Theodore Roosevelt National Park

South Unit view

Another place of interest from our base in Medora, ND was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park (wiki link) was named after the man who first came to the area to hunt but fell in love with it so much that he built a ranch and used the area as his retreat. He first had a log cabin (he called it the Maltese Cabin) which still exists and has been moved so it's right next to the Medora Visitor Center. He later built Elkhorn Ranch which no longer exists other than building foundations. The park is home to the North Dakota Badlands which we think are more interesting than the South Dakota Badlands. The park has multiple units rather than being one large park. The South Unit is just off of I-94 in Medora.

South Unit - Little Missouri River
flows through the park

South Unit view from Buck Hill

Maltese Cabin

The North Unit is about 50 miles (70 miles driving) north of Medora on US 85. The North Unit of the park has some very interesting and unique rock formations called Concretions. Most of them are round so they call them Cannonball Concretions. Much of the park is similar to the South Unit but there are more narrow canyons and a lot more majestic, long distance views of the Little Missouri River which flows through both parks.

Cannonball Concretions at
North Unit

Mother Nature's handy work. Made
us think of a Cave turned inside out
(North Unit)

Bentonitic Clay Overlook at
North Unit

A view of the Little Missouri River
 Valley in the North Unit