set up unless you are actually sleeping in it, and you may not dump holding tanks on the area. Vehicles must stay on the constructed roads, established trails and parking areas that a passenger car would normally use -- do not drive out across the grass. Camping is also prohibited on any WMA where it is posted as such at the road entry, so READ THE SIGN at the entrance you use; the posted sign beats anything we can tell you here. These are working wildlife areas, so expect hunters in season and plan your visibility accordingly. The pin is a representative point inside the unit boundary, not a campsite -- you will need to find your own spot off an established access. Confirm current rules with ND Game and Fish at (701) 328-6300 before you go.
Everything you need — measured from camp
- @Mail53 mi
- RxPharmacy53 mi
- FFuel54 mi
- GGrocery54 mi
- HHardware54 mi
- +Urgent care54 mi
The read: fuel & food sit about 54 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Water, Dump, Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Open in Google Maps ↗
The site
Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)
- Nearest townMedicine Hole · ~8.4 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~21.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump stationnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesCash Wise Foods Grocery Store · ~24.5 mi
- PharmacyBarrett Health Mart Pharmacy · ~25.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicMcKenzie County Hospital · ~25.0 mi
Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSummit · ~9.5 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletCcc Campground · ~12.7 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomNU-Temporary Visitor Center - Trailer #1 · ~12.7 mi NW · NPS
- RestroomNU-Temporary Visitor Center - Trailer #2 · ~12.7 mi NW · NPS
Open this spot elsewhere
Other camps nearby
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Summit Campground~9.5 mi
- Summit~9.5 mi
- Ccc Campground~12.7 mi · fee
- Bennett Campground~13.2 mi · fee
How we know this
What we don’t know
A land record can put you within a few metres of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up