A Week Exploration of Teddy Roosevelt National Park
Mid June we found ourselves in Fairfield, North Dakota which is the perfect launch pad to explore the North and Southern sections of Teddy Roosevelt National Park along with all the other pleasant surprises we encountered during our stay. After a bit of a headache achieving level on a VERY unlevel gravel surface at Oleo Acres RV Park we closely monitored the weather alerts for incoming storms. North Dakota in mid June is ripe with severe thunderstorms and tornados but with our quick push to western ND we hoped to avoid the majority of the storms. We lucked out in that regard, but definitely had quite the scare one evening! Check out the video for the footage of a discrete super cell which quickly turned into a tornado (luckily east of us), sadly three people lost their lives when the tornado finally formed and touched down in Jamestown. After an uneasy night of high winds, stormy weather, and our slides tucked up — we were more than ready to explore!
Our first pre-hike scouting event took us to the North Unit of TD Roosevelt National Park. After a stormy and mostly sleepless night, we decided to drive the length of the park mid-day to get the lay of the land and decide which hike we wanted to tackle. After stopping at the small Visitor’s Center (it’s more of an information booth), we drove the main roadway checking out each educational kiosk we encountered. You can learn a lot about a park if you take the time to stop and read! The ‘cannonball’ rock formations were interesting. To find these picturesque boulders, walk adjacent to the roadway a short distance ‘behind’ the hill to the right. You’ll see the cannonballs strewn about the slope.
Leaving the cannonballs behind we slowly meandered along the roadway, scouting for the many bison who call the park home. What struck me the most was the lack of vehicle traffic - the park was very quiet which makes discovering critters much easier. My excitement grew the farther we drove, the landscape was ever changing and so unique. What a magical place to explore! Soon we found two massive bison grazing in a meadow. I was surprised to find two males together, but these boys seemed content to hang out and relax.
After exploring the park and scouting our morning hike, it was time for sustenance. I found Stonehome Brewing which is located in Watford City, a quick nineteen minute drive north of the park. If you go, we highly recommend their award winning Stromboli and Angry Shrimp. Heavenly!
The weather was set to clear the next morning - so we packed up camera gear, downloaded our Alltrails map and woke early to hit the trail before it became too crowded. Our trail of choice was the Caprock Coulee Loop, a 4.1 mile route which would take us through through a variety of landscapes and 561ft of elevation gain. What a beautiful morning - the only negative (for me) was an encounter with a big black snake. Eek!
Tips for the hike: Wear long pants, or at minimum, spray yourself with tick spray. You are exposed to the elements for most of the hike so bring sun protection as well. The terrain is varied, from cool forests (that was a surprise), to rocky inclines so you’ll want sound footwear to help you along the way. I kinda wished we were able to encounter the slippery mud others had posted about, but the heat of the morning had dried out the mud nicely. We aren’t fans of knife-edge hikes, and have a healthy respect for all things vertical. Some posted not to do this is you have a fear of heights and we can resoundingly say this hike is totally fine in that regard! The areas exposed with drop offs are VERY wide, so those who aren’t cliff-edge lovers will be just fine. If you stop at the end of the ‘nature trail’ you’ll miss out on the sweeping views, unique rocks, and so much more. Plan to do the entire hike! It’s not a tough one if done early prior to extreme temps or during a rain/wind storm so pack plenty of water. Bring a camera as you’re going to go crazy photographing the gorgeous flowers! You may encounter bison on the trail - do not approach, give them a wide berth and if necessary, abort the hike. Bison are unpredictable and dangerous.
A welcome surprise in TD Roosevelt NP - a cool forest to explore.
Plan to spend at least a day in the North Unit. The hike took us several hours mostly due to the number of flower photos I took :). Pack a lunch as resources are scarce - or better yet, pack simple snacks to tie you over until you can drive to Watford City for the excellent food mentioned above. We ended our exploration of the North section around 3ish and drove to the South Unit to see if we could find the wild horses along the East River Rd. We did!
