North Dakota! - #49
I don't know how many people can say that they are excited to go to North Dakota but this was definitely one of our highlights. This was simply because it was a key to our quest for 50 states! This particular state had eluded me until now. We just couldn't find a way to get to it in our travels. Obviously lots of people like to take photos of themselves with the welcome sign because they have a little pull off for you to easily access it! As you can see this was my 49th state...(Arkansas is the last one) and I was quite excited to get there!
Theodore Roosevelt National Park ($20.00/vehicle)
There are three distinct areas of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Painted Canyon Area, The South Unit and The North Unit. On this visit we got to the Painted Canyon and the South Unit.Painted Canyon
The Painted Canyon portion of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is situated right off exit 32 on Route 94. There is no charge for this portion of the park and it was probably the "prettiest" area of the park. The stop looks a lot like a rest area and there are indeed very nice restrooms here. Make sure that you take time to get out of your vehicle and take a look around while you are here. There is a walkway that you can take that gives you views of the painted canyon. This is probably a 10-15 minute stop.
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| Painted Canyon - Theodore Roosevelt National Park |
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| Painted Canyon - Theodore Roosevelt National Park |
Medora, North Dakota
On our way to the South Unit of the park, we decided to stop in Medora to get gas and pick up some lunch as there is no food available in the park itself. This was easier said than done as we found once we arrived in the town. This is a VERY small town. There were a couple of small local restaurants but no chain restaurants....no not even a McDonalds so you know we were kind of in the middle of no where! We decided to stop at a convenient store and pick up a couple of prepared subs, snacks and drinks to take on our way. We gassed up the vehicle and headed to the entrance gate of the park which is located pretty much in the middle of the town.
South Unit
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| South Unit Visitor's Center |
Once we arrived at the South Unit, we showed our National Park pass and picked up our map of the park. Just inside the gate was the Visitor's Center. We made a quick stop to use the restrooms there as there are no facilities along the loop road once you get past this area. We chose to continue on the loop road and stop again at the Visitor's Center to look at the exhibits on our way out of the park.
The loop road is a paved 36 mile drive that takes you through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We arrived on a Monday and we were one of maybe 5 cars that were in the park at the time that we were there. This allowed us to access everything we needed to access and take lots of photos without feeling rushed.
The first thing we noticed was this park looked very similar to Badlands National Park. The biggest difference was that there was more grassland mixed in with the badlands areas. Badlands National Park had many more badlands that were closer and "prettier" than this park but it was an interesting stop.
If you like Prairie Dogs, this is the park for you. There are Prairie Dog Towns all over this park. We spent more time watching these little critters than looking at the surroundings to be honest!
As well as prairie dogs, we saw some pronghorns, bison and feral horses. This park was not nearly as packed with larger wildlife as was Badlands National Park or Custer State Park but we did enjoy the ones we saw.
It took us about an hour or so to drive around the Loop Road. On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Visitor's Center again to take a look around at the exhibits. There were some interesting things to look at inside the Visitor's Center but the main attraction was actually just behind this building. This is where you can find a log cabin that once served as Theodore Roosevelt's "home" for a short period of time. There are a few pieces inside that actually belonged to Roosevelt and it is decorated in period pieces.
There is a ranger guided tour that runs quite often during the day. It is a short walk to the log cabin and the presentation and tour lasts about 15-20 minutes. You can take a look at the cabin and ask any questions you may have.
This was our last stop before heading out of the park and continuing our drive to Billings, Montana which was our intended stop for the evening.
Hampton Inn and Suites Billings West I-90
After another 4 hour drive from Theodore Roosevelt National Park to our hotel in Billings, Montana, we were ready to check into the hotel and grab a bite to eat. This hotel was a terrific place to stay for the evening. The location was fantastic....right off of I-90. The hotel included a conference center which made it much larger than most Hampton Inns. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We were very near many restaurant choices and best of all, we got a free upgrade at this hotel!
Since my husband is a HHonors Diamond Member we qualify for a free upgrade if a room is available. This doesn't happen all that often as many of the hotels are booked so when it does, we are very excited! This particular upgrade included a Jacuzzi Room.
The room was very clean and spacious. In addition to the Jacuzzi, it also had a nice sized sitting area, wet bar with coffee maker, refrigerator and microwave, desk and separate sink area.
The breakfast area was very nice as it was a separate room. The food offerings were excellent and the seating area was large and private.
I would definitely recommend this hotel if you are in the area!
What's Next
It was time to get some rest for the next day. Day 5 will be an action packed day also with a little back tracking involved to get to Little Bighorn Battlefield and then the LONG trek across Montana to get lined up for Glacier National Park!
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