Dawsons Waterhole

Dawsons Waterhole encompasses 6,087 acres of hilly lowland terrain within the Dakota Prairie Grasslands of North Dakota. The landscape is defined by two primary draws—Hay Draw and Wolf Draw—that rise to approximately 2,215 and 2,201 feet respectively. These draws channel water toward Crooked Creek, which originates within the area as a headwater tributary of the Little Missouri River system. Franks Creek also drains portions of the landscape. The presence of these named drainages creates the hydrological backbone of the area, carving distinct ecological niches into the surrounding uplands.

The vegetation reflects a mosaic of Great Plains communities shaped by elevation, moisture, and aspect. In the wooded draws and ravines, bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) form the canopy, with Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) occupying drier microsites. The understory transitions to western snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis) and silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), which stabilize soils and provide browse. On the surrounding uplands, the Western Great Plains Dry Bur Oak Forest and Woodland grades into Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie, where big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) dominate. Narrow-leaved purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia) and prairie rose (Rosa arkansana) punctuate the grassland matrix. Prairie cordgrass (Sporobolus michauxianus) occupies wetter microsites where seasonal moisture persists.

The area supports a distinctive assemblage of grassland and shrubland wildlife. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) move across the open prairie, their presence indicating the expansive sight lines and sparse vegetation of the uplands. Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) create colonies that alter soil structure and hydrology at local scales. The federally endangered whooping crane (Grus americana) uses the draws and grassland margins during migration. Lark buntings (Calamospiza melanocorys) and Say's phoebes (Sayornis saya) nest in the shrubland and open woodland. Northern harriers (Circus hudsonius) hunt low over the grassland, while the federally endangered Northern Long-Eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) forages for insects in the wooded draws at dusk. Pollinator communities—including the proposed endangered Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi), the proposed threatened monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), and the proposed threatened Western regal fritillary (Argynnis idalia occidentalis)—depend on the flowering plants of the prairie and shrubland, particularly the coneflowers and prairie rose.

Walking through Dawsons Waterhole, the landscape shifts noticeably as elevation and moisture change. From the upland prairie, where big bluestem and western wheatgrass stretch to the horizon and pronghorn are visible at distance, the draws drop away sharply. Following Hay Draw or Wolf Draw downslope, the grassland gives way to shrubland, then to the darker canopy of bur oak and green ash in the wooded ravines. The sound of water becomes audible as you approach Crooked Creek or Franks Creek in the draw bottoms. The air cools in the shade of the draws, and the understory thickens with juniper and chokecherry. Climbing back out to the uplands, the canopy opens, light increases, and the grassland reasserts itself—a transition that occurs repeatedly across the area, creating a landscape of ecological edges where Great Plains forest and prairie meet.

Indigenous peoples have occupied this region for more than eleven thousand years. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Lakota Sioux—specifically the Hunkpapa, Sans Arc, and Blackfeet bands—had become the dominant nomadic power in the area, using the Badlands terrain, called Makhóšiča in their language, as hunting grounds for bison, elk, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. The Crow tribe historically contested this territory with the Sioux and Three Affiliated Tribes for hunting and transit. The Three Affiliated Tribes, who maintained permanent earthlodge villages further east along the Missouri River, established seasonal hunting camps in this area. The rugged Badlands served as a major travel corridor for Lakota war parties moving between the Missouri River and Crow territories to the west. On August 8, 1864, a coalition of Lakota, Yanktonai, and Dakota Sioux attacked General Alfred Sully's troops at nearby Sully's Waterhole during the Northwest Indian Expedition. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie established the Great Sioux Reservation, which included lands in this region, though these rights were later curtailed by the U.S. government. The Lake Traverse Treaty of 1867 established the reservation for the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands in the immediate vicinity of what would become the National Grassland. During the Northern Sioux Wars from 1862 to 1879, the Sioux used the Badlands terrain as a defensive stronghold against U.S. military incursions.

The landscape experienced dramatic change during the early twentieth century. In 1931, the Forest Service established the Denbigh Experimental Forest within the area to study tree survival in the prairie environment. By the 1930s, the region had become characterized by failed homesteads and severe soil erosion. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Orders 6909 and 6910, issued on November 21 and November 26, 1934, respectively, the federal government withdrew public lands in North Dakota and South Dakota from settlement and entry for conservation and grazing projects. The federal government subsequently purchased failed homesteads in this region under the authority of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 to restore the grasslands and prevent further soil erosion. Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 provided the permanent legal framework for management of these reacquired "Land Utilization Projects." In 1954, management of these lands was transferred from the Soil Conservation Service to the U.S. Forest Service. In 1960, the Secretary of Agriculture officially designated these areas as "National Grasslands" under the Bankhead-Jones Act.

The area now designated as Dawsons Waterhole became part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, which was officially established as a separate administrative unit of the U.S. Forest Service in 1998, having previously been administered as part of the Custer National Forest based in Billings, Montana. The Dakota Prairie Grasslands currently consists of four distinct National Grasslands across North Dakota and South Dakota, including the Little Missouri National Grassland, which contains the Dawsons Waterhole roadless area within the Medora Ranger District in Billings County. In 2001, this 6,087-acre area was protected as an Inventoried Roadless Area under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

Headwater Integrity for Great Plains Waterways

The Crooked Creek–Little Missouri River headwaters and Franks Creek originate within this roadless area, making it a critical source of unimpaired water for downstream ecosystems and communities. The area's hilly terrain and draw systems (Hay Draw, Wolf Draw) naturally filter and regulate water flow across the Great Plains landscape. Road construction would introduce chronic sedimentation from cut slopes and disturbed soils, degrading water quality for the entire downstream network and impairing the spawning and rearing habitat of native fish species that depend on clear, cool water.

Northern Long-Eared Bat Maternity and Foraging Habitat

The Western Great Plains Dry Bur Oak Forest and Woodland within this roadless area provides essential roosting and foraging habitat for the federally endangered Northern Long-Eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis). This species requires intact forest canopy and connected riparian corridors to hunt insects over water and navigate between roosting sites. Road construction fragments this habitat, creating edge effects that expose bats to predation and disrupt the acoustic and thermal conditions they depend on for navigation and feeding. The loss of canopy connectivity in this lowland forest system cannot be restored on ecological timescales relevant to bat population recovery.

Prairie Pothole Wetland Complex and Waterfowl Breeding Habitat

The shrubland and wooded draw ecosystems within Dawsons Waterhole support the hydrological function of the Great Plains pothole wetlands, which are critical breeding grounds for migratory waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. The area's natural hydrology—shaped by its hilly terrain and draw systems—maintains seasonal water availability that sustains these wetlands through drought cycles. Road construction and associated fill would disrupt groundwater flow and surface drainage patterns, causing chronic hydrological stress to wetland-upland transition zones and reducing the area's capacity to buffer against climate-driven shifts in precipitation.

Monarch Butterfly and Native Pollinator Breeding Grounds

The Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie within this roadless area provides essential milkweed and native flowering plant communities that sustain populations of the proposed threatened Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the proposed endangered Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi). Road construction introduces invasive annual grasses—particularly cheatgrass—which outcompete native forbs in disturbed corridors and reduce the nectar and host plant resources these species require for breeding and migration. Once cheatgrass establishes in road corridors, native plant recovery is extremely difficult, as the invasive species alters soil chemistry and fire regimes across the surrounding grassland.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation and Water Quality Degradation in Headwater Streams

Road construction requires cutting slopes through the hilly terrain to establish grades, exposing bare soil and subsoil across the draw systems. Erosion from these cut slopes delivers fine sediment directly into Crooked Creek, Franks Creek, and their tributaries during precipitation events. This chronic sedimentation smothers spawning substrates, reduces light penetration, and elevates turbidity—conditions that harm native fish species and aquatic invertebrates that depend on clear water. The headwater location of this area means that sedimentation occurs at the source of the drainage network, where impacts are most difficult to mitigate and affect water quality for the entire downstream system.

Habitat Fragmentation and Loss of Forest Connectivity for Northern Long-Eared Bats

Road construction fragments the continuous bur oak forest and riparian woodland, breaking the connected corridors that federally endangered Northern Long-Eared Bats use to move between roosting sites and foraging areas. The road corridor itself creates an edge effect—a zone of increased light, wind, and predation risk—that bats avoid, effectively isolating populations on either side of the road. In a lowland forest system where suitable habitat is already limited by the Great Plains landscape, this fragmentation reduces the functional size of available habitat and increases the energetic cost of foraging, making the population more vulnerable to starvation and local extinction.

Hydrological Disruption of Pothole Wetlands Through Fill and Drainage Alteration

Road construction across the draw systems requires fill material to raise the roadbed above seasonal water tables, which blocks natural groundwater flow and alters surface drainage patterns. This disruption reduces water availability to adjacent pothole wetlands during critical breeding seasons for waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. In a region already experiencing climate-driven shifts toward drier summer conditions and more variable precipitation, the loss of natural hydrological connectivity makes remaining wetlands more vulnerable to drought and reduces their capacity to support breeding populations of migratory birds.

Invasive Species Establishment and Native Prairie Degradation

Road construction creates a disturbed corridor of bare soil and compacted ground that provides ideal conditions for invasive annual grasses, particularly cheatgrass, to establish and spread into surrounding native mixedgrass prairie. Once established in the road corridor, cheatgrass alters soil chemistry and fire regimes, preventing native forbs—including milkweed species critical to Monarch butterflies and native flowering plants essential to Suckley's cuckoo bumble bees—from recovering. The road corridor becomes a permanent vector for invasive species expansion, degrading the breeding habitat for these federally protected pollinators across an expanding zone of influence that extends far beyond the road surface itself.

Dawsons Waterhole encompasses 6,087 acres of hilly terrain in the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, featuring the wooded draws of Hay Draw and Wolf Draw within a landscape of mixed-grass prairie and badlands. The roadless condition here preserves hunting and birding opportunities that depend on undisturbed habitat and access without motorized intrusion.

Hunting

Dawsons Waterhole lies within North Dakota Deer Hunting Unit 3D1, which supports both whitetail and mule deer. Whitetails inhabit the brushy creek bottoms and draws; mule deer range along the western edge of the unit and are considered a secondary but high-potential species here. The wooded draws provide essential cover and water sources for big game across the mixed-grass prairie. Upland bird hunters pursue sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, and ring-necked pheasant in the grassland and shrubland. Waterfowl hunters work the region during the Central Flyway migration, targeting Canada geese, snow geese, mallards, pintails, gadwalls, and blue-winged teal. Furbearers including coyote, red fox, bobcat, raccoon, muskrat, and beaver are also present. Seasons follow North Dakota Game and Fish Department regulations: deer archery opens in late August, gun season runs for 16.5 days in November, and muzzleloader follows in late November and December. Upland game seasons open in mid-September for grouse and partridge, early October for pheasant. Waterfowl resident season opens in late September. Access to the interior requires non-motorized travel—hiking or horseback—since motorized use is prohibited in the roadless area. This restriction preserves the quiet, unfragmented habitat that makes the draws and ridges effective for stalking and calling.

Birding

The area supports grassland specialties including lark bunting, chestnut-collared longspur, upland sandpiper, and sharp-tailed grouse. Golden eagles and prairie falcons hunt the badlands and wooded draws. Whooping cranes pass through during migration. The draws host say's phoebe, rock wren, and lazuli bunting. Spring migration in May brings warblers and shorebirds, including American bittern and sora. The first three weeks of June are peak for breeding prairie species such as Baird's sparrow and Sprague's pipit. Fall migration in September and October concentrates lapland longspurs and waterfowl. Winter residents include townsend's solitaire, Bohemian waxwing, and golden eagle. The nearest documented eBird hotspots—Buffalo Gap Campground and 31st Street Prairie—record over 100 species each and represent the same ecosystem types found within the roadless area. Birding here is primitive and off-trail; the roadless condition maintains the interior forest and grassland quiet necessary for locating and observing species by sound and behavior.

Paddling

The Little Missouri River, North Dakota's only designated State Scenic River, flows through the region and offers canoeing and kayaking. May and June provide the best conditions, when spring rains and snowmelt support adequate flow. Fair boating requires at least 2.5 feet of depth at the Medora gauge (699 cubic feet per second); good boating requires 2.5 to 3.5 feet (699–1,500 cfs). Outside these months, low water forces frequent dragging through shallows, and some sections may dry completely. Regional put-in and take-out points include Medora to the south and Long X Bridge on U.S. Highway 85 to the north. No specific access points are documented within the roadless area itself. The roadless condition preserves the undisturbed riparian corridor and watershed integrity that support the river's scenic and recreational value.