The signature 360° scene for this site will embed here after the Medora → Long X capture trip (target May–June 2027 paddling window, post-consultation).
If you only have one week to paddle the Little Missouri, this is where you stop.
Long X Bridge carries US-85 across the Little Missouri about 15 miles south of Watford City. Juniper Campground inside TRNP North Unit is the nearest formal river access. The bridge — named for the Long X cattle trail — sits at the edge of the National Park's North Unit boundary. Downstream from here, the river leaves TRNP entirely and runs through the Little Missouri National Grassland (USDA Forest Service) toward the Killdeer area.
From a project perspective, Long X is the cleanest Phase 1 endpoint. Everything upstream of here — Medora put-in, Battle of the Badlands ground, Elkhorn, Achenbach, this takeout — sits on NPS-managed or NPS-adjacent land. A pilot capture that ends here has a publishable story without needing to negotiate downstream tribal-land or grassland-management complexity in the first cycle.
The Long X Trail itself, like most named cattle routes in this country, ran on top of older Indigenous travel and hunting routes. The U.S. Army campaign through this corridor in 1864 used similar geography. Naming the bridge for the cattle trail is one layer of a longer story; the corridor itself had been a travel route long before the trail had a name.
Directions. US-85, ~15 mi south of Watford City. Juniper Campground access via the TRNP North Unit scenic drive. River takeout immediately east of the bridge.
Season. May–October for paddle takeout. Bridge access year-round.
Fees. Juniper Campground requires TRNP entry fee; bridge area free.
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