Cliff Edges Stairs Rattlesnakes Wildlife

Be aware of the following:

Poison Ivy

Ridgeline

A Guided Nature Trail

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Silver sagebrush

(Artemisia cana)

Choke cherry

(Prunus virginiana)

Prairie wild rose 

(Rosa arkansana)

Purple coneflower 

(Echinacea angustifolia)

As you hike this trail, look closely. 

The juniper trees surrounding you 

now are hard to miss. Also notice 

the many other plants, including 

chokecherry, crisply scented silver 

sagebrush, and many grasses and 

small flowers. Animals eat most of 

these plants and American Indians 

have long used them for food or 

medicine. Some plants are toxic. 

In order to survive, people and 

animals had to learn which plants 

could help or harm them.

1. Look deeper 

Lakota people called this land Mako shika, or “land of no good.” French 

explorers called it les mauvais terres á traverser, “bad land to travel 

through.” The English name is badlands. It is dry, maze-like, and rugged. 

Survival can be tough. Even so, many plants and animals do survive and 

even thrive here. Learn more as you follow the numbered trail posts. 

Ridgeline Nature Trail 
Imagine traveling across the Great 

Plains in a covered wagon and 

coming upon this scene. The name 

badlands is understandable. Next, 

imagine yourself as a hunter on 

foot—butte tops become good 

lookouts and valleys become good 

places to travel undetected. Now 

imagine yourself as prey, using the 

lookouts and hiding places to evade 

predators. Once you get to know 

this place, you can use the rugged 

landscape to your advantage.

2. Mako shika 

Grasslands look simple at first 

glance, but upon closer inspection 

are complex. Hundreds of species 

of plants live in the park, most 

of them grasses and wildflowers. 

Grasslands support grazers, 

animals that eat mostly grass, such 

3. Grasslands 

as bison. In fact, grasslands depend 

on grazers. Grazers fertilize the soil 

with their manure. Their pointed 

hooves pierce the soil allowing 

rainwater to find its way into the 

ground. By grazing selectively, they 

help many plant species thrive.

Continue straight ahead to follow the guided nature trail.
Silver buffaloberry

(Shepherdia argentea)

Rubber rabbitbrush 

(Chrysothamnus nauseosus)

Golden currant 

(Ribes aureum)

Shrubs, like the silver sagebrush 

in front of you, provide cover for 

small mammals and birds and are 

also food for browsers (animals 

that eat shrubs like deer, elk, and 

pronghorn.) 

Browsers and fires keep shrubs 

from overtaking the grasslands. 

Without them, tree and shrub cover 

increases, shading out smaller 

plants and reducing the prairie’s 

diversity.

4. Shrubs 

Travel through the badlands is 

much faster since the construction 

of Interstate 94 in the 1960s. 

Increased travel to and through 

the badlands means more chances 

5. Expressway 

of introducing plants and animals 

that aren’t originally from this 

area. Some introduced species are 

damaging; others are not.

Caution! Steep cliff edges ahead

Continue straight ahead to follow the trail posts in numerical order.
Canada thistle

(Cirsium arvense)

Leafy spurge

(Euphorbia esula))

Smooth brome

(Bromus inermis)

Not all of the plant species you see 

were here 200 years ago. Those 

that were here before European 

settlement are called native species. 

The prairie depends on native 

species to play their part in the 

environment–as food or shelter 

for animals, or as protection and 

nutrients for soil. Plants that have 

been introduced are called nonnative species. Many non-native 

species blend into the environment 

and do not pose a threat; others 

become a problem. These problem 

species are called invasive species.

7. Invaders 

Invasive plants, such as Canada 

thistle, often spread quickly and 

take over large areas, crowding 

out native species. Some invasive 

plants, like leafy spurge, slow 

the growth of nearby plants by 

releasing toxic chemicals from their 

roots. Many invasive plants cannot 

be eaten by native wildlife. Their 

spread reduces the amount of food 

available to grazers. Theodore 

Roosevelt National Park is actively 

fighting to keep invasive species 

from overtaking the native prairie.

6. New Neighbors 

As you look out across the 

landscape, notice its diversity: some 

areas have trees; some are grassy; 

and some are seemingly barren. Do 

you see a pattern? 

Trees grow where they can get 

enough water, usually along 

streams or northern sides of hills 

where the sun doesn’t dry up 

moisture as quickly. Grasses are 

adapted to drier soils found on the 

tops and southern sides of hills. 

8. Variety 

Continue straight along the ridge to the next post.
Western meadowlark Lark sparrow Spotted towhee

You are entering the north slope 

of the ridge you’ve been walking 

along. Notice there are fewer 

grasses and more trees. Grasses 

thrive on the sunnier, drier hilltops 

and southern slopes. The cooler, 

wetter conditions of the northern 

slopes allow juniper, skunkbush 

sumac, and dogbane to grow. 

9. Cooling Down 

Imagine living here without 

modern conveniences. On a hot 

day, you would find shade in the 

cottonwood trees along the river. 

When hungry, you could find 

edible roots in the grasslands and 

berries in wooded and shrubby 

areas. You would move between 

habitats to find the food and shelter 

you need. Many animals depend on 

the mix of habitats of the badlands 

just as people would. For example, 

elk use juniper woods for cover 

and graze in open prairies. 

10. Having it All 

In the summer and fall, the shrubs 

and trees around you abound 

with berries, which feed some of 

the nearly 200 bird species in the 

park. Some birds live here yearround, but many migrate here 

for summer or come through on 

11. Bird Food 

migrations to places further north. 

These bountiful berry patches 

are critical fuel for the migrating 

birds’ journey. The cover of their 

branches provides a protected 

resting spot or a place to nest. 
Fire is a healthy and important part 

of the prairie ecosystem. Together, 

fire and grazing keep soils healthy 

and stop trees and shrubs from 

overtaking the prairie. Do you see 

any evidence here from past fires?

Native plants are well adapted to 

occasional fire. Native grasses have 

very deep roots which store the 

energy plants need to regenerate 

12. Burning Up 

after fire. The grass shoots that 

regrow are fresh and nutritious—

preferred grazing for bison and 

other animals.

Fire is a useful tool for fighting the 

spread of invasive plants. Many 

invasive species are less tolerant 

of fire, giving native species an 

advantage in the growing season 

following a fire. 

A hillside in the park one month after a prescribed burn
The health of the grasslands was 

essential to the Mandan, Hidatsa, 

Arikara, and other plains tribes. 

To keep the prairie healthy, people 

have been setting prairie fires for 

thousands of years. 

Today the National Park Service 

prescribes and sets carefully 

controlled fires to mimic the 

natural and human-made fire cycle 

that has maintained the prairie over 

the last few thousand years.

13. Setting Fires 

Continue up the hill, then follow the trail to the left. Please return this 

brochure to the box at the beginning of the trail. Thank you!

This trail brochure was written and produced by the interpretation rangers of 

Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was printed using your fee dollars. 

Thank you for your support!

E x perie n ce you r Am erica TM

Along the Ridgeline Trail you 

have seen how the habitats of the 

badlands, when in balance, create 

a place for many species’ survival 

and also how delicate that balance 

can be.

The National Park Service strives 

to preserve the balance of the 

14. Preserving the Balance

badlands for the benefit of wildlife, 

visitors, and the ecosystem we all 

share. 

As you continue to explore, notice 

how each habitat affects the plants 

and animals within it and how 

those park residents affect their 

habitats.