Welcome to our roundup of Theodore Roosevelt National Park facts. In this article we share 11 genuinely interesting things about the only national park named after a single person. For more, see the full Theodore Roosevelt National Park hub and our overview of North Dakota national parks.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park protects more than 70,000 acres of badlands along the Little Missouri River in western North Dakota. It is a place of carved buttes, open prairie, and roaming wildlife, and it is tied directly to the man who did more for American conservation than any other president.
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Theodore Roosevelt National Park Facts
1. It Is the Only National Park Named for a Single Person
Plenty of national park sites honor people, but Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the only full national park named after an individual. It commemorates the 26th president, whose time in this country shaped the conservation legacy he later carried into the White House.
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2. Roosevelt Came Here to Hunt and Stayed to Grieve
Roosevelt first traveled to the Dakota badlands in 1883 to hunt bison. The next year, after his wife and his mother died on the same day, he returned to the badlands to recover from the loss. He later wrote that he never would have become president without his experience in North Dakota.
3. He Ran Two Cattle Ranches Here
Roosevelt invested in the Maltese Cross Ranch and later established the more remote Elkhorn Ranch. He worked as a rancher in this rough country, riding long days and learning the realities of land and weather firsthand. The Maltese Cross Cabin still stands and can be toured near the South Unit visitor center.
4. The Elkhorn Ranch Is Called the Cradle of Conservation
The site of Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch, the most remote of the park’s three units, is sometimes called the cradle of conservation. It was here, in solitude along the Little Missouri, that many of the ideas behind his later push to protect public land took shape.
5. The Park Has Three Separate Units
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is split into three units, the South Unit, the North Unit, and the Elkhorn Ranch Unit, spread out along the Little Missouri River. The two main units sit more than 60 miles apart, each with its own scenic drive and character.
6. Wild Horses Roam the South Unit
A herd of free-roaming horses lives in the South Unit, descendants of ranch stock that ranged this country generations ago. They are one of the park’s most beloved sights, and Theodore Roosevelt is one of the few national parks where you can watch wild horses on the open range.
7. Bison Were Brought Back After Disappearing
Bison were wiped out of this region by the late 1800s. The park reintroduced them in 1956, and today healthy herds roam both main units. Seeing bison cross the road in front of your car is a common and humbling part of a visit.
8. Prairie Dog Towns Dot the Landscape
Black-tailed prairie dogs build sprawling colonies across the park, and their towns are easy to spot from the road. These social rodents are a keystone species, and their burrows and alarm calls support a whole community of predators and other prairie animals.
9. The Badlands Were Once a Steamy Wetland
Around 60 million years ago, this region was a warm, swampy lowland of slow rivers and cypress-like trees. Layer upon layer of sediment, ash, and ancient peat built up over time, and erosion has since carved those layers into the banded buttes and gullies you see today.
10. You Can Find Petrified Wood Here Too
The same ancient forests that buried under sediment left behind petrified wood, and the park’s South Unit has a Petrified Forest Loop where stone logs lie scattered across the backcountry. It is one of the larger concentrations of petrified wood in the country, reachable on a long day hike.
11. It Became a Full National Park in 1978
The area was first protected as Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park in 1947, the only national memorial park ever created. Congress redesignated it as a full national park in 1978, and a large portion of the land is now protected as designated wilderness.
Theodore Roosevelt is a park about both a landscape and a legacy. For more, see our overview of North Dakota national parks and the full Theodore Roosevelt National Park hub.
What to Bring to Theodore Roosevelt
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