Theodore Roosevelt National park - wikipedia Theodore Roosevelt National park Theodore Roosevelt National Park IUCN category II ( national park ) Hoodoo rock formation Location Billings County & McKenzie County, North Dakota, USA Nearest city Medora Coordinates 46 ° 58 ′ N 103 ° 27 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 46.967 ° N 103.450 ° W ﻿ / 46.967 ; - 103.450 Coordinates : 46 ° 58 ′ N 103 ° 27 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 46.967 ° N 103.450 ° W ﻿ / 46.967 ; - 103.450 Area 70,446 acres ( 285.08 km ) Established November 10, 1978 ( 1978 - November - 10 ) Visitors 753,880 ( in 2016 ) Governing body National Park Service Website Theodore Roosevelt National Park Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a United States National Park comprising three geographically separated areas of badlands in western North Dakota. The park was named for U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The park covers 70,446 acres ( 110.072 sq mi ; 28,508 ha ; 285.08 km ) of land in three sections : the North Unit, the South Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit. The park 's larger South Unit lies alongside Interstate 94 near Medora, North Dakota. The smaller North Unit is situated about 80 mi ( 130 km ) north of the South Unit, on U.S. Highway 85, just south of Watford City, North Dakota. Roosevelt 's Elkhorn Ranch is located between the North and South units, approximately 20 mi ( 32 km ) west of US 85 and Fairfield, North Dakota. The Little Missouri River flows through all three units of the park. The Maah Daah Hey Trail connects all three units. The park received 753,880 recreational visitors in 2016, an increase of 30 % from the prior year. Contents 1 History 1.1 Roosevelt connection 1.2 Park development 2 Attractions 3 Climate 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links History Roosevelt connection Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota badlands to hunt bison in September 1883. During that first short trip, he got his bison and fell in love with the rugged lifestyle and the `` perfect freedom '' of the West. He invested $14,000 in the Maltese Cross Ranch, which was already being managed by Sylvane Ferris and Bill Merrifield seven miles south of Medora. That winter, Ferris and Merrifield built the Maltese Cross Cabin. After the death of both his wife and his mother on February 14, 1884, Teddy Roosevelt returned to his North Dakota ranch seeking solitude and time to heal. That summer, he started his second ranch, the Elkhorn Ranch, 35 miles north of Medora, which he hired two Maine woodsmen, Bill Sewall and Wilmot Dow, to operate. Teddy Roosevelt took great interest in his ranches and in hunting in the West, detailing his experiences in pieces published in eastern newspapers and magazines. He wrote three major works on his life in the West : Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and The Wilderness Hunter. His adventures in `` the strenuous life '' outdoors and the loss of his cattle in the starvation winter in 1886 - 1887 were influential in Theodore Roosevelt 's pursuit of conservation policies as President of the United States ( 1901 -- 1909 ). Park development Following Theodore Roosevelt 's death in 1919, the Little Missouri Badlands were explored to determine possible park sites. Civilian Conservation Corps camps were established in both of the future park units from 1934 to 1941, and they developed roads and other structures in use today. The area was designated the Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area in 1935. In 1946 it was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge. President Truman established the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park on April 25, 1947, the only National Memorial Park ever established. In 1978, in addition to boundary adjustments and the establishment of 29,920 acres ( 121.1 km ) of the Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness, the park 's designation was changed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Attractions Cannonball concretions in the North Unit Both main units of the park have scenic drives, approximately 100 miles of foot and horse trails, wildlife viewing, and opportunities for back country hiking and camping. There are three developed campgrounds : Juniper Campground in the North Unit, Cottonwood Campground in the South Unit, and the Roundup Group Horse Campground in the South Unit. One of the most popular attractions is wildlife viewing. The park is home to a wide variety of Great Plains wildlife including bison, coyotes, cougars, feral horses, badgers, elk, bighorn sheep, white - tailed deer and mule deer, prairie dogs, and at least 186 species of birds including golden eagles, sharp - tailed grouse, and wild turkeys. Bison may be dangerous and visitors are advised to view them from a distance. Bison, elk, and bighorn sheep have been successfully reintroduced to the park. The scenery changes constantly in relationship with the seasons. The brown, dormant grass dominates from late summer through the winter, but explodes into green color in the early summer along with hundreds of species of flowering plants. Winter can be a beautiful scene as snow covers the sharp terrain of the badlands and locks the park into what Theodore Roosevelt called `` an abode of iron desolation. '' Theodore Roosevelt 's Maltese Cross Cabin The badlands are very important in Roosevelt 's life, and the park memorializes his contributions to the conservation of America 's natural resources. A museum at the South Unit Visitor Center provides background on Roosevelt and his ranching days. Roosevelt 's Maltese Cross Cabin is open for public viewing year - round at the South Unit Visitor Center. Roosevelt 's Elkhorn Ranch is a remote area of the park, 35 miles north of Medora, accessible by gravel roads. Check with park rangers for road conditions and routes to travel to the site. The foundation of the ranch house and other shops buildings have been preserved, though the other portions of the cabin were removed and re-purposed after Roosevelt vacated the ranch. Threats to the Elkhorn Ranch site include oil development on adjacent lands, particularly visual intrusions and noise pollution from oil facilities and traffic. The park is popular for back country hiking and horseback riding. Permits for back country camping may be obtained at the South Unit or North Unit Visitor Centers. Over 100 miles of trail make it a fine hiking park, though water and shade are limited along trails. The park units are mostly surrounded by Forest Service grasslands. The area has very dark night skies with excellent star gazing and occasional northern lights. The entire park has been surrounded with a 7 - foot ( 2.1 m ) tall woven wire fence to keep bison and feral horses inside the park and commercial livestock out. Other animals are able to pass over, under, or through the fence in specific locations provided for that purpose. The town of Medora, at the entrance to the south unit, provides a touristy western experience, with wooden planked sidewalks, old fashioned ice cream parlors, and buggy rides. There are several museums and the Burning Hills Amphitheather with nightly productions of the Medora Musical from early June to early September. Park officials manage populations of bison, horses, and elk to maintain a balanced ecosystem. Biologists also monitor prairie dog towns, though the park only controls their population in instances where they pose a threat to buildings or human health. Climate Climate data for Medora, ND Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high ° F ( ° C ) 66 ( 19 ) 70 ( 21 ) 82 ( 28 ) 95 ( 35 ) 101 ( 38 ) 107 ( 42 ) 110 ( 43 ) 110 ( 43 ) 106 ( 41 ) 95 ( 35 ) 79 ( 26 ) 66 ( 19 ) 110 ( 43 ) Average high ° F ( ° C ) 27.3 ( − 2.6 ) 33.7 ( 0.9 ) 43.7 ( 6.5 ) 58.2 ( 14.6 ) 69.9 ( 21.1 ) 79.1 ( 26.2 ) 87.2 ( 30.7 ) 86.9 ( 30.5 ) 75.0 ( 23.9 ) 61.4 ( 16.3 ) 43.6 ( 6.4 ) 31.4 ( − 0.3 ) 58.12 ( 14.52 ) Average low ° F ( ° C ) ( − 16.6 ) 8.2 ( − 13.2 ) 17.9 ( − 7.8 ) 29.5 ( − 1.4 ) 40.7 ( 4.8 ) 49.9 ( 9.9 ) 55.1 ( 12.8 ) 52.8 ( 11.6 ) 41.6 ( 5.3 ) 30.5 ( − 0.8 ) 18.4 ( − 7.6 ) 7.0 ( − 13.9 ) 29.48 ( − 1.41 ) Record low ° F ( ° C ) − 49 ( − 45 ) − 47 ( − 44 ) − 34 ( − 37 ) − 13 ( − 25 ) 8 ( − 13 ) 28 ( − 2 ) 34 ( 1 ) 28 ( − 2 ) 13 ( − 11 ) − 13 ( − 25 ) − 31 ( − 35 ) − 44 ( − 42 ) − 49 ( − 45 ) Average precipitation inches ( mm ) 0.41 ( 10.4 ) 0.39 ( 9.9 ) 0.61 ( 15.5 ) 1.30 ( 33 ) 2.28 ( 57.9 ) 3.09 ( 78.5 ) 2.10 ( 53.3 ) 1.33 ( 33.8 ) 1.34 ( 34 ) 0.94 ( 23.9 ) 0.53 ( 13.5 ) 0.36 ( 9.1 ) 14.68 ( 372.8 ) Average snowfall inches ( cm ) 6.1 ( 15.5 ) 5.3 ( 13.5 ) 5.4 ( 13.7 ) 3.2 ( 8.1 ) 0.7 ( 1.8 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 1.1 ( 2.8 ) 4.0 ( 10.2 ) 5.3 ( 13.5 ) 31.1 ( 79.1 ) Source : http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?nd5813 Gallery Feral horses Badlands during a winter night Feral horses and corralled bison A panorama from the Scenic Loop Drive of the park See also Badlands Elkhorn Ranch Maltese Cross Cabin Notes Jump up ^ `` Listing of acreage as of December 31, 2011 ''. Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 13. ^ Jump up to : `` NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report ''. National Park Service. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit Scenic Byway ''. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 13. Jump up ^ Roosevelt, Theodore ( 1888 ). Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. New York : The Century Co. p. 73. External links Find more aboutTheodore Roosevelt National Parkat Wikipedia 's sister projects Media from Commons Travel guide from Wikivoyage Official Theodore Roosevelt National Park website `` Writings of Theodore Roosevelt '', broadcast from Theodore Roosevelt National Park from C - SPAN 's American Writers U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System : Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park Media related to Theodore Roosevelt National Park at Wikimedia Commons Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States, 1901 -- 1909 25th Vice President of the United States, 1901 33rd Governor of New York, 1899 -- 1900 Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1897 -- 1898 New York City Police Commissioner, 1895 -- 1897 New York State Assemblyman, 1882 1883 1884 Presidency First inauguration historic site Second inauguiration `` Square Deal '' Booker T. Washington dinner Conservation Newlands Reclamation Act Transfer Act of 1905 Antiquities Act Pelican Island Devils Tower National Monument Muir Woods National Monument Other National Monuments United States Forest Service, United States Reclamation Service National Wildlife Refuge System Roosevelt Arch Conference of Governors Northern Securities Company breakup court case Coal strike of 1902 Pure Food and Drug Act Food and Drug Administration Meat Inspection Act Expediting Act Elkins Act Hepburn Act Aldrich -- Vreeland Act Federal Employers Liability Act Kinkaid Act Big Stick ideology Hay -- Bunau - Varilla Treaty Panama Canal Zone Panama Canal Venezuelan crisis Roosevelt Corollary Occupation of Cuba Russo - Japanese War Treaty of Portsmouth 1906 Nobel Peace Prize Gentlemen 's Agreement of 1907 College football meetings Bureau of Investigation Department of Commerce and Labor Bureau of Corporations Keep Commission Inland Waterways Commission Bureau of the Census Great White Fleet Perdicaris incident Cabinet White House West Wing State of the Union Address, 1901 1906 1908 White House desk Federal judiciary appointments Other events Spanish -- American War Rough Riders Battle of Las Guasimas Battle of San Juan Hill `` Bull Moose '' Progressive Party New Nationalism Assassination attempt Boone and Crockett Club Smithsonian -- Roosevelt African Expedition `` River of Doubt '' Amazonian expedition Life and homes Birthplace, boyhood home replica Sagamore Hill Home and Museum Oyster Bay Elkhorn Ranch Maltese Cross Cabin Pine Knot cabin Gravesite Writings and speeches Theodore Roosevelt bibliography The Naval War of 1812 ( 1882 book ) `` The Strenuous Life '' ( 1899 speech ) `` Citizenship in a Republic '' ( 1910 speech ) `` I have just been shot '' ( 1912 speech ) The Forum magazine articles Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia Archival collections Elections New York state election, 1898 Republican National Convention, 1900 1904 1912 1916 United States presidential election, 1900 1904 1912 Legacy Mount Rushmore Theodore Roosevelt Center and Digital Library White House Roosevelt Room Theodore Roosevelt National Park Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness Theodore Roosevelt Island Roosevelt National Forest Roosevelt Study Center Theodore Roosevelt Association Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park Monument Assemblage Roosevelt River Theodore Roosevelt Award Roosevelt Road U.S. Postage stamps Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider sculpture Equestrian statue Popular culture Teddy bear `` Speak softly, and carry a big stick '' Books Films Roosevelt in Africa 1910 documentary The Roosevelts 2014 documentary Related Political positions `` Bully pulpit '' Ananias Club `` Nature fakers '' Progressive Era A Guest of Honor Porcellian Club `` Muckraker '' National Collegiate Athletic Association `` Roosevelt Republican '' Family Alice Hathaway Lee ( first wife ) Edith Kermit Carow ( second wife ) Alice Lee Roosevelt ( daughter ) Theodore Roosevelt III ( son ) Kermit Roosevelt ( son ) Ethel Carow Roosevelt ( daughter ) Archibald Roosevelt ( son ) Quentin Roosevelt ( son ) Theodore Roosevelt Sr. ( father ) Martha Stewart Bulloch ( mother ) Anna Roosevelt ( sister ) Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt ( brother ) Corinne Roosevelt ( sister ) Cornelius Roosevelt ( grandfather ) James Stephens Bulloch ( grandfather ) James A. Roosevelt ( uncle ) Robert Roosevelt ( uncle ) James Dunwoody Bulloch ( half - uncle ) Irvine Bulloch ( uncle ) Theodore Douglas Robinson ( nephew ) Corinne Robinson ( niece ) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( niece ) Hall Roosevelt ( nephew ) ← William McKinley William Howard Taft → National parks of the United States Acadia American Samoa Arches Badlands Big Bend Biscayne Black Canyon of the Gunnison Bryce Canyon Canyonlands Capitol Reef Carlsbad Caverns Channel Islands Congaree Crater Lake Cuyahoga Valley Death Valley Denali Dry Tortugas Everglades Gates of the Arctic Glacier Glacier Bay Grand Canyon Grand Teton Great Basin Great Sand Dunes Great Smoky Mountains Guadalupe Mountains Haleakalā Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Hot Springs Isle Royale Joshua Tree Katmai Kenai Fjords Kings Canyon Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Lassen Volcanic Mammoth Cave Mesa Verde Mount Rainier North Cascades Olympic Petrified Forest Pinnacles Redwood Rocky Mountain Saguaro Sequoia Shenandoah Theodore Roosevelt Virgin Islands Voyageurs Wind Cave Wrangell -- St. Elias Yellowstone Yosemite Zion List of national parks of the United States ( by elevation ) Protected areas of North Dakota National Parks Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Sites Fort Union Trading Post Knife River Indian Villages National Wildlife Refuges Appert Lake Ardoch Arrowwood Audubon Bone Hill Creek Brumba Buffalo Lake Camp Lake Canfield Lake Chase Lake Cottonwood Lake Dakota Lake Des Lacs Florence Lake Halfway Lake Hiddenwood Hobart Lake Hutchinson Lake J. Clark Salyer Johnson Lake Kellys Slough Lake Alice Lake George Lake Ilo Lake Nettie Lake Otis Lake Patricia Lake Zahl Lambs Lake Little Goose Long Lake Lords Lake Lost Lake Maple River McLean Pleasant Lake Pretty Rock Rabb Lake Rock Lake Rose Lake School Section Lake Shell Lake Sheyenne Lake Sibley Lake Silver Lake Slade Snyder Lake Springwater Stewart Lake Stoney Slough Storm Lake Stump Lake Sullys Hill National Game Preserve Sunburst Lake Tewaukon Tomahawk Upper Souris White Lake Wild Rice Willow Lake Wintering River Wood Lake National Grasslands Cedar River Dakota Prairie Little Missouri Sheyenne U.S. Wilderness Areas Chase Lake Lostwood Theodore Roosevelt Other Federal International Peace Garden North Country National Scenic Trail State Parks Beaver Lake Cross Ranch Fort Abraham Fort Ransom Fort Stevenson Grahams Island Icelandic Lake Metigoshe Lake Sakakawea Lewis and Clark Little Missouri Sully Creek Turtle River Recreation areas Butte Saint Paul Crow Flies High Black Tiger Bay Doyle Memorial Indian Hills Little Metigoshe Pelican Point Pembina Gorge Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theodore_Roosevelt_National_Park&oldid=798520573 '' Categories : IUCN Category II Theodore Roosevelt National Park Badlands Protected areas of Billings County, North Dakota Protected areas of McKenzie County, North Dakota Civilian Conservation Corps camps Civilian Conservation Corps in North Dakota Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in North Dakota Paleontology in North Dakota Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikivoyage Беларуская Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Hrvatski Italiano മലയാളം Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk پنجابی Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 2 September 2017, at 10 : 19. 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Question: where are the badlands located in north dakota
Answer: western North Dakota