Many people are not familiar with Theodore Roosevelt NP and we knew little about its attractions or how it was created. As president (from 1901-1909), Teddy created the US Forest Service, 18 National Parks, and worked with Congress to create an additional 5 National Parks. The park was created in 1947 in recognition of his contributions to land preservation and conservation. Teddy Roosevelt came to love the rugged beauty of outdoors when he first visited the Dakota Territory nearly 20 years before he became president. He returned a year later, grieving for his mother and wife who died on the same day. He bought some land and became a rancher, and even though his ranch ultimately failed, he returned many times to his much-loved western territory.
The park itself is divided into the South and the North Units. The South area is the more developed and is closer to “civilization”, while the North is more remote and untouched. Our first foray into the South Unit was marred by extremely heavy smoke drifting in from the wildfires in Canada. We had to scrap our hiking and scenic drive plans because of the unhealthy air quality and poor visibility. Lucky for us, it rained that night and the smoke cleared. We were then able to see what Teddy Roosevelt found so appealing.
We found beautiful vistas of the Badlands, carved by the Little Missouri River, prairies, wildflowers, and unusual rock formations. The colors of the painted canyon trail were amazing. We saw hundreds of prairie dogs that live in “towns” along the grasslands. We also encountered wild horses, and of course, many bison. They occasionally cause some traffic jams as they meander down the road and we gave them a wide berth as they are huge, fast and not as docile as they appear. We turned around on one of our hikes as a large bull decided to lie down on the trail and who were we to ask him to move! On one of our walks, we were able to see some of the efforts of the CCCs in one of the Overlook shelters that was constructed in the 1930’s and still standing with an magnificent view of the valley.
We scored some ice cream at a small western town called Medora and had a great breakfast in Belfield called Trappers Kettle. That restaurant had many rustic artifacts from the trapping era and at least three dozen trophy mounts that takes visitors back to days when the frontier was wild and untamed.
What a great national park and I think Teddy Roosevelt would be proud of this park bearing his name.
