North Dakota trails · Upper Paddock Creek Trail
Upper Paddock Creek Trail
A 6.7-mile out-and-back in North Dakota, with 481 ft of climbing. Reaches Southeast Corner Spring. Managed by the National Park Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the middle third — 76% of the ascent, between mile 3.9 and mile 7.8. It gives back about 594 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Southeast Corner Spring (spring)
Getting there
Upper Paddock Creek Trail access. 46.93196, -103.43189 · 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 13.4-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 26 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 11:37 a.m. — 7 h 58 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Upper Paddock Creek Trail + Paddock Creek Trail — 1.5 mi loop, 202 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Upper Talkington Trail — 2.5 mi
- Jones Creek Trail — 2.6 mi
- Lower Paddock Creek Trail — 3.3 mi
- Roundup Camp Trail — 5.5 mi