Theodore Roosevelt was only 25 years old in 1883 when he came to North Dakota to hunt buffalo. He loved the area so much that, before returning to New York and his wife of three years, he bought a herd of cattle and hired two local men to tend them. They also built a small cabin for him. Back in New York 1884 was a tragic year for Roosevelt. His mother and wife died on the same day and Roosevelt escaped to North Dakota and threw himself into the ranch, buying more cattle and having a larger house built. Roosevelt, like many others, lost over half of his cattle in the winter of 1886-87, ending his career in cattle speculation. He sold the ranch two years later.
From 1934 until 1978, when Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established, the Little Missouri Badlands was set aside and developed for public recreation. The park has three units, South, North and Elkhorn Ranch, all within the Little Missouri River National Grasslands. Each has a separate entrance. We visited the South Unit. The South Unit has a visitor center, Roosevelt’s first cabin, a campground, a 36 mile scenic loop, and hiking trails.
The visitor center and cabin are accessible. It’s possible to see the scenic views along the loop road from your vehicle. Two trails are designated as accessible, Skyline Vista and Boicourt Trail. Skyline Vista is paved but a bit bumpy. Boicourt Trail is surfaced with gravel and has a moderate grade. Most wheelchair users will need to have help. We did not visit the campground.
The visitor center lot has long RV spaces. The scenic road is suitable for RVs and most of the parking lots and pull offs have room for RV parking. Park
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So many people have benefited from all the work Teddy Roosevelt did to get the national park system established. One of our great presidents!
ReplyDeleteThat is one of the National Parks that is on my radar for sure...first, North Dakota is one of three states I have never been to, and second, I have seen such nice pictures from bloggers who wrote about it. Looks like you two are just zooming along...take care.
ReplyDeleteWe're zooming along a little too fast. We're missing a lot of things but if we meander as we usually do we'll be late for our appointments. It's been a nice trip though. I-90 through Idaho and Montana is very scenic with hardly any traffic. I found an interstate that I like!
DeleteIn my opinion every national park is worth visiting. We sure have a beautiful country. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
We loved TRNP! I was hoping a buffalo would wander through the campsite but they didn't we still loved it and had a great time.
ReplyDeleteWe had buffalo in our campsite at Yellowstone but they were a bit reclusive at TRNP , just hiding in the hills.
DeleteI'm enjoying reading your blog posts of all of the places that you guys have been visiting.