Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [390]
SEASONS & CLIMATE
The climate in the badlands can be extreme (bitter cold and snow in the winter and intense heat in the summer), with sudden, violent storms.
If You Have Only 1 Day
If you have only 1 day, you'll probably want to limit yourself to either the North or South Unit. The South Unit is more accessible from I-94 and more developed.
If you're coming from the east, stop first at the Painted Canyon Overlook and Visitor Center for a sweeping view of the North Dakota badlands, then continue 7 miles west to the Medora Visitor Center. Here you can view a film and listen to one or more ranger talks. There's also a museum with some of Theodore Roosevelt's personal effects. Be sure to stop in at the Maltese Cross cabin, behind the visitor center. Take the 36-mile scenic driving loop around the park, stopping at the overlooks (be sure to take in one of the prairie-dog towns). Along the way, climb out and explore one of the scenic trails.
Exploring the Park by Car
THE SOUTH UNIT
If you're traveling west on I-94, your first introduction to Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the Painted Canyon Overlook and Visitor Center, about 7 miles east of Medora. Here, on the upper ridge of the badlands, is an unparalleled panorama of ragged ridges and colorful hues. Watch for wild horses, the descendants of former domestic ranching stock; you might even see bison grazing.
A highlight of the South Unit is a paved 36-mile scenic loop road with interpretive signs that explain some of the park's historical and natural phenomena. The best access to the scenic drive is from the Medora Visitor Center; turn right onto the loop in Peaceful Valley. If you've bought the road log, you'll want to travel counterclockwise around the loop. Descriptions of the shorter interpretive trails are incorporated into the driving tours for the North and South units; for more information on longer hiking opportunities, see "Exploring the Backcountry," below.
South Unit Scenic Drive. In any season, the South Unit Scenic Drive can take you into some of the most remote areas of North Dakota. When Gen. Alfred Sully traveled through these badlands, he described them as "hell with the fires burned out." In reality, they are teeming with wildlife, wildflowers, and bird life. Of the South Unit's 46,158 acres, 10,510 acres are designated as wilderness.
Scoria Point is the first overlook you'll come to. Strictly speaking, scoria is volcanic in origin, but in the badlands, wherever a seam of coal has caught fire and baked the surrounding sand and clay, it's called scoria. You'll see it from this view point, where the topsoil has been stripped away by erosion and the harder material underneath is exposed.
About a mile farther, you'll come to the Ridgeline Nature Trail. If you choose to take this very short (.6-mile loop) hike, you'll learn more about the badlands and their ecology. This is a moderately easy trail, suitable for most people.
Next is the North Dakota Badlands Overlook. The view here is over Paddock Creek, and what you'll see is a surreal, striking landscape. Erosion has worn away the topsoil, leaving behind only rocks and harder materials underneath the thin top layer.
After crossing Paddock Creek, you'll come to the turnoff for the Coal Vein Trail, a short (.8-mile) loop that winds through an area where a fire burned in a coal seam from 1951 through early 1977. The fire baked the clay and soil here, changing the appearance of the terrain and altering the vegetation patterns. Here, you'll be walking around the scoria (the same kind of formations you viewed from a distance at the Scoria Point Overlook, earlier). You must drive down a short, unpaved road to reach the trail.
After returning to the main loop road, you'll next come to