Theodore Roosevelt National Park
“I do not believe that any man can adequately appreciate the world of to-day
unless he has some knowledge of…[and] some feeling for…
the history of the world of the past.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established in April 1947 to honor avid outdoorsman Teddy Roosevelt, our 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. The 70,446-acre park is located in North Dakota and is home to bison, wild horses, prairie dogs, longhorn cattle, pronghorn, elk, bighorn sheep, coyotes, moose, mountain lions, white-tail and mule deer, as well as many types of birds.
The park is broken into three sections:
- • South Unit – comprised of 46,158 acres
- • North Unit – comprised of 24,070 acres
- • Elkhorn Ranch Unit – comprised of 218 acres
Bison Encounters
Plans for an early morning bike tour of Theodore Roosevelt National Park quickly changed when we woke up at 5:30 AM to 43° (feels like 39°) with 18 MPH wind blowing rain sideways. I turned off the alarm and fell back to sleep – there was no way I was going to ride in that kind of weather. After sleeping in a little bit, we rescheduled our day’s plans and hit the gym for some strength training with plans to let it warm up before our ride.
By mid-day it had warmed up a bit so we drove to the North Unit, a section of the park we hadn’t yet visited. After several stops for short hikes and pictures, we got back in our SUV to drive along Cedar Canyon Road to the location where we planned to start and finish our ride. Moments after pulling out of the parking lot, we had a close encounter with three bison who were walking down the road toward us. They kept coming toward us so my husband quickly put the car in reverse because bison are known for head butting shiny cars.
After our close encounter with the bison, we continued down Scenic Drive until we found a good place to park and get our bikes ready. I was on full alert when we eventually got on our bikes for a short ride through the park. We saw bison at several different points, most far away in the field and I was just fine with that. After putting our bikes on the back of our SUV and climbing safely inside, we saw a few more bison crossing the road and even a few longhorns next the road as we left the park.
About the Ride
From the moment we got on our bikes, our heads were on a swivel watching for bison that might be nearby. Not only earlier in the day, but at other times over that previous few days, we’d seen several bison that seemed to appear from nowhere when they summited an embankment onto the road and we certainly didn’t want a close encounter with one of those guys!
With no bike lanes, we were limited to riding on the main park road, but traffic was light and what few cars we saw were driving very slowly as they took in the scenery. Our view to the north and south were very different with the badlands to the south and prairie to the north.
From where we parked, we rode 4.7 miles east on Cedar Canyon Road / Scenic Drive toward the Visitor Center before turning around at River Bend Overlook. After passing our starting point, we continued another 1.6 miles southwest to the Oxbow Overlook before turning to ride back to our car, totaling just over 14 miles.
Ride Overview
- • Location: Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit, McKenzie County, North Dakota
- • Start/Finish: parking lot off Scenic Road
- • Course Type: out and backs
- • Course Surface: paved
- • Bike: Salsa Warbird
- • Distance: 14.23 miles
- • Time: 1:11:05
- • Average Speed: 12 MPH
- • Maximum Speed: 21.3 MPH
- • Elevation Gain: 837 feet
- • Elevation Range: 1,315 to 1,428 feet
- • Weather: 66° and cloudy with a slight breeze and a few rain drops, dropping to 64° with the sun peeking out
- • Date of ride: August 7, 2024
- • Course Map:
Fun Pictures From Along the Way
“Five minutes into our ride and so far so good! Oh wait, here comes a bison running along in the grass right beside the road.” I didn’t bother to take out my phone for a picture since my husband had his Insta360 running. Only later did we discover that it malfunctioned (or was it operator error?) and we didn’t capture anything.
Wild turkeys don’t frighten me!
We stopped at River Bend Overlook for a picture with the Little Missouri River flowing behind us.
Starting the return trip…
We were pretty sure this was the same lone bison we had seen earlier that had moved farther from the road.
About ten miles into the ride we came upon a herd of bison off in a distance.
I found it interesting that the park sign uses the term buffalo rather than bison. Buffalo are native to Africa and Asia and have longer horns that curl. Bison are native to North America and Europe, can withstand harsh winters, have small humps behind their shoulders, and short sharp horns.
With a later start, we didn’t ride the full 28-mile out-and-back as originally planned, instead creating a shorter route.
After turning around at Oxbox Overlook, we saw the herd of bison again, moving toward the west as they grazed.
Shortly before returning to our car we stopped for a view of the beautiful badlands. My husband looked down over the edge and saw a bison right below so we decided to hightail it out of there with me taking off like I was sprinting to win a race.
My husband laughing at my nervousness about our close encounter…
Garmin Stats
Post-ride Garmin map and elevation graph…
Final Thoughts on the Ride
We would have loved to ride the entire length of Scenic Drive, but our later start prohibited it. For the first week of August, the weather was quite cool, but probably pretty normal for North Dakota. It was nice to have a chill ride especially since we wanted the flexibility to stop for pictures at any time; and it was fantastic seeing bison, but not so close that it seemed dangerous. Should we return to the park, I’d love to do the 28-mile out and back ride from the Visitors Center.
Questions:
- • Have you been to South Dakota? ~ This was my first visit.
- • Do you enjoy visiting national parks? ~ We are big fans of visiting national parks.
- • Do you stop and relax occasionally to fuel or take pictures, or barrel on through when on a long run or ride? ~ Pictures, always pictures, unless I’m racing!
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I’m linking up with Zenaida of The Running Teacher and Jenn from Runs with Pugs for Tuesday topics Link-Up. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Haha, the cow girl is scared of the bison!
Just pulling your leg, I would have been scared, too! Although I absolutely love that national park. The beautiful landscape with all the animals roaming peacefully is amazing.
It’s interesting about the buffalo misnomer. As you mentioned, the buffalos here in Africa look completely different. My trick to tell them apart are their horns: a buffalo’s horns are connected and curve over its head, looking a bit like a wig. A bison has two horns that stand apart.
Oh I hadn’t thought of it that way – I guess I don’t love all creatures from the bovine family, or I’m less comfortable around some of them. 😉
You would have loved the prairie dog fields in the South Unit. Those little guys were adorable! There were hundreds and hundreds of them in a wide open field. I was hoping we’d ride our bikes past some in the North Unit so I could stop for an easier picture, but we didn’t see any up thee. My pictures didn’t turn out great because I took them from the car since we couldn’t find a good place to pull over.
Pictures always but not during a race.
No, never been to N.D. It looks beautiful but bison are scary.
I love National Parks but I haven’t been since I started running. Maybe I should look into races National Parks.
I’ve run two National Parks Half Marathons: Grand Tetons and Shenandoah. They are not run within the parks, but usually are in beautiful areas because the course is right outside the park.
Thanks for the clarification…I always thought buffalo and bison were one in-the-same. I didn’t realize it would be that cold in August there. It sure looks like a beautiful place!
Well, the song “Home on the Range” uses the term buffalo for the American bison so I think the words are often used interchangeably.
I wasn’t expecting it to be that cold either!
I would have absolutely loved to see those bison! I know you can’t pet them and they are so aggressive, but THEY ARE SO FLUFFY!
I would totally go to more parks, but it’s a chore to get the guys interested. I think A would tag along with me and go exploring, but then Mr PugRunner feels left out and he’s not about that life.
What an amazing trip and ride!