Theodore Roosevelt National Park- North Unit

After leaving West Yellowstone, we headed north towards Bozeman, Montana to resupply the cupboards with a trip to the local Costco.  With the cupboards restocked, we were ready to keep driving!  So as many will say, plans are in Jello, so on we went.  We stopped for the evening after a long driving day in Miles City, Montana.   After a fine overnight spot, we drove on to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park- North Unit near Watford City, North Dakota!
That’s where we spent the last three nights enjoying this great park.  We dry camped in their Juniper Campground and were greeted to buffalo outside our door!  Caleb explored the badland vistas from an overlook structure built in the 30’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Although we are all still wearing sweatshirts in this picture, the sun came out warming up the air so that we could wear short-sleeved shirts for the first time since leaving Arizona!
Spring has come late to the badlands as well and the wildflowers are in full bloom!  The temps in the mid 60’s to low 70’s made a few hikes very enjoyable.  We attended a ranger led walk on the Little Mo trail to learn about the plants and animals and then we hiked the self-guided Caprock Coulee Trail.  The North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is truly a gem.  They don’t get too many visitors so there is space for you to be alone with nature.  The area is very laid back and although initially one may think that there isn’t much to do, there is! 
We learned from 3 different Campfire Programs put on by the Interpretive Rangers: nighttime animals in the park, Theodore Roosevelt’s first days in the park, and a day in the life of Lewis and Clark!  We were captivated by the great story-telling of Ranger O’Connor for the Lewis & Clark tale!  We learned how to make our own char-cloth and how to start a fire without a match!  He let Caleb throw the spark using a knife and magnesium block into the char-cloth!  Caleb also purchased a book on knot tying and is learning all sorts of new ways to tie things up!
We had a couple of buffalo come through camp, and hang out in camp!  We noticed that the buffalo at this park are harder to find, they have lots of hiding places in the buttes.  They also aren’t as used to, or tolerant of, people!  We saw 4 bulls running from the picnic area towards the campground and the camphost had to run to get out of the way! 
The Juniper Campground is lined with Cottonwood trees and Juniper as the name suggests as well as this long, lush grass.  This was perfect weather to enjoy this campground!  We said good-bye for now to Theodore Roosevelt North Unit on Tuesday morning and landed for a few nights at the Larimore Dam Recreation Area near Grand Forks, North Dakota.  The mosquitoes are hungry and we had to turn on the air conditioner!