Theodore Roosevelt National Park

July 23-26, 2017

Theodore Roosevelt had hunted bison and raised cattle in the area around Medora, ND.  Those were among the experiences that led Roosevelt to pursue the preservation efforts that brought us the National Forest Service, 18 national monuments, five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves.  This park was established in 1947 in Roosevelt’s honor.

The first cabin built for him has been moved to the Park.

The park itself is badlands carved by the Little Missouri River through sedimentary rocks.  The long views are as stunning as those we saw at Badlands National Park but feature different colors and more vegetation.

On a closer level, the park hosts a variety of wildlife.

Prairie dogs

Bison

We were very taken with this calf.

We even videoed him nursing.  The sounds are the adults around him.

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Those sounds really carry!  We could hear this distant herd as we hiked.

We left the park to access its petrified forest, and on the way passed several working oil wells.

Photos from most of our hikes in TRNP showed long views, geology, and so on.  We want to share these two didn’t seem to fit in other categories.