Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Scenic Drive

One of the side roads led to this area.  A short uphill hike and you had tremendous views of the area.  Here we could see some bison coming down the draw just right of center.  They only appear in the enlarged image as dots.

Looking west over.

More wild horses.

The Little Missouri River.  The campground is the wooded area to the right of the river.

The remains of a meat packing plant in Medora.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Scenic Drive

As with many scenic drives, there were numerous opportunities to get out, take pictures and take short hikes.  I stopped at this place because I found it interesting.  Some of the layers that make up the area are composed of coal.  Here, one of the coal seams was ignited by a lightning strike.  It burned slowly for decades until finally going out sometime in the 1970s.  People would bring marshmallows out to cook over the burning coal.

The start of the trail.  The area where the coal burned is in the valley on the left of the picture. 

The coal burned back through this area.  After it burned, the overlying layers settled over the newly open space.  There is another layer of coal that was above the one that burned.  You can't really see it because it is pretty thin, but it is at the top of the grey area in the center of the picture.

 An overlook during the hike.  The drop off on the other side of the tree was pretty severe.

 On of the many coulees in the area.

After getting back in the car, I saw my first bison.  I would see plenty more.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Scenic Drive

 Another prairie dog.

The interior of the park showing the road I just came in on.

 Looking the other way.

Wild horses roam the park.  I was fortunate enough to see some.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Scenic Drive

I did not make it to the Northern or Elkhorn Ranch Units of the park.  The part I was at had a 36 mile scenic loop

Shortly after leaving the visitor center.  You can see the bridge the crosses the highway to the heart of the park.

One of the first stops on the scenic drive is a prairie dog town.

Something tasted good.

A prairie dog.  These little flowers were all over the place.

Looking around.

Keeping a look out.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Roosevelt's Lodge

In 1884, Theodore Roosevelt's mother died.  Eleven hours later his wife died in the same house just two days after their daughter was born.  To get away and recover, he moved to Medora, North Dakota and started a ranch. 

This is the cabin that he had constructed.  It was somewhat pretty extravagant.  It consisted of three rooms and a loft where the ranch hands stayed. 

This is the main room of the cabin and takes up roughly half the space in the cabin.  Many of the furnishings are original. 

The bedroom.

The kitchen.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Painted Canyon

My first stop was at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This park is one that I had heard of before had always meant to visit at some point but never had any specific plans to do so.  So when I saw the sign for Painted Canyon along I-94 in western North Dakota I stopped.

The Painted Canyon section is more like a rest area.  There is a parking area, a small visitor center with an information and gift shop areas, some picnic shelters and a hiking trail down into the canyon.  It was mid afternoon when I arrived so the colors weren't that great.  Still, it was my first park and a taste of what was to come.  There is no admission fee to this area of the park.

The view northwest from the visitor center area.

Looking north.

From the trail looking down into the canyon.

Looking back the way I came.  The top of one of the building is just visible on the skyline.

Looking north from along the trail.