Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park

From Glentana we set out across the Badlands (early French explorers named this area “mauvais terres a traverse”)- more Big Sky Montana countryside and into North Dakota. The journey was long and hot; we have had temperatures into the 100’s for several days now, which is not very comfortable! If the heat continues we will have to limit our riding hours to the mornings only, which will delay our schedule. Our destination for the evening of 7th August was the Southern end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park - this was a real treat. The park is dedicated to the 26th president, and is about 70,000 acres in area. The landscape is very different from anything we had seen so far, but beautiful in its own way. A resident herd of bison/buffalo roamed quite happily across the roads and into our campsite - quite a regular occurrence apparently. Bison are the largest native land mammals in North America, with the bulls weighing up to a ton and standing 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Hardly surprising, then, that they didn’t appear at all bothered by our presence in their territory!

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