RIDING ADVENTURES IN NORTH DAKOTA'S THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK

TAKE IN THE ENCHANTING GEOLOGICAL BEAUTY OF THE BADLAND’S THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK.

- KENT AND CHARLENE KRONE

Charlene and Jake descend into the Painted Canyon on the eastern end of the park.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park has all the elements needed for a true-blue Western riding adventure. The scenery is breathtaking, as well as lonesome and foreboding. One can ride trails or cross-country and most likely encounter bison herds, deer, elk, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, and a multitude of bird life. This has been one of our favorite riding destinations, and we would like to share it with you.

1. The Medora Musical is a Broadway quality show held in an outside amphitheater under the big Badlands sky.

THE BACKGROUND

Theodore Roosevelt spent some years in North Dakota’s Badlands following the deaths of his wife and mother, both of whom died on the same day. He came here in 1883 to hunt, ranch, and have a “mental escape” from his personal problems. It worked. He fell in love with this singular landscape, calling it the “romance of my life.” He said that if it were not for his experiences in the Badlands, he could never have become president.

The Badlands is a unique geological phenomenon. The horizontal layers that can be seen in the park are made up of sediments that were deposited between 55 and 60 million years ago in lakes, ponds, and swamps. The petrified trees we see today are from the sequoia and bald cypress trees that once grew in the swampy regions. Over time, decomposing plant life became coal beds, sediments turned into sandstone, and volcanic ash became bentonite clay.

2. The North Dakota Hall of Fame is located in Medora. Explore the 15,000-square-foot museum dedicated to ranching, cowboy life, and early-day life on the northern plains.