View Park - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Park: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Section: Photos

Preview	Name	Overall	Comments
	Wild Horses		Not often you see wild horses, so we assumed that there was a fence somewhere. After driving a bit further without seeing a fence, we decided that they must have been real live wild horses. Wild.
	Sign & Overlook		Sign text: The Badlands The stillness of the land is a disguise. Hard infrequent rains attack the loosely cemented clays and sandstones, gouging new gullies and carrying off as much as two to four inches of surface a year from steep, unprotected slopes. At night the buttes and outcroppings take on eerie shapes. A dawning sun pours back the shifting colors. In the future this jagged land will be smooth and rounded. The river, cutting through soft rock - the burning lignite - the sudden downpours - become part of one vast shaping motion. Burning Hills Sparked by lightning or grass fires, lignite coal veins smolder underground. The fierce heat bakes the surrounding rock into red clinkers, such as you see on the nearby hilltops. Slumping Huge house-sized masses of earth shear from bluffs and creep downhill. Unlike landslides, these slumpblocks remain intact, and move so slowly that most shear scars weather away before the blocks finally come to rest. This collapse can be seen at the foot of this viewpoint and throughout the Park. Try to match the slumpblocks' tilted strata with the horizontal bands on high exposed hillsides.
	Badlands
	Badlands
	Badlands
	Badlands
	Badlands		On the right you can see the edge of the overlook.
	Badlands & Overlook		On the left is the badlands and on the right is the overlook. To put things in perspective, you can see the ~4 ft high fence in the photo.
	Red Badlands Hill		It looks better in person (of course), but here you can see the different layers of soil on this hill.
	Badlands
	Badlands Vista
	Welcome sign		Sign text: Welcome to Painted Canyon - A View into Theodore Roosevelt National Park Painted Canyon ... the name itself evokes an image of color and light playing across the face of a wild and broken land. Of the countless individuals who have stood transfixed at the canyon rim - native Americans, fur traders, a cavalry general, a man who would become the 26th President, naturalists, travelers and writers - all have tried to express the feeling of the moment. After you have enjoyed the scenic view, we invite you to visit the other areas of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. If you are traveling west, take exit 27, seven miles west of here, and follow the signs to Theodore Roosevelt National Park's South Unit. The main visitor center is in the pioneer cattle town of Medora. It offers a museum, theater, and the Maltese Cross Ranch Cabin, Roosevelt's first home in the badlands. A 36-mile scenic drive begins from that point. If you are traveling east, take exit 42 at Belfield, ND, and travel north on US 85 to the North Unit, a distance of 62 miles from here. A visitor center, exhibits, and a 15-mile scenic drive are available there. "This broken country extends back from the river for many miles, and has been called always, by Indians, French Voyageurs, and American trappers alike, the 'Bad Lands'." ... Theodore Roosevelt, 1885
	Trail Head Sign		Sign text: Painted Canyon trail head 1 mi. loop
	Theodore Roosevelt National Park Sign
	Prarie dog sign		Sign text: Prairie Dog Town Prairie dogs were once abundant on the plains and foothills. Poisoning campaigns to preserve grazing lands have left only remnant population. Here they are protected. Remarkable social animals, Prairie dogs live together in permanent "towns". Numerous mounds mark burrow entrances. "Dogs" eat grass and scoop up soil for their mounds making the townsite almost barren. Through community cooperation, they survive the constant threat of their enemies. These include hawks, snakes, badgers and coyotes. Sentries bark upon sensing danger. Those nearest danger plunge underground. Others sit and bark, relaying a warning across the "town." Wild animals need wild food. Please don't feed them! Dependent on your handouts, they lose their natural ability to survive the long winter.
	Prarie dogs