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On the way home from Glacier National Park we spent a few days in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This is the view from the Painted Canyon Overlook. This is home to a herd of almost 300 bison, elk, mule deer, prairie dogs and wild horses.

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The Maltese Cross Cabin was where Theodore Roosevelt stayed when he was in the area in the late 1800’s. As president he was a great conservationist. He worked with Congress to create five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves. He preserved over 230 million acres of protected land.

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On the wilderness drive we found several herds of bison. This guy was a loner away from the main herd.

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I don’t think I would want to face off with him.

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They are shedding their winter coat. We found several calves with the main herd.

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This little guy came the closest and presented some good photo opportunities.

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I think this bison was the dominate leader. He just laid on top of this hill watching over the herd.

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His horns are long and he is big as seen through the telephoto lens.

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We saw several prairie dog towns. They were fun to watch. Karla took this photo of the little guy sucking his fingers/toes.

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The North Unit is lusher with vegetation. The shelter in the photo was built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Little Missouri River runs through the park.

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They call this the North Dakota Badlands.

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These are called cannonball concretions.

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When hiking to the concretions we were on the watch for prairie rattlesnakes. We walked by this one without noticing it. Another hiker saw it on the trail. Since there were so many little kids on the trail the ranger decided to move it to the backcountry to protect both visitors and the snake.

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With the spring rains there were wildflowers all over. This mule deer was eating lilies for breakfast.

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Next to one of the overlooks this bison was rubbing its neck on the rock.

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Erosion is a constant in the canyons of the badlands. About 3 to 4 inches of dirt is eroded from the banks each year.

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