Walk and Roll with the Wander Women: ROAMING THE NORTH DAKOTA PLAINS

Driving across the border from Montana into North Dakota I feel my heart expand with the knowing of what I call "coming home". I’m familiar with this “I’ve been here before—I know this place” feeling when spending time in nature, but this time the feeling swoops in unexpectedly and surprises me. This place feels like a hug from a grandmother I didn’t know I had.

Stand of cottonwood trees

I love what I am seeing as I gaze out across the North Dakota plains. The expanse of the prairie, and her loneliness stretch out before me. The land dips into ravines and then bumps against limestone bluffs as the Little Missouri River winds its way through stands of cottonwood trees, prairie grass, and fragrant sage brush. I am at peace and nurtured here in this wide space where life flows slowly and offers places to be still.

Little RV on the prairie

For a few days we’re in tourist mode. Our first stop is Medora, North Dakota which sits at the southern boundary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Medora buzzes with summer tourists checking out the restaurants and gift shops. This is the place to sample activities like Theodore Roosevelt National Park tours, frontier musicals, and celebrations of the American cowboy. The Theodore Roosevelt persona lives large here and catching a first person interpreter performance is part of the Medora experience. Even a casual historical encounter can open the imagination. A very bully T.R. lookalike saunters past us and wishes us a “Good day!” while we enjoy a shady bench along the boardwalk.

Because we arrive late in the afternoon, a campsite within the National Park large enough to accommodate our big fifth-wheel is not to be found. However, a little internet research reveals other options and we find a perfect campground at Sully Creek State Park just two miles south of Medora. Sully Creek Campground wedges between Rocky bluffs on one side and the Little Missouri River on the other. A friendly park ranger shows us spacious campsites under huge cottonwood trees not far from the river. We love the wide-open feel of the campground, the dusty grass prairie smell, and the abundance of birds flitting about in the cottonwoods so we decide to stay four nights. After we pay the fee and get some hiking suggestions, we set up camp and settle in to the relaxing rhythm of summer in the North Dakota plains where no one is in a hurry.

Wild horses

Bison grazing and wild horses on the ridge

Our first night is star-studded and peaceful. The night skies of TRNP and the surrounding area benefit from a lack of nearby big cities and night skies are truly dark. A few stars and planets still shine brightly as we head out just before sunrise to explore this new territory. Basically, Theodore Roosevelt National Park is separated into three parts, the North Unit, the South Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit. Beautiful winding roads traverse the hills and plains connecting the Park units so we take our time as we wander, stopping to look for wild horses and to admire a prairie dog town. We spend three full days immersed in the countryside driving the scenic drives, hiking park trails, and reading about the geology and history of the Park. While we sit on a bluff with our binoculars to admire the bison and the wild horses who roam these plains we soak in the beauty and begin to understand why Roosevelt came here to mend his broken heart. Of all the U.S. presidents, President Theodore Roosevelt's work to preserve our wild places played the biggest role in making experiences like this possible and we take a moment to breathe in our gratitude.

Hiking to overlook

Like the bison roaming across the plains, we move on towards our next destination. We take with us the enormity of the gift of access to these public spaces. How fortunate we are as a nation to have our National Parks and our wild places. A massive drilling truck pulls out from a side road and we slow down to let it pull ahead and we wonder if we, as a nation, will continue to find the strength to preserve these special lands.