Days 26 and 27 - Bully for Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Mary and I spent yesterday and several hours today at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. You undoubtedly have heard of the Badlands of South Dakota. Well, these are the Badlands North. You sail along on the interstate through grassy plains (with scattered well rigs) for miles, and then all of a sudden there are these multi-colored holes in the ground. They are not as deep as the Grand Canyon but still impressive.

South Unit, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

President Theodore Roosevelt was a champion of national parks, but he did not create this one. The area received federal protection only after his death. It is named for him, though, because he spent time in the area as a cattle rancher in the early 1880's. After an initial visit, he returned to recoup after his wife and mother died the same day in 1884. However, two years of harsh winters killed most of his stock and ruined the ranching plans. The park has a South Unit, a North Unit and a small isolated section where Teddy had built his Elkhorn Ranch.

History Lecturer and Birder

On Sunday morning, we woke to cloudy, dripping skies but headed out to the South Unit, anyway. Early into the 36-mile circuit drive through the park, the rain got intermittently heavier, and finally not so intermittent. We chalked the drive up to a scouting visit and headed back to town, but not before saying hello to this elderly gentleman.

Wet Bison

Back in Dickinson, we drove around downtown. That took five minutes. Then we decided to check out a local dinosaur museum. It was a bit overpriced at $8 and padded with a mineral collection, but they did have some real Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops bones from local digs. Skies were clearing by the time we finished, so we headed back out to the park.

This Skull Is the Real Deal

This time, we really were able to enjoy the colors of the stratified rock at the overlooks and during a couple of short hikes. We learned that the soft gray rock is called Bentonite and is easily eroded by the rain. It actually can create a dangerous soup for walking in when wet, but it did not really rain all that much on Sunday. Orange-colored rocks are called Scoria and have iron deposits that make then harder. Dark gray strata are coal beds, and these sometimes catch fire from lightning and burn for years, forming depressions in the terrain. So enough of the geology, enjoy a couple of pics.

Rock Strata at South Unit

Painted Canyon

The Lazuli Bunting was quite colorful, too, and we did encounter some road hazards on our way out.

Lazuli Bunting

Road Hazards

Monday dawned clear and warm. We traveled up U.S. 85 with several tanker trucks for 50 miles to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt. This unit is more isolated and apparently visited by few people, but we thought it was the more awesome of the two main sections. It is a badlands canyon formed by the Little Missouri River, so you have beautiful rock formations combined with more extensive riparian habitat. Also, things are pretty lush due to a wetter-than-normal spring.

Mary and Bentonite

The varied habitat of the North Unit, which also includes some prairie grasslands as the west end, made for more birds. Numerous Lark Sparrows and Field Sparrows sang throughout the park, and we saw some eastern birds like American Kestrel, Bobolink, Baltimore Oriole and Yellow-breasted Chat. The Rock Wren below offered a spirited singing performance, too. We enjoyed the drive through the prairie habitat, especially since we were too fried to explore the interior of the Little Missouri National Grasslands next door.

Little Missouri River Vista

Rock Wren Serenader

Let us just say that our visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park was, in a word, "Bully!"