North Dakota trails · Lower Paddock Creek Trail

Lower Paddock Creek Trail

A 3.6-mile out-and-back in North Dakota, with 87 ft of climbing. Managed by the National Park Service.

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Length

3.6 mi

Elevation gain

87 ft

Difficulty

Easy

Max grade

13%

Steepest mile

+74 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

0.1 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Bikes

Horses

Managed by

National Park Service

Elevation profile

Essentially flat — no sustained climb anywhere along its 3.6 miles.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Heads up

Stream ford: expect at least one unbridged crossing.

Getting there

Lower Paddock Creek Trail access — parking nearby. 46.95259, -103.49481 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:40 a.m., the sun rises at 6:11 a.m. and sets at 7:35 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:07 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 24 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 7.3-mile round trip takes roughly 2 h 47 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 8:59 a.m. — 10 h 37 min before sunset.