Theodore Roosevelt National Park,, Medora, ND - 2026

We left Ferndale, WA just as the smoke from the fires from Spokane, WA were coming over the Cascades. It was really smoky but not enough to cause any visibility issues.

We stopped for lunch at this place, I didn't know that this was a regular stop for my Aunt and Uncle when they traveled east. They make their own breads and we both had a sandwich.

Our next stop was Medora, North Dakota. Medora is home to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The park is made up of 3 park units. South unit is in Medora and has a 36 mile loop drive. The Badlands are very similar to the South Dakota Badlands only the rocks are darker in color. 

Painted Canyon Overlook is also part of the South Unit. It is the upper margin of the Badlands and shows the broken topography with colorful hues.

The North Unit is 70 miles north of the South Unit and. has a 28 mile out and back scenic drive. The highlight was definitely the Cannonball Concretions. The cannonballs were formed when sand grains from an ancient river deposit were cemented together by minerals dissolved in groundwater. 

The last unit is the Elkhorn Ranch Unit. It is the site of Roosevelt's beloved second ranch. Much of the route to the ranch is dirt and gravel roads and the last 3 miles sometimes require 4-wheel drive and/or high clearance vehicles. We did not make the drive to see it. The park information indicated that the buildings no longer exist. We also didn't have time to check on the road conditions which was suggested.