North Dakota! We've checked every single Dakota off the list. If this picture looks like South Dakota to you it's because North Dakota looks an awful lot like South Dakota.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the ONLY NP to be named for a person. So it has that going for it... which is nice. Park access is kinda discombobulated. As we drove towards the visitor's center on Hwy 94 we passed an unanticipated visitor's center (Painted Hills Visitor's Center) and our confusion began. We were, at this point, unsure if we were actually heading to the visitor's center, or if we had just passed it. Fortunately, we had the google. Turns out Painted Hills VC is indeed a park visitor's center, but there is limited/no access to the main body of the park from there. We had chosen wisely.
This park is actually split into 3 parts. The North Unit, the South Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch site. After reading about the park we decided that we wanted to do some exploration at the South Unit, and driving up to the other two wasn't worth it on this trip.
We arrived at the South Unit VC (from which there is indeed park access) and hopped out to refill our water bottles! It was warm, but not blazingly hot like the Badlands. We discovered that this VC actually has Teddy Roosevelt's cabin located out behind which has been preserved and can be toured by tourists (the self-guided tour takes about 2 minutes... it is a small cabin!). The VC had (as all good VCs do) a video that visitors can watch which gives the background on the park. We opted out of watching the video because we wanted to get out and see what the park had to offer!
The south unit is accessed via the East River Rd and the Scenic Loop Drive which will take you through most of the park. We decided to head East on Scenic Loop Drive, check out some overlooks, and stop at the Ridgeline Nature Trail for a self-guided tour! On the drive we passed a few people, quite a few buffalo, and many many prairie dogs! We also some some wild horses on the way back out! We also stopped at several of the overlooks for pictures.
The Ridgeline Nature Trail pullout has a trailhead interpretative center with paper pamphlets to guide you on the tour. The parking isn't ideal, but if you can find a spot the trailhead is easy to spot. Once we got out on the trail we were able to (mostly) find the guideposts that correspond with the short descriptions in the pamphlet. We did have some trouble following the trail when the trail split as there was no map and it wasn't well marked, but the guideposts got us through! The pamphlet had interesting overviews of how the prairie ecosystem lives and breathes, and the challenges it faces in the future. Well worth the hour or so we spent exploring the life of the prairie.
After completing our tour we went to one final overlook, took a few more pictures, and headed back out. We would have stayed longer, but we felt like we had experienced a sufficient overview of the charms the park had to offer, and we were ready to move on to the next adventure.
Personnel:
We didn't actually speak to any park personnel at this NP. However, during our stay at the VC, we saw many industrious park rangers hard at work helping guests, painting fences, and maintaining the facilities in tip top shape. We could tell they were dedicated to keeping the park in pristine condition.
Facilities/signage:
The bathrooms were acceptable and unremarkable. Definitely nothing to complain about or brag about. The entrance sign was kinda in a weird spot (right next to a cowboy museum) but sign itself was a standard NP sign. Within the park there seemed to be a slightly below average amount of directional signage, but, in their defense, it is pretty hard to get lost with only 1 way in/out. The trail was really where the lack of signage was noticeable.
Hiking trail experience:
The trail was quite well made and maintained. There was a lot of thought put into the trail pathing to get a good overview of the prairie with a nice overlook in the middle. The only difficulty we found was that people had often created their own trails (which were sometimes hard to distinguish from the correct trail) and where the trail split to form a loop it wasn't clear what was happening (no map or signage.) That said, it was really neat to be able to explore the prairie while learning about what we were seeing from the pamphlet, well worth the time spent discussing where we were supposed to go!
The road was quite twisty, so travel was a bit slow. There were several pullouts, but they tended to be widely spaced, and due to the narrow road turning around can take some time. The views from the road are scenic but not spectacular, and we did see plenty of wildlife as we drove.
Camping options:
We passed one campground while we were driving, there may have been others, but we didn't research that too heavily. We stayed in the town of Bowman at a truck stop, sleeping in the pickup again (we are getting quite proficient at it!). After visiting the park we headed out and slept (in the pickup again!) in Tower City, ND.
Hammockability:
There were definitely trees here, but where we were the trees didn't provide much seclusion. I would have felt uncomfortable hammocking there. The campground seemed to have more trees and may have been better suited to setting up a hammock.
Scenery:
The scenery here was more of a rolling hills prairie feel, with a few small pockets of badlands tucked away here and there, waiting to be discovered. It felt like a smaller, hillier combination of the Wind Cave prairie and the Badlands.
Nearby food:
The town of Medora has quite a few food options, everything from the Cowboy Cafe to the Medora Convenience Store.
This NP was a very unique tribute to Theodore Roosevelt (who was instrumental in the establishment of the National Park system). While the scenery wasn't necessarily breathtaking (although it was beautiful), this was the place where he spent time, and that he loved, and it was awesome to be able to experience a piece of that. Similar to the previous two NPs, I wouldn't plan a trip just to come here, but if I were here, I would definitely swing by.
Up next, the long drive to Minnesota and Voyageurs National Park!
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