Our primary reason for being here is to visit the Theodore Roosevelt NP (our 56th NP). The park is split into three units. The south unit is right along the north side of I-94 and is the most visited portion of the park. The North unit is about 60 miles north and runs along the Little Missouri. The last unit is a small portion of Elk Horn Ranch, Theodore Roosevelts former ranch. But it is way out of the way and there is nothing left of the ranch except some old foundations. The entrance to the south unit is in town. We stopped at the visitor center to get some information and to collect our passport stamps, post cards and a hat. We looked over the maps and talked with the rangers about hiking trails in the park. The rangers said the ticks were particularly bad at this time which is why they don’t hike in the park this time of year. That was enough for us! If the rangers won’t go hiking, we were not going to chance it. So, we drove the scenic loop. Unfortunately, it was not a complete loop because they had 1/3 of the loop closed for construction. Along the drive, we saw 4 groups of wild horses, 4 herds of bison (three of them right on the road) and hundreds of prairie dogs. The bison on the road walked right past the truck, so close we could have reached out and petted them (but didn’t!). We felt sorry for the poor things because they were covered in thousands of flies. One flinched while it was passing us on the road and a dark cloud of flies lifted off from its hide, hovered for a second before settling back onto the poor beasts back. Some of the bulls were massive. One looked like it was about to square off and charge into the front of the Behemoth. But it moved off to the side and we slipped on by. By far the highest number of bison we have seen in any of the parks we have visited and closer than we would ever wish to be again! There were several paved trails we walked out to scenic points and the second highest point in the park. Along one we could see a massive lone bull Bison standing on a ridge. There was a dirt trail going out towards him, but we did not feel that getting closer to him would be a good idea.
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| Entrance Sign |
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| Wild Horses |
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| Prairie Dog |
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| Rock formations |
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| Little Missouri River valley |
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| Grasslands |
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| Lone Bull |
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| Badlands |
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| Bison |
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| Young Bull |
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| This is my road! |
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