Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The presumed last visit to a national park on our trip took us to North Dakota, to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It is named in honor of the American president. Roosevelt lived in New York, but came to North Dakota in 1883 for bison hunting in the grasslands and badlands there. He liked it very much. When his wife and mother both died on the same day, he retreated to this region in North Dakota to mourn. He stayed there for several years and established a total of two farms. However, these were not very successful on the land of the badlands. But during his stay in North Dakota, he recognized the uniqueness of the nature there as a whole. This president was a strong advocate for environmental conservation and established several national parks in the USA. Let's hope that the current president and his administration will not succeed in destroying all of this 😞. In North Dakota, for example, a large oil reserve was discovered about ten years ago, just around the national park. They are drilling and using fracking every few meters. We will see where all of this will lead to in the future.

The park has two parts, a north and a south part. We have settled on the campsite in the south. In photos, I have seen that it is sometimes "visited" by herds of bison. Fortunately, we were spared from that, because I really didn't need that 😱. The park is beautiful, no question about it. But they are badlands, and they are called that for a reason. The soil is not suitable for any vegetation other than prairie and buffalo grass. The layer of earth is very thin, but it is quite suitable for animals like bison or various species of deer. They live here pretty well. Agriculture (not in the park, but around it) is almost impossible here. Since the sun kept hiding, the colors of the rocks were not very intense. While we saw a lot of different animals in the southern part, they didn't show themselves to us in the northern part. At least when we were leaving, we saw a herd of buffalo in the distance. We have become quite demanding 😂.

Medora, the place from which you drive into the park, is completely geared towards tourists. There is a daily Western musical, you can have tea with Mrs. Roosevelt, and many, many other things to do. We decided to have the Western Steak Fondue. A mass event, about 1500 people, and everything was done in an hour - but it was definitely an experience. The meat was very good and the view from the terrace over the badlands in the bright sunshine was unique. It's something you have to experience 😂.