Makoshika initially was a place to go in Montana that I had not been and seemed to be interesting. The park reminds me of Badlands National Park as it is the same terrain, and fossils are found all over. Well it seems that the local government wanted to have this park called Badlands (the same Indian name) and wanted the Federal Government to create the park but they refused. A local family in 1939 donated 1,440 acres to the county and then later it was turned over to a state park. The park is very quiet and you can see the same stuff here as in Badlands NP but without the crowds. There are some trails here to hike that are fairly easy to hike. The main campground has two sides and about 19 spots, not large. There are some spots further into the park that are one offs and these spots are very remote but you can still access with your vehicle. The main campground has large parking areas for your vehicle/camper but the spaces are fairly close to one another. The remote ones are just that remote! One drawback is that there is only vault toilets within the park but the trailheads and remote camping spots have their own vault toilets. I was able to come to the park for the Buzzard day on June 8th. The day has a 1/2 marathon, 10K and 5K race. Additionally, there is a fossil hike with a doctor of paleontology from a Museum of the Rockies in Montana. The park offers disk golf and there is a disk golf tournament with Buzzard day. They will even show the movie the Goonies at 9PM to end the day. One of the best parts of the Buzzard day was the pancake breakfast. I have not had pancakes in ages and they sure did hit the spot. The organizers had the bounce house, ax throwing with velcro axes, climbing wall and all kinds of stuff from Museum of the Rockies. There was a tour of one of the trails lead by a paleontologist from the museum and it was very interesting his lecture on the hike. The park is a nice park that has plenty of hiking trails for a couple of days. I did enjoy my time in the park and suggest it as a point for others to enjoy along Highway 94.
Ah, Makoshika, I spent a whole lot of time in those badlands back in the day! Dad was a railroader so I lived in Glendive for about 7 years, 3rd grade thru the first half of freshman year.