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North Dakota Badlands
That's the Theodore Roosevelt National Park ahead.We left Lewis & Clark State Park on June 19, and headed south. We have about 2 weeks before we are due in Idaho, and our plan is to head down to Colorado to do some exploring. We have been on several ski trips to CO, but haven’t spent much time there in the summer. Our first stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND.
Teddy Roosevelt came to the N Dakota badlands in 1883 to hunt bison, only to find the population had been almost hunted into extinction. He became very enamored with the lush grasslands and beautiful rock formations in the area, and before he left he bought a cattle ranch, followed by the purchase of a second ranch the following year. When his wife and mother died (on the same day) in 1884, Roosevelt returned to his ranch to recover from his loss, and spent the next two years working and living on the ranch. His experiences in North Dakota are believed to have been the foundation of his active interest and participation in the conservation and preservation of the natural resources of the country, culmination with the establishment of the U S Forestry Service during his
Prairie Dog Village
Inside the park there we found several groups of hundreds of these little critters. presidency.
The National Park was established in 1978 and covers 110 square miles. We stayed in the Cottonwood campground in the southern section of the park. The camp was in a level grassy area surrounded by beautiful cliffs and rock formations. We took the 36 mile scenic driving tour around the park, and were treated to great scenery and sightings of bison, deer, pronghorn antelope, wild horses and prairie dogs. It was a long drive after having been on the road all day, but it was well worth it. It is quite a beautiful place.
After one night in the park, we continued south through the rolling cattle and farming country of northwestern South Dakota and finally to the small town of Belle Fourche, SD on the northern edge of the Black Hills. As much as we like Mount Rushmore and the rest of the Black Hills, we had been there several times in recent years, so we opted to continue on southward. We passed through the neat little resort town of Spearfish, took the scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon , and made the long climb out of the canyon up to the Wyoming border.
We spent the night
The Town Crier
This little guy was apparently the designated lookout for the group. When we approached, he sounded the alarm and everybody scooted to their hole. at a very forgettable commercial campground in Lutz, WY, and early the next morning hit the road, still headed south. We could see the snow-covered peaks of the Colorado Eastern Range well before we reached Cheyenne. By noon, we were at the Colorado border, ready for our Rocky Mountain adventure.
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