For me, the Dakotas, especially North Dakota, was a long forgotten part of the country. I had always considered it as a flyover state, and far away from any other tourist attractions. But it did have one National Park, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, tucked away in the western corner of the state. Its distance from major metropolitan areas (over 250mi from Billings), meant that visiting it required concerted effort, and couldn't have been just a short sidetrip on a cross country journey. Nevertheless, I ventured out to this National Park, without any expectations, as the name didn't reveal what was unique about this park.
There are two parts to this park, both of which encapsulated the Little Missouri river basin . I had planned on visiting only one. However, after spending half a day in this Park wandering around hiking trails around convoluted badlands, seeing wild horses and bison, and witnessing the big sky country, it left me wanting more. Hence, even though I didn't plan on this, I ventured out to the northern unit of the National Park, separated by miles and miles of grasslands and wheat fields.
And here, I was thoroughly taken away. I hiked through trails that wound around the beautiful country, admired colorful rock formations like this one above, and explored badlands rivaling Badlands National Park, played hide and seek with wild wildlife, and achieved a sense of peace, serenity and oneness with nature. I would have been thoroughly satisfied just spending my days under the warm summer sun in this park.
When I had first driven in to the campground, I was greeted by a friendly campground host. As we continued chatting, I asked why he choose to volunteer in this park coming all the way from Texas, his home state. He responded by just waving his arms and asked me to spend a night to understand why. I quite didn't grasp it initially. But after spending just a night there, I did.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
ND USA