Our first stop was Theodore Roosevelt NP in and around Medora, North Dakota. The only national park named for an individual, this one focuses on a part of the Dakota badlands that was a home to one of my favorite presidents for a significant amount of time. First we visited the cabin that TR built for himself.
We then wandered the beautiful buttes, cliffs and ravines, enjoying the splashes of orange and yellow that fall foliage provided.
To get away from the crowds that frankly were not very large, we took a hike along a trail where, we saw, from a safe distance, a couple of old bull buffalo.
At one point, we saw an animal that we have never seen before; a wild horse. The park rangers refer to them as feral horses but I find that adjective offensive unless it is applied to cats or hogs.
The next day, we headed down to Badlands NP, near Wall, South Dakota. The primary attraction here is miles and miles of bizarre formations carved from rock and dirt.
While it is spectacular, I found it more alien than the badlands in TRNP, chiefly due to a lack of vegetation. There is not as much wildlife here, though we did see more buffalo and bighorn sheep. Also, there is not the history of a legendary figure.
We typically prefer national forests and state parks since they have fewer visitors but every now and again, it is good to see some of “America’s Crown Jewels.”
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