In Honor of a President
This is the second blog in the "Yellowstone and Grand Tetons" series, describing our experience visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). While planning the route to Yellowstone, I realized we could hit another National Park (thus getting more out of our National Park pass 😏) if we routed through Medora, ND. I added an extra day to the itinerary and found a great RV Park within walking distance to downtown Medora.
The only U.S. national park named after a person—America's 26th president—Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) was established in North Dakota by Harry S. Truman in 1947. The park honors Roosevelt, who lived as a ranchman in the Dakota Territory in the 1880s and, as president, conserved 230 million acres of public land for future generations.
The park is made up of three units; The North Unit, South Unit, and Elkhorn Ranch. Located along Interstate 94, the South Unit is the park's most visited area. There are two visitor centers, a scenic drive, hiking trails, and plenty of watchable wildlife entice visitors to stay a while. Given the distances, the best and really only way to see the park is driving via car. Of course if you're into back country hiking and camping, there are plenty of options there as well.
Within a few minutes of entering the park we encountered a traffic slow down - be sure to watch for cars making sudden stops! As shown below in the slide show, there was a bison on the side of the road - less than 15 feet from the pavement! Of course there are numerous warnings online, in the guides and signed on the road about not approaching animals - especially the bison - and of course right away we saw people parking on the side of the road and walking toward the bison. What can I say, natural selection at work.
And while many people refer to the animals shown above as Buffalo - all animals that look like this in the Americas are actually Bison. More about Bison vs Buffalo.
The American bison was once critically endangered and nearly went extinct. In fact Roosevelt was one person who was instrumental in saving the species from extinction. Though both units of the park can easily carry larger numbers of bison, park managers have currently set herd size at approximately 200 to 400 animals for the South Unit and 100 to 300 for the North Unit to maintain healthy range conditions.
Not much further on, we came upon the first of several Prairie Dog Towns. Yep, they just kinda pop up and look around, making a few squeaks now and then. Just like the Bison, best to keep your distance and respect their space. And it pains me to have to say this - DO NOT FEED THEM.
Just like most National Parks, of course there are numerous trails. There are quite a few trails for the size of the park, however most of them are only accessible by car. This great Hiking Guide published by the park is very useful. We ventured out on the Jones Creek Trail where we saw wild horses, and the Boicourt Trail/Overlook.
But the thing I always come back to are the painted rocks, thus making TRNP known as the 'badlands of North Dakota'. It's a great day of exploring for sure!
Next, we arrive in Yellowstone!
Have you ever spent any time at TRNP? How about Medora? Leave your comments below! Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us.
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