Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Winter

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of the prettiest places in North Dakota. I really had never gone to take photos of it during the winter months so with a nice, warm day of mid 40s on the forecast, I headed out to see what I could get for photos when there was a little snow still on the ground.

During this time of year, many of the roads are closed in the Park because of ice and snow when you get into the very steep parts of the Park. However, the lower area is all open and accessible which still makes a trip worthwhile. I headed to the South Unit which has more roads in the low areas than the North Unit.

The animals are hiding a bit more this time of year so the bison, horses and prairie dogs are a little harder to find. The always skittish mule deer are almost impossible to locate except from a significant distance. However, you can still get lucky and spot a few if you're looking. I did see some deer but by the time I got my camera on them they were boucing over a hill. Managed to see a couple bison but they were off in the distance. Saw several wild horses and numerous prairie dogs.

Overall, it was a nice way to spend a few hours. I would have loved to have gotten into the higher areas of the park but the roads were icy in spots where the sun had not melted the ice yet. You don't want to go off an edge on the high points! The Little Missouri River is also frozen over this time of year.

The Badlands in the Park are not at their most colorful during the winter months. That happens in the Spring and Summer when the greens of the vegetation help bring out the red, blues and browns of the rock. I'll definitely be back in the Spring for some more photos.

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Photos

ND Badlands 4
Odd formation.

Comments

[alpinemel]

winter isn't so bad in ND :)
see winter isn't even that horrible in ND, the badlands look great