Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Day 1 April 11, 2023
Even though this park is in the lower 48 states, it is one of the less visited parks. Luckily, I had purchased an America the Beautiful pass since I arrived at the park about 10 minutes after the visitor center closed and park passes were no longer being sold for the day. Chalk one up for planning ahead. The South unit has a loop road which is about 36 miles. At this particular time, the end of the loop was closed due to a landslide, so I had to drive in 24 miles and then back out again. I got a bit concerned as there was a decent amount of snow on the sides of the road and it was 90 degrees out at 5pm. A small mudslide onto the park road made me swerve into the other lane but I had no other road issues the rest of the drive.
Upon entry into the South unit of the park, there was a smaller herd of bison coming down a cliff and standing right next to the road. I took a picture and drove ahead before they started crossing which they did behind me.
Next up was prairie dog town. The little buggers are so cute popping out of their mounds and chirping at each other. It was evening and I wanted to get some short hikes in, I decided to drive all the way to the end of the road and slowly make my way back out. I did stop to take a picture of some wild horses and use an outhouse since the visitor center was closed. At the turnaround point I saw a naked ass. Obviously, this women peeing by the side of the road should have stopped at the outhouse also. She scrambled over an embankment as soon as she spotted my car.
My first hike was Coal Vein Trail. Melting snow plus the bonus of dodging bison poop everywhere made the trail a tad muddy. Nice little hike and cool history of an underground coal fire that burned in this area for over 15 years. Buck Hill was next which had an amazing view. It is a rather steep climb up to the top so it was literally breath taking. The badlands stretched in all directions. Biocourt Trail was the last small hike I took out to a view point. A herd of bison was happily munching grass in the valley below. There was a gentle scent of smoke in the air at this viewpoint as an active coal vein fire was burning underground. I could see where plants on the surface were scorched. It was dusk as I drove out of the park. Wildlife came out in all directions. I stopped for a group of deer the side of the road. Then a huge wild turkey tried to cross in front of me, changed its mind, let me know he was not happy and walked across behind my stopped car. Two more bison herds were spotted further on.
My last stop was just after the sun went behind the canyon walls. The wild horses were right next to the road! I got out and admired them for awhile. The stallion was majestic with his five mares.
Day 2 April 12, 2023
I headed for the North Unit which is just over an hour from the South Unit. Mother nature’s thermostat took a nose dive overnight. It was 42 degrees and expecting snow later at night. As soon as I entered the park there were bison to the right of me and deer to the left. The road in and out of the north unit is much shorter and not as much to see. The cannonball concretions are kind of strangely interesting round blobs of mineral hardened rock that form in the softer sandstone. When erosion occurs, they are exposed and eventually fall out as large round stones. The only hike I did today was the Caprock Coulee loop. I found out the hard way that this is the wrong time of year to do this trail. I did not encounter any other brave/stupid people on the trail. Mud was the theme. Slippery clay mud, icy mud, sloppy mud and suck your boot off mud. There was plenty of ice and snow on the trail making steeper sections almost impassable. Without trees to help pull me up, I would not have made it. Several sections of the trail had washed out leaving large mud pits behind. I tried to avoid some of the worst mud by going through the deeper snow. I ended up post holing up to my knees in one section. It got better on top of caprock which had a great view. The trail took way longer than it normally would and the only animals I saw was a herd of deer. On the way out of the park, two pheasants were pecking away looking for lunch. Beautiful birds that I have not seen in the wild for over 20 years. A fitting end to my first park of the quest.
Total Cost: $101.58
