Painted Canyon Visitor Center Parking Lot

There is a small sign with a tent crossed out to forbid camping. A ranger knocked on our door before dark to explain that although we could not "camp" here, we could "rest" because it is a Rest Stop. We discussed the difference extensively. He was quite nice but obviously required to tell people they can't camp while not kicking people out.

So, I would suggest coming in late and leaving early if you're going to stay, and plan on having to talk with someone about how you're just "resting" if they catch you.

It does feel safe, and our Verizon worked well. A bison wandered around grazing. It is the Visitor Center for the park, but you're really going to use the other Visitor Center for doing more than just visiting the gift shop.

There will be trucks going in and out all night long, so be ready for that.

We called the visitor center ahead of time to ask if we could spend the night. The ranger said she isn't supposed to promote it but there is not problem with spending the night. Behind the visitor center is a beautiful view and we watched a gorgeous sunset. Tractor trailers were in and out all night which kept waking me up. But it felt like a safe stop for our family. The bathrooms were clean and it was just off the interest.

This was a beautiful place to stay. The view is amazing! There were only 2 trucks and 2 other campers with us overnight. This is a visitor center/ rest stop and an overlook into the ND badlands so cars and trucks are coming and going early and late, but overnight it was pretty quiet. It was extremely windy and up on a ridge so with big gusts our rig was blown around a lot. There is a water spigot to fill your tank from if you need it. Not a hook up.

As others have said, wow, those views. I arrived in the afternoon and was a little nervous about staying as there were “no camping” signs.. but as evening fell there were several other rv/trailers and a couple of semis as well. Lots of parking, not crowded, felt way safer than your average rest stop, as there were more campers than semis. Semis seemed to keep to one end of the lot so the engine noises weren’t a problem. Bathrooms were super clean and the water bottle filling station was great.

We arrived around 8pm and there was hardly anyone here—a few semis and a coupe cars. We watched the sunset which was absolutely stunning, made dinner, and headed to bed. After midnight, over 8 different semis arrived, two parking directly on either side of us. The one took about 5 minutes just going back and forth trying to straighten out and the next pulled right in and then waited about 15 minutes before kicking their generator on which was so loud and harsh the ground was shaking! My husband is a heavy sleeper and slept through it all, but I only got a couple hours. It’s beautiful, but just know that it’s basically a pretty truck stop and you won’t sleep a wink if you’re a light sleeper like me!

Stayed overnight in our 5th wheel trailer. Beautiful views of the canyon and the nature trail down into the canyon was nice.

Not too loud with just a few trucks coming and going through the night.

We parked next to an island so we could put our slides out, but the parking stalls for big rigs are plenty big. We had 4-5 other campers/vans stay the night with us along with a few trucks.

Cell service was great for AT&T and Verizon.

We unhooked and left our trailer here so we could drive up to the North unit of the national park. Felt safe and secure leaving our trailer for a few hours.