Highway 2 to Theadore Roosevelt National Park

US Highway 2 is one of the "old" roads. Similar to US Hwy 30 or the famous Route 66, Highway 2 is mostly two lane and winds through towns and villages alone the northern tier of states. There is a small section in the New England states but there is a long stretch that runs between Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Washington coastline.

US Highway 2 in Montana

Some would think Hwy 2 is a boring drive but we enjoy traveling through farm country and not battling interstate traffic. This is harvest time and the combines are going full tilt.

Harvesting peas

Wheat harvest in Montana

OK, here's my version of art.

Of course, there are rocky areas where crops like wheat and peas don't grow well so hay and livestock are a better choices.

And then, there are some real surprises. We spied a small lake with pelicans. Pelicans? Yup, We had no idea we could find pelicans this far north but that's the beauty of driving on Hwy 2 instead of the interstate.

Carolyn checked the map as we were headed eastbound on US Highway 2 and noticed Theadore Roosevelt National Park was not too far south of our route. Since we were still not pressed for time, we decided to take a detour. Our new route would take us a bit south.

We were heading eastbound and enjoying the scenery.  Carolyn was checking the map and said, " you know, we will be close to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park". We had visited this park in 2015 and enjoyed it very much – we still had plenty of time to make it home before our mid August timeline so decided why not see this fun park again?

The area around the Theadore Roosevelt National Park is pretty remote but energy has changed some of the solitude. In fact, Watford City that is only 15 miles north of TR NP is considered by many to be the center of the oil boom that began in the early 2000's. But nearby, there are also a few electricity generating windmills. I hope both forms of energy are successful. 

Theadore Roosevelt National Park has two units in western North Dakota. The southern unit is near Medora, ND. The northern unit was the original Elkhorn Ranch established by Teddy R. in 1884 and lies about 35 miles north of Medora.

Theadore Roosevelt National Park - North Unit

The Theadore Roosevelt National Park has a southern unit near Medora, ND and a much smaller northern unit about 35 mile north. This is not a touristy national park. You probably won't find huge traffic backups but the 14 mile scenic drive through the park is like a micro version of the Badlands to forested area. An unusual feature are the the sandstone cliffs with the large concretions nicknamed "cannonballs". They are quite spectacular and formed by deposits of minerals around a sandstone core. They are exposed by natural erosion of the sandstone and eventually fall to the area below. 

Concretions being exposed through erosion

A "cannonball" that rolled to the area below.

There are views of the Little Missouri River...

Civilian Conservation Corps shelter overlooking the Little Missouri River

and views of blue colored Bentonitic Clay...

We were also fortunate to see a lot of wildlife.We arrived at the park around 6pm, a perfect time to see critters out for their evening stroll. Just a couple miles from the entrance, we saw several longhorn steers from the small herd that is maintained in the park. Then we spied this mule deer and two fawns in a wooded area. Another mile up the road, we saw a number of bison. We stopped to take photos as they moved. Soon, the herd was in front of us and blocking the entrance to our campground. We patiently watch until they cleared the road and allowed us to reach our camp site.

The bison were in rut (that's when the guys are looking for the ladies). There were low "growls" from the males and it was not hard to figure out the dominant bulls. We were getting situated in our camp site when the herd made their way to some trees a couple hundred yards from us. I grabbed my camera and headed toward them. I was about 75 yards from them and standing beside the restroom incase I needed a safe space when all hell broke loose between two of the big bulls. The video below is raw footage as I shot it. Holy Toledo, it was intense!!!

Click on this link

Bison bulls in rut at Theadore Roosevelt NP

We were also fortunate to get a heads up from a Park Ranger that the Bighorn sheep were spotted near Long-X pull off. We quickly headed there and were rewarded with a rare glimpse of a dozen or so Bighorn sheep.