We Came All The Way To North Dakota For This National Park

Teddy Roosevelt National Park is literally just down the street from where we are staying in Medora.  Or at least the South Unit is.  There are three parts to the park.  We visited the largest section today.  Another is about an hour away and smaller, but the landscape is described as more dramatic.  We plan to drive there tomorrow.  The third section is not recommended for regular cars.

TRNP is a bit out of the way which keeps park visits low.  There is no major city nearby.

According to historians this is where Theodore Roosevelt came and stayed to rejuvenate after his wife died in child birth and his mother succumbed to tuberculosis on the same day.  The landscape is breathtaking and harsh.

It houses a herd of Bison.  There is a road system.  It consists of the park loop road and a few other roads which lead to some trails.  However, there are plenty of parts of the park you can only get to on foot.  We saw two Bison, both bulls.  The herd used the road system at some point in the morning.  They left behind their calling cards, but we did not see it.

There are also Prairie Dogs.  It's a much bigger colony.  There are also herds of wild horses. 

The larger herd up on the ridge might be extras in a movie.  That's a separate group from the 7 who are grazing in another Prairie Dog colony.

And despite all of the rocks there are fields of  spring wild flowers that grow near cactus.

We plan to head back to the park at sunset and hike into a point that is recommended for that.