Medicine Rocks State Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a deeply revered site known for its sacred and ceremonial purposes employed by Plains Indian hunting parties. Visitors from around the world unravel their sleeping bags in one of the 12 primitive sites available and watch in awe as the stars burn brightly in the sky above.

This remote state park experiences pitch-black skies thanks to the lack of nearby towns, as well as the work put into preserving both its history and natural beauty. Its skies are so dark that Medicine Rocks has been designated as a Dark Sky Sanctuary—the only one in Montana. An IDA Dark Sky Sanctuary is public or private land that has an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is protected for its scientific, natural, or educational value, its cultural heritage and/or public enjoyment.

The park is 330 acres of breathtaking “Swiss-cheese-like” sandstone pillars and diversity of prairie grasses. When Teddy Roosevelt visited these medicine rocks in 1883, he journaled that it was “as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen.”

A perfect place to view wildlife, the park is inhabited by mule deer, antelope, elk, Woodhouse’s toads and a multitude of birds, including the sharp-tailed grouse. There is drinking water (and pumps) available, as well as fire pits, picnic tables and vault toilets. There is no fee to visit or camp, but donations are appreciated and go toward park maintenance. Show how much this place means to you by preserving it: Pack it in, pack it out, and remember that it is illegal to write or carve on the rocks.

During the Day

• Mountain bike through the park to see as much as possible
• Hike and look for petroglyphs, pictographs and inscriptions on the sandstone rocks
• Visit museums in Ekalaka and Baker, such as Prairie Rose Classics

Getting There

Park Entrance Road is located on HWY 7, about 23 miles south of Baker, and 11 miles north of Ekalaka.