We spent our first full day in North Dakota exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park!
We started off at the Visitor’s Center and took a tour of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Maltese Cross Cabin”. We learned a lot about Theodore Roosevelt’s life and what brought him to the Dakotas. Even more important though was maybe learning what impact his time here had on his presidency. It was really interesting and it was fascinating to learn more about this man.
We passed several “Prairie Dog Towns” on our way through the park. This was not quite that exciting to Mark and I {after living in Denver where they were everywhere!} but Jacob and Sarah had a fun time looking at them!
Our first hike in the park was the Wind Canyon Trail. This took us out to an overlook of the Little Missouri River.
Next stop was to the Boicourt Overlook and Trail. This was beautiful and I would say was definitely where we got the best shots. Also, we were able to see a small herd of wild horses which was what I was hoping to see most in the park. WIN!
Then the boys took a hike up to Buck Hill which is the highest accessible point in the park – although you would never know that by this picture!
Our final hike was the Coal Vein Trail. This was really interesting and I definitely learned a lot about the geology of the badlands. The highlight though was definitely when we saw a gathering of bison up on a ridge above the trail. We had seen some bison throughout the park but always from really far away and so this was exciting to be a little closer – but not too close, of course!
We ended our day with Jacob earning his first Junior Ranger badge! He was so excited and I think it will definitely be something he and the other kiddos will really enjoy the older they get.
It was a great day to be in North Dakota!
