Ruff Ryders
July 9 – 16, 2021
Before Ruff Ryders was established as a management company and record label, the Rough Riders were a US cavalry unit led by none other than Theodore Roosevelt. Ol’ Teddy would of course go on to even greater things, including plenty of strong conservation efforts. Those efforts and his ties to the North Dakota badlands eventually resulted in the only American national park named for a single person. Theodore Roosevelt National Park was our next destination, and would kick off our summer tour of several national parks across the western United State. So just like the pioneers of old, we hitched up our wagon and headed west.
It wasn’t long before our first stop. We pulled into a truck stop just off the interstate in Fargo where we got the truck and RV washed, ate some lunch, and had a quick visit and goodbye with my brother.
With our rig clean and our bellies full we hopped back onto the interstate. It’s a long way across North Dakota, so we stopped for the night at the Medina City Park Campground.
This wasn’t a dedicated campground, but a dozen or so parking spots with water and electric around the city park. It was great for just a quick overnight stay, and Izzy enjoyed the playground at the park.
We stayed hitched up to the truck overnight to get a quick start the next morning. We made our way to Belfield, ND and The Crossings Campground.
This was not a fancy RV resort or anything like that. It has zero amenities or extras. Just a fairly level place to park, hookups for water, sewer, and electric, and a dumpster in the back. This was a brand new park and they were still working out some of the kinks when we arrived. Our neighbor’s electric didn’t work properly so he was plugged into our pedestal. Another site’s water connection would spray everywhere if it was turned it on. The sewer hookups were oddly placed and installed. Our site had too many prickly weeds and not enough grass. They installed a big sign for the park while we were there and took a photo of it for their Facebook page so our rig might be immortalized forever in the background of their profile photo. We can’t complain too much though, as this campground was cheaper than most others in the area, and unlike some of the older campgrounds nearby, it has 50-amp electric which kept our two AC units working in the heat. And the spartan campground was fine for us, as we were there to visit the national park.
We got in and setup early enough that we were able to go out and explore, which is not normal for us on a travel day. Theodore Roosevelt National Park has three visitor centers. One each for the north and south units, and Painted Canyon Visitor Center one along I-94 that also functions as a rest area. Painted Canyon was only 10 miles away from our campground, so we headed over. We stopped by the visitor center to pickup a Junior Ranger workbook, looked out on a nice vista, and were lucky enough to to take in a ranger talk about the geology of the park.
After that we went on what was supposed to be a short easy hike. However, the elevation changes and heat (and our lack of conditioning) made it quite a bit more challenging.
The next day, we drove about an hour to visit the park’s north unit. Since we got there around noon, we stopped at the picnic area for some lunch. After our meal we got back into the truck and we’re trying to figure out what to see first when a couple of bison wandered through the parking lot.
After lunch, we braved the heat and hiked a short nature trail where we spotted some bison down in the river.
After our hike, we stopped to check out some interesting rock formations called cannonball concretions.
As we drove further into the park we spotted some more wildlife.
We drove to the end of the road stopped for the scenic vista at Oxbow Overlook above the Little Missouri river.
Charlotte and I enjoyed the view and Izzy enjoyed climbing around the shelter.
Charlotte then had a couple of days when she needed to work, so Izzy and I drove about 20 miles down the interstate to the city of Dickinson, ND where we visited the Badlands Dinosaur Museum. We enjoyed some great fossil displays, read a book, and worked on a dinosaur themed jigsaw puzzle.
The dinosaur mesum is part of the Dickinson Museum Center, and our admission included access to a whole campus of historic buildings on site. The nice lady at the admission counter encouraged us to take a tour, and for some reason, Izzy said she wanted to go. So she and I were led on a private tour of all the buildings, including interiors. Our tour guide was a young guy, maybe 18 or 19, but very knowledgeable. Izzy’s enthusiasm faded quickliy in the heat as we walked in the sun from one unairconditioned building to the other, but she made it through around eight exhibits alltogether. Her favorite part was climbing around on big pieces of petrified wood after the tour was over (allowed by park rules!).
After making it through the museum we had to stop and cool off with some ice cream.
For our next adventure, we drove through the Old West town of Medora to get to the park’s southern unit.
Photos for this section will be a bit slim as I sadly lost everything I captured on our DSLR. The stand-alone camera with its big sensor and optical zoom lenses can take some great photos, but the workflow is much more complicated compared to our iPhones and mistakes can happen.
We started out by hitting up the visitor center at the entrance to the park. They had some interesting displays and you can visit Teddy’s old cabin. Izzy was also able to turn in her completed workbook and take the Junior Range pledge to earn her badge.
We out and back through almost the entire park. There is normally a loop you can drive, but the severe erosion had closed a section of the road a few years ago and they were still working on repairs.
We spotted some more bison, a couple of wild horses, and went on some hikes.
We tried hiking through a prairie dog town. It was lightly sprinkling when we set off, but the rain picked up when we were about halfway through and we turned around.
On our way back to the park entrance, we decided to stop and do one last hike on the Wind Canyon trail. This is a short hike that climbs up a hill overlooking another bend in the Little Missouri River. It was a great view and the herd of bison we spotted earlier in the day had moved into the river. I know we got some great photos with the DSLR, which are now sadly lost.
Finally, one night before we left we headed back to the Painted Canyon visitor’s center to see the sunset. It was worth the trip.
That will do it for our adventures in North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. See you down the road!