Theodore Roosevelt National Park - North Unit

Aug. 9
We'd been rolling over hwy. 85 for about 70 miles, through the edge of the Little Missouri National Grasslands, contemplating all the petroleum wells and storage tanks, intermixed with golden fields of wheat. We were commenting on how the tanks added variety to the seemingly constant rolling and otherwise flat green of the prairie when suddenly . . . Wow! what a view. This was our first glimpse of The Badlands, in the north unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

After all that flat, velvety green  grassland the deeply cut valley and colored hills were quite a surprise.

As an aside, relative to the recent bevy of activity in the oil fields here, North Dakota has done an exceptional job of keeping their roads in good shape in spite of all the oil field trucks. . . unlike Texas. We talked to a resident who said when all the activity heated up the state set aside a fund just to keep the infrastructure maintained. Smart politicians.

Arriving early made it easy to locate a campsite, so we dropped the trailer, had lunch, then headed out to the visitor center. It's housed in temporary buildings at the moment, but it looks like they'll soon be moving into a nice new log structure.

The scenic drive through the park is amazing. From lush prairie to fantastically eroded sandstone forms, views of the Little Missouri River at the bottom of the canyon, and BUFFALO!

We captured a couple of solitary fellows who were grazing fairly close to the road, and a small herd that was lower down in the canyon.

The vastness of the canyons, the depth of color and the amazing intricacy of the eroded cliffs are difficult to capture in photographs.

Even with a panorama photo, there is still that bit missing on the side that impacts the rest of the view. If you are a lover of wide vistas, this park's for you!

The contrast of blue sagebrush, golden and ruddy prairie grasses, and the jewel tones of the eroded mudstone layers would inspire any artist.

Not to mention the strange geologic formations that go beyond interesting erosion. This group of "bowling balls" is right at the entrance to our campground. On our drive through the park we saw mushroom shapes, tall spires, and layer cakes. Fascinating!

These Badlands are one of Mother Nature's finest accomplishments.

  (Click on any photo and it will take you into the photo album, where there are more photos of the area)

One can easily understand how Theodore Roosevelt became so enamoured with this area. The scenery is fantastic, the wildlife abundant (even more so in his day) and ranching here would certainly have provided the challenge he was looking for at that a time in his life.

For those who don't know TR's life story, the tragedy that drove him to seek hard work and solitude occurred when he was only 23, when his young wife died after giving birth to their first child. His mother died only a few hours later, in the same house. He was so distraught he left the baby with his sister to care for until he returned, and headed west. (A brief biography of Theodore Roosevelt can be found here)

We took a brief siesta in the afternoon, and when we awoke the beautiful sunny skies had been exchanged for Payne's gray - and some fantastic cloud forms. If I'd painted clouds like that no one would believe it.

A thunderstorm soon followed, so after enjoying the sounds and lightening show for awhile under the awning (fortunately Texas dogs are used to this sort of thing) we, and the dogs, all moved inside.
The North Unit album is here
We'll move on to the south unit of the park tomorrow.