Theodore Roosevelt NP, SouthJul 9, 2009
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first view of Theodore Roosevelt NP at Painted Canyon Visitor Center -...
another side of the ND Badlands
buffalo are resting after a big picnic at the rest area!
I camped in this park for the night, even though it had no amenities besides a bathroom. It does have pull through sites and most of them were empty, so that made life easier for me. I got settled and had lunch, then set out to see the park.
But I already had a glimpse of what the park would look like by stopping at a rest area run by the NP with a visitor center called "Painted Canyon". Wow - the view was fantastic. This park is also called the Badlands of North Dakota and it is a smaller version of that, but with some facets of Bryce and Arches thrown in. There are no arches, but the rock formations are colorful and they go on for as long as the eye can see. Check out the pictures, even they don't capture it well enough, as usual.
The Little Missouri River helped to form this park, but so did geologic events, as expected. I can't tell you all about that because it is just phenomenal. I do remember that there is a kind of coal inside these rocks. Lightning can set that coal on fire and the fire can last for years underground. I walked a trail around where a coal fire had been going from 1959 to 1977 and people actually roasted marshmallows in the embers!
The road is a 36 mile loop around parts of the park and it took me a few hours to complete it - I always have to stop at pullouts and walk trails if they are about a mile or so. I saw buffalo, prairie dogs, and wild horses! That made my day, for sure!
