Painted Canyon Visitor Center Parking Lot

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... more

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... more

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 sem... more

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 ... more

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 campe... more

As others have mentioned, this is a beautiful place to stay. To emphasis this point I will note that at sunset a wedding party pulled in to take photos. Not something you usually see at a visitor center/rest area.

Plenty of parking.

We were happy with our stay over here. Because of the other reviews, we expected trucks coming/going all night. We were not all that disturbed by them. We parked by a grass island, so we were able to slide out on that side.

This is a visitors center/rest area with 29 large semi/big-rig parking stalls. The visitors center was closed due to COVID during our stay. There are two picnic areas and several walking trails leading off the parking lot. We did come across a rattlesnake on a walk so be cognizant of the surroundings. It was very peaceful at night.

Super easy in and out. Great views of the park. There was a lightening storm and it was magical. Wanted to stay longer but had other places to go. The bathrooms were clean and there is a vending machine. Around 1:30 in the morning a car pulled in playing very loud music and the people were being loud and yelling at each other. Afte... more

Great for an overnight stay. We went on a short hike, listened to a geology talk with one of the rangers, and saw a ton of Bison! The bathrooms are clean and there’s a drinking water station. The only downside is the noise from the truckers. This is a rest area, and they stop in often. We enjoyed our stay though!