Little Mo Nature Trail

Posted in National Parks
Updated February 11, 2023

We really enjoyed the Little Mo Nature Trail in the north section of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. This is one of the first stops that you come to after the Visitor Center. The trailhead is located at Juniper campground. This trail runs about 0.7 mile around the short loop, though you can make it longer if you took the larger loop, which is a footpath. This nature trail is paved, flat, and easy. You could easily push a stroller around this loop. The longer loop is for foot traffic only, and wouldn’t work for wheels.

Little Mo Nature Trail sign and paved trail — The trail is well marked.

open area with trees — Little Mo Trail starts near Juniper Campground.

Make sure to pick up a trail guide for this hike. There are a bunch of markers along the way that match up with the numbers in the trail guide. The guide teaches about the plants, animals, and geography of this part of the park. We always love learning more about the national parks that we are exploring.

Little Mo Nature Trail marker — Use the trail guide to learn using the numbered markers.

One thing we liked about the Little Mo Nature Trail is the variety of birds we saw. We are long-time bird lovers, and we counted several colorful species as we walked along. The rusty tan of the cedar waxwings was the first to catch our eye. These birds were most plentiful. Further on, we saw bright orange spotted towhees. They seemed to be flirting with each other, and as it was late Spring, they probably were. We saw, and heard, the beautiful yellow warblers, as they sang their song in the low scrubby bushes along the trail. They were easy to spot because of their eye-catching color.

There were lots of birds like this cedar waxwing along the trail.

grassy prairie in Theodore Roosevelt National Park with large buttes in the background. — The views along the Little Mo Nature Trail are lovely.

As the trail looped around, we pulled up short. On the day we visited, a large herd of bison were grazing about 30 meters from the trail. These big brutes are pretty intimidating, and we weren’t about to tangle with a 2,500 pound animal that can outrun us in just a few steps. But even as we stood and watched, they started to slowly retreat from the trail as if they knew it was our territory. After a few minutes they were far enough away that we could safely proceed. (BUT we are smart enough to know that you should NEVER take a chance with wild animals. Make sure to give the bison their space.)

Buffalo sitting in grass with rocky butte in background. — Always give wildlife its space.

boy with bison in the background — We waited until the bison had moved far away from the trail.

The Little Mo Nature Trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park continues down to the river. After enjoying a look at the Little Missouri River, the trail heads back toward the campground. We did not take the unpaved path, but stuck with the easy paved trail. This walk was definitely easy enough for grandma and grandpa, and even the baby. Use our Kid Hikes in Theodore Roosevelt National Park for more easy trails in the park.