This summer we took an epic road trip from Minnesota to Yellowstone National Park, and on the way, we made a stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park is near Medora, ND right off of I-94 in Western North Dakota. One of the reasons we did this trip this year was the Every Kid Outdoors Program. 4th Graders and their families get into national parks for FREE for the whole year! On this trip, we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Devils Tower and got into each for free! We also felt like being outdoors and hiking for most of the vacation seemed like a safe enough adventure during these COVID times!
If you’re interested in checking out the Every Kid Outdoors Program, go to everykidoutdoors.gov.
About 10 years ago, we visited the park, when Kaya was about 6 months old. So the kids hadn’t been to the park (at least not that they remembered). Kaya saw the park from the Baby Bjorn that time! You could really plan a vacation just to the Medora area and spend the week here, but we were just making a quick stop for the day. We drove from Fargo to Medora and set up our tent at the Medora Campground, then headed to the park for the afternoon. We visited the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt. We haven’t been to the North Unit, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful! Since we just had the afternoon, we did the loop drive around the park. The place we spent the most time exploring was the Wind Canyon Trail.
This summer we did a lot of outdoor activities: the National Parks on this trip and quite a few state and local parks in our home area in Minnesota. So let me say something about cliffs and 7 year olds. I can’t even tell you how many times this summer I have said “slow down!” and “get back from the edge!” and “walk your feet! stop running!” As the year has been going on, I’ve started to question my own decisions about taking my quick moving, always climbing, parkour-ing (?!?), always jumping, adventurous kiddo to cliffs, hot springs, geysers, and rushing rivers, but so far, so good – everyone has survived! And we’ve been having a lot of fun! (Well except when he makes my heart stop! He always says to me, “Mom, I’m being as careful as I can.”)
The Wind Canyon is a really beautiful spot! The trail overlooks the Little Missouri River. It’s about a .4 mile hike and totally worth stopping to see the view.
The wildlife in the park is so fun to look for and always exciting to spot something! A lot of the times you know you’ll see something ahead because there will be a lot of cars either pulled to the side of the road, or just a nice “traffic jam” if animals are crossing the road! This little bunny sat so still while we were watching it!
This mule deer mama and her baby were really fun to watch! John did a little whistle noise and got them both to look for a perfect Polaroid moment!
Look at how many spots baby has!
Eventually, they both ran off up into the hills.
One of the things that John most wanted to see was a mule deer with antlers with velvet! We did finally see some near the end of the drive. They were up the hill aways and hard to get a great picture of, but there were two of them and you can see more in our video. The link is below!
The Badlands were called “mako sica” by the Lakota tribes who lived in the area. It is translated as “badlands.” Theodore Roosevelt said the Badlands do not seem to belong to this earth. If you read up on Theodore Roosevelt and the time he spent in this part of the country, it’s really interesting and seems to be a major factor in shaping the person he became.
The views along the drive are breathtaking! There are several places that you can stop to take pictures or take a hike! Seeing the layers of rock is a great geology lesson! This year we decided to homeschool the kids and adventures like this can really make learning fun!
Before we went on the trip, we knew we would see a lot of buffalo, both at Theodore Roosevelt and also at Yellowstone, so we tried to give the kids the proper amount of respect (and a little fear) for the wildlife! (We watched a few videos of people getting thrown by buffalo! There are surprisingly a lot of videos like this… what is wrong with people?!?) Anyway, as John stepped out of the car to get these pictures of the buffalo, the kids were yelling out, “Too Close!”!!! (John said he was mentally calculating how fast he thought the buffalo could move uphill compared to how fast he could get in the car. He wasn’t actually THAT close. Not “get thrown in the air by a buffalo close” anyway.)
Our family has really enjoyed the time spent outdoors and all of the things we’ve seen together this year. Getting outside to stretch our legs and connect with nature has been an amazing way to make the most of a year that has been a little crazy!
One of our favorite things about visiting the Medora area is that our friend Colin lives there and we get to see him! John and Colin worked together when we all lived in Grand Forks, ND! We met him at the Little Missouri Saloon after our adventures in the park for a late supper! It’s so good to see an old friend! It makes the trip that much more special!
Check out our video on YouTube for more about Theodore Roosevelt National Park! We had a great time, and if you’re in the area, stop and check it out! Comment if you’ve been there or have a great tip, or just to say hi! Thanks for stopping by! We’ll see you on our next adventure!
