Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We started our epic Great Plains trip by making the very long journey to North Dakota. The Dakotas are named after the Dakota Tribe, allies of the Lakota Tribe, and often referred to as the Sioux.

We started the day off early in Fargo for breakfast and then drove straight across the state.  The sunflower fields and many small lakes made for a beautiful drive to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We did make a few stops along the way including a stop to see the World's Largest Buffalo and play some poker at the Frontier Village in Jamestown, ND.

We finally arrived at  the main entrance of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is located next to downtown Medora ND.  This park is often referred to as the North Dakota Badlands and there are two units to the park with the North unit roughly 80 miles to the north of the main entrance.  The units are connected by the Little Missouri River and the Maah Daah Hey Trail.  
We drove through check in at the Cottonwood Campground in the south unit. This is a dry campground meaning that there are no hook-ups. Our large site included a grill, picnic table, and trail to the Little Missouri River. The bath houses had toilets and sinks only, and there were multiple locations where you could fill your water jugs.

​This was our first attempt at dry camping and we made a few mistakes. We could have filled the Cricket's water tank and used battery power to run the water pump, but we didn't. We hauled a three gallon jug for drinking and cleaning instead. ​ Next time, we will make sure to use the water tank and batter power better.

This campground was a lot fun.  We really enjoyed our first stay in a National Park.  We walked to the river several times where we cooled off and the kids had fun playing in the mud.  We also rode our bikes around to explore the park, and we attended a ranger talk each night we stayed at the campground.  The ranger talks were something that we were not aware of and they were excellent!  The first night a ranger talked about invasive species and how the parks were combatting this terrible issue and the next night the topic was the history of women in the National Parks. Fascinating stuff! We woke on our last day in the park to find a large bull bison grazing 100 feet from our campsite.  Luckily it did not care about us and continued eating. 

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The park - both the North and South Units - are beautiful. ​

We explored the South Unit on day one. We collected our junior ranger books at the visitor center in Medora and headed out on the 36 mile scenic drive. We did have to drive over I-94, which was disappointing to see cutting across a National Park, but we forgot it quickly as we approached a prairie dog town. Photographing them was like playing a real life whack-a-mole game. They would pop up and move or disappear before we got the photo we wanted. We could have watched their cuteness for hours. We also spotted bison and deer and did a couple enjoyable hikes including the Ridgeline Trail and the Old Entrance walk through a prairie dog town. We otherwise drove the scenic route, enjoyed the overlooks, and completed the kids Junior Ranger programs. ​

Day two of TRNP, we drove the 80 mile trip to the North Unit.  Here the scenic route is out and back and we got an early start by first checking in with the ranger. for trip recommendations. The South Unit Ranger station is much larger than the North Unit and you should stop at both stations for information about the park. Following the ranger's recommendation, we hiked the Little Missouri Trail and Caprock Coulee Trail. The valley at the North Unit overlooks the badlands canyon being cut by the Little Missouri River with great views. The bison population is large in this park and we were stopped three times by passing herds. The park has a nice picnic area where we took a mid-day break and got fresh water for the afternoon. ​

We did tour Medora briefly. Although we didn't eat anyplace in town, there was a number of options available and most had solid reviews on Yelp. We explored a few of the tourist shops which seemed to be typical.  Our favorite stop may have been the Medora Convenience Store. They had a bit of everything and the only gas in town. This is an ideal stop if you need supplies of any sort. ​

By Monday morning we decided that dry camping can be an option for us. We won't go so far as to say that it's our preferred method of camping, but in the right location, with the right weather, it would work. We would certainly revisit Theodore Roosevelt National Park again if we find ourselves with the opportunity.

Stay tuned to see how our epic Great Plains tour continues into South Dakota! ​