Explore the wonders of the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park!
Teddy Roosevelt is the only person to have a national park named after him and he is a perfect candidate for a park’s namesake. (He, in fact, has six National Park sites dedicated to him.) TR grew to love nature and built his conservational spirt here. He even owned ranches in the area. The park now protects the area around his Elkhorn Ranch. Theodore Roosevelt National Park was not established by Roosevelt, though, only named after him. After his death in 1919, pieces of what will become the national park would grow in size, and by 1947, a national park was formed.
Today, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is split into three parts, the North Unit, Elkhorn Ranch, and the South Unit. I visited the North Unit first, so let’s start there. I visited over an afternoon and the next morning. It was delightful.
Jana Irving I went straight to the campground to claim a campsite, and it didn’t take long to find some bison.
Jana Irving The North Unit follows the path of the Little Missouri River. The river is lined with a row of trees on each side.
Jana Irving Badlands, in turn, follow the valley of the Little Missouri River.
Jana Irving The badlands get their interesting colors from layers of different kinds of rocks.
Jana Irving The valley is mostly prairie. Very pretty prairie.
Jana Irving First trail was the Buckhorn Trail. It’s a loop but I only took it for a mile to the prairie dog town.
Jana Irving You can drive to the prairie dog towns in the South Unit, though. However, the views from this trail did not disappoint.
Jana Irving Very gorgeous area.
Jana Irving Now commence the prairie dog pictures.
Jana Irving They are just sooooo cute.
Jana Irving So very cute.
Jana Irving I took way too many pictures of prairie dogs on this trip.
Jana Irving The scenic drive eventually leaves the Little Missouri River valley and heads to the hills, which leads to some great views of the badlands.
Jana Irving Both boring and gorgeous at the same time.
Jana Irving The scenic drive ends at the Oxbow Overlook, which overlooks an oxbow in the Little Missouri River.
Jana Irving The Achenbach Trail leads off in two directions from the overlook. I took the South Achenbach Trail to Sperati Point.
Jana Irving The trail cuts through the prairie, which looks amazing in this late afternoon light.
Jana Irving A bit of the badlands can be seen along the trail.
Jana Irving There are a few random trees, too.
Jana Irving A bit of fall color starting here.
Jana Irving Looks like some views coming up.
Jana Irving A side view of the oxbow. Very pretty indeed.
Now for day two. It was a frosty morning, which led to some cool fog over the Little Missouri River.
Jana Irving I didn’t intentionally wake up before dawn.
Jana Irving I don’t seek out sunrise views, or sunset views for that matter. Sometimes they just appear where there is cell service.
Jana Irving It was still very early when I started down the Little Missouri Trail. The trail is partially paved and partially not, consisting of two connected loops. It was a little confusing.
Jana Irving This is the perfect trail to stretch your legs on, especially if you have creaky knees in the morning like I do.
Jana Irving Gorgeous.
Jana Irving More gorgeous.
Jana Irving Totally digging this view. Early morning and late afternoon have the best lighting.
Jana Irving Some fall color near the river.
Jana Irving Near the entrance of the campground is some mysterious cannonballs. If you look closely, you can see giant round stones in the cliff.
Jana Irving They are giant concretions where minerals have bonded together, often formed in round shapes.
Jana Irving The last trail I hiked was the Caprock Coulee Trail. It has the same trailhead as the Buckhorn Trail. However, I only hiked a small portion of it.
Jana Irving It wasn’t the most exciting trail and I was not up for the hike over the ridge, so…
Jana Irving I drove to it instead. You get the same view whether you hike up or drive up to this overlook.
Jana Irving As I was leaving the North Unit, I got another look at some bison.
Jana Irving And the park’s small herd of longhorns. The valley of the park used to be a cattle ranch and a few of the cattle stayed.
The North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is just gorgeous. I loved the mixture of prairie and badlands and the trails through the canyons. And, of course, the prairie dogs. Luckily, the South Unit has even more!
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Start at the beginning of this northwest Midwest road trip!
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