Medora, North Dakota

We drove just north of Medora to visit the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park covers 110 square miles in the badlands of western North Dakota.

We had never heard of the park until other RVers mentioned it. It’s a stunning park, and I’m glad we visited it yesterday. The park was ‘bully’! (Bully was the word Roosevelt used to strongly emphasize a positive.)

At the visitor center, we learned about Teddy Roosevelt’s life and how he came to North Dakota.

Excerpts from Wikipedia:

Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota badlands to hunt bison in September 1883. During that first short trip, he got his bison and fell in love with the rugged lifestyle and the “perfect freedom” of the West. He invested a cattle ranch seven miles south of Medora.

Following the death of both his wife (a few days after childbirth) and mother (from Typhoid) on February 14, 1884, Roosevelt returned to his North Dakota ranch seeking solitude and time to heal.  

His adventures in “the strenuous life” outdoors and the loss of his cattle in the starvation winter in 1886-1887 were influential in Theodore Roosevelt’s pursuit of conservation policies as President of the United States (1901–1909).

We drove along a 35 mile route around the southern section of the park and saw lots of wildlife.

Prairie Dogs

We watched hundreds of them squawking and talking to one another as they worked on their burrows. 

Bison

These are my favorite animals to see in the wild. One walked down the street without a care in the world. The others were grazing peacefully among friends.

Mule Deer & Wild Turkeys

We also saw mule deer, a doe with twin fawns. They were camera shy so I didn’t get a picture.

And we saw a couple of wild turkeys. I didn’t get a picture, but here’s one I ‘harvested’ off of the Internet.

The geology of the park was amazing. Here are a few pictures…

Sophie and I discovered this survey marker on the top of a small hill where the buffalo often roam (and poop).