Our first stop on the Dakotas road trip agenda was Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. Before the trip, I didn’t devote much thought to Theodore Roosevelt National Park – I expected it would be nice, and that I’d be glad to have visited, but beyond that I didn’t really consider. Just like with Joshua Tree, I ended up being surprised at how much I loved this park.

We stayed at a hotel in Medora, just outside of the park gates, and drove our rental car into the park each morning. TRNP is even more spread out than most national parks, so this was a perfect solution. On our first day in the park, we ignored the heavy cloud cover and chilly wind and made for our first stop: the Coal Vein Nature Trail. The coal vein is what it sounds like – a vein of coal running through this section of the park – and this vein is famous for having caught fire and burned continuously for twenty-six years. It’s not still burning, but I read that you can still smell it smouldering. (I couldn’t smell anything, though.)

The landscape was stunning! I would come to learn that there is a marked difference between North Dakota badlands and South Dakota badlands (which we would see later in the trip). The North Dakota version of the badlands was still green and verdant, with plenty of interesting plants to examine.

Like prickly pear cacti embedded right in the grass! Now there’s something you don’t see every day.

And there were plenty of varieties of juniper and sage – two of my favorite plants. I must have stopped ten times to sniff. And then ten more times to goggle at the gorgeous landscape spread out below us.

Strong start to the vacation! This first hike was one of my favorites of the entire week. But TRNP had plenty more riches in store for us.

Next week: the first day of our trip was a two-hike day as we explored another easy nature trail with stunning vistas.