United States
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Badlands prairie where layered sediments form colorful buttes across wind-swept grassland basins.
The Little Missouri River cuts through sedimentary layers that time has sculpted into rounded buttes and steep-walled coulees. Wind moves constantly across this high prairie, bending grass around exposed clay and sandstone formations that shift from gray to rust-red as light changes throughout the day.
What draws people here
- —eroded badlands terrain with multicolored sedimentary layers exposed in butte formations
- —prairie grasslands extending to horizons broken only by scattered cottonwood groves
- —wild horse bands moving across open rangeland and through river bottoms
- —petrified wood scattered across bentonite clay hills formed from ancient forests
Park character
nature•wildlife•hills
Park rhythm
morning
Prairie dogs emerge from burrow towns as meadowlarks call from fence posts and wild horses move toward water in the river bottoms.
afternoon
Heat shimmers above the grassland while bison seek shade in coulees and raptors soar on thermals rising from sun-warmed buttes.
night
Coyote howls echo across the prairie under star-filled skies as great horned owls hunt from cottonwood snags.
Best ways to experience Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
- 01drive scenic loops through rolling prairie where the road climbs onto butte tops for expansive views
- 02hike ridgeline trails along butte edges where the land drops into grass-filled valleys
- 03walk river bottom paths beneath cottonwoods where springs seep from clay banks
- 04traverse open grassland on foot where bison trails connect water sources across the prairie