Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The colorful North Dakota badlands provide the scenic backdrop to the park which memorializes the 26th president for his enduring contributions to the conservation of our nation's resources. The park contains 70,448 acres divided among three units: South Unit, North Unit and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit. In the park you will find badlands, open prairie, hard wood draws, wild horses, bison, prairie dogs and other wildlife, the Little Missouri River, and a past history that includes Theodore Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit

Fall is a great time to visit what is quickly becoming one of my favorite National Parks. I spent a couple more days this fall in Medora, North Dakota visiting this highly productive park. I spend most of my time in Theodore Roosevelt's South Unit which is located in western North Dakota, less than an hour east of the Montana border.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit

The terrain is very similar to the badlands of South Dakota and the wildlife is abundant. You can follow the winding road through the park and find several scenic areas each unique in their own way. There are also plenty of opportunities to make a wide variety of pattern or texture images like the one above. In Fall the weather is usually much cooler and the colors of the trees and prairie are at their peak. After Labor Day many of the tourists have gone back to the cities and there are very few people around.

Wild Horse - Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit

On this trip I spent a significant amount of time observing and photographing several different bands of wild horses that roam the park. Each day I was able to spend hours with these beautiful animals and captured a variety of portaits as well as different types of behavior on film. I photograph them rolling on the ground "dusting", nursing their young colts, and running across the open prairie. You can see additional wild horse images from this trip in the Gallery section of my website.

Bison - Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit

There was plenty of wildlife to photograph. In addition to the wild horses, I was also able to find large bison herds, prairie dog towns, badger, coyote, mule deer, elk, golden eagle and wild turkey.

Prairie Dog - Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit

I look forward to many more productive visits to this great location and I have added Theodore Roosevelt National Park as a Workshop destination for September 26-29, 2003. I am now taking deposits for this trip and it will be limited to only 6 photographers.

For more information about this or any other exciting photo trip please click on Events.