Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota covers 110 square miles (285\u00a0km2) of prairie and badlands and is home to some amazing animals.\u00a0 Before I start talking about the animals native to this area let me first explain to you about the ‘badlands’.\u00a0 Badlands are a type of dry terrain* where rocks and dirt have been eroded away, by wind and rain, creating canyons and ravines.\u00a0 This type of terrain is very difficult to travel through by foot, wagon, or even car, which is likely where the name, ‘bad’ lands or badlands, comes from.\u00a0 Even though it is difficult to navigate these canyons many people love to go into them (on foot, car, or 4×4 vehicle) because they are amazingly beautiful.\u00a0 Often the eroded rock and dirt exposes beautiful colors ranging from black to bright red.<\/p>\n
Although the landscape of the badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park is beautiful it was not this landscape that originally drew the former president here.\u00a0 He first went to the prairie and badlands of North Dakota for the animals.\u00a0 Specifically, he went to hunt bison.\u00a0 Roosevelt went to North Dakota to hunt and be a rancher, and then he fell in love with its beautiful landscape.\u00a0 Now of course there is no hunting or ranching in this area because the park is protected land.\u00a0 The hundreds of bison that live in this park still amaze all the tourists who visit, just like they amazed Roosevelt when he was there more than a hundred years earlier.\u00a0 Above is a picture of the iconic** buffalo of this park.\u00a0 The words bison and buffalo are used synonymously in English.\u00a0 I have been told there is a technical difference between bison and buffalo, but in everyday vernacular*** the words are used the same.\u00a0 There are other interesting animals in this park though, other than buffalo.\u00a0 This park is home to wild horses, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, eagles, and prairie dogs.\u00a0 There is a picture of a prairie dog below.\u00a0 Prairie dogs don’t look much like dogs to me.\u00a0 They are small cute animals that live underground.\u00a0 They don\u2019t bark like a dog either, they make a high pitch chirping sound more like a bird.\u00a0 Like bison, prairie dogs are native only in North America. *terrain = an area of land Here is another addition in our exploration of amazing American National Parks. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is found in the state of North Dakota.\u00a0 This is the only national park in the United States dedicated to a former American president.\u00a0\u00a0 Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States, interestingly his distant cousin, Franklin…<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Given the beautiful scenery and many animals to see, the main attractions of Theodore Roosevelt National Park are the scenic drives, foot and horse trails.\u00a0 On the drives and trails both the wildlife and the badlands can be viewed and explored.\u00a0 While I was camping at this park this past summer the wildlife explored us to!\u00a0 Wild horses and buffalo walked right through the campgrounds.<\/p>\n
\n**iconic = a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something
\n***vernacular = the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"