We Got Stopped by Hundreds of Bison in North Dakota
So before I go and talk about North Dakota. there was actually one last stop we did in Minnesota. That stop was Bemidji, Mnnesota, home of one of the many Paul Bunyans across America. The 20' statue was accompanied by his blue ox, Babe, and Paul even had his own visitor center featuring his jersey, clothes, and even his old toenails (almost 6" long).
But into the great plains we headed, driving across near the entire state of North Dakota. We first stopped in Fargo, and while they had a charming Main Street/Downtown, we were really there for the visitor center. As you may know, there is a quite famous movie of the same name as the city, and we had made sure to watch it the night before. At the visitor center, they have not only a small exhibit and memorabilia dedicated to Fargo, but the very woodchipper used in the movie. Naturally, we reenacted that scene.
West we headed on I-94, in a stupefyingly boring drive. As you’ll hear more, I don’t like the great plains much. I don’t like the eerie loneliness and understanding that there is nothing for you if something goes wrong.
Thankfully, nothing did go wrong, and we ended up at our base of Dickinson, ND. And here in blood-red North Dakota, we found an Airbnb room with a liberal gay man who was (has now) about to retire from a decades long career in the US Forest Service. Chris and his dog Bella were phenomenal hosts and great company, so thank you both loads.
We were here to explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which we soon found out had two separate units 70 miles apart from the other. We decided to tackle the park over two days, doing a daytime exploration of the north first. It’s more out of the way, and thus less crowded, and the scenery transformed from dull hills to spectacular badlands. It turns out there are other badlands besides Badlands national park, and Teddy Roosevelt NP was centered around two pockets. They are stunning eroded hills of varying brown stripes and grassy enclaves, making the layered earth bare and exposed. They are quite something.
But what was even more spectacular was the herd of 150+ bison that blocked our passageway deeper into the park. They are such majestic creatures, so calm yet formidable, without an apparent care in the world. We got closer than we should have, but the herd was too mesmerizing to resist.
It took them about 30 minutes to clear out enough for us to pass, and so we went further into various overlooks of the park and its badlands. Chris told us that glimpsing a herd that big was unheard of — most all visitors (including him) are lucky to see even one roaming around on any given day.
The next evening, we ventured to the South Unit to soak in a sunset over the park. One very fascinating phenomenon to me is that not all parks have you stay on the trail. TRNP is an “off-trail” park, meaning while there are designated hiking trails, it is fair game to walk wherever you darn please in the park. So that’s what we did, walking across a hill to catch our very own Great Plains Sunset. It was a stunner, as sunsets are prone to be.
It was a three day stint in North Dakota, and it felt like plenty. There really doesn’t seem to be much to the state, and I will be perfectly okay if I do not find myself coming back. The only exception would be to see more bison at the park.
Next up will be South Dakota.
