The transition from Fargo to Bismarck and then west into the Badlands marked another important change in the character of my road trip. Until this point, the journey had largely been my solo expedition. Now my friend Annie Farrell was joining me for ten days of wilderness, history, hiking and camping. And, appropriately, before the two of us disappeared into the Badlands, there was a little unfinished business to take care of.
Bismarck: Work Before Wilderness
After the memorable—and rather sleep-deprived—night in Fargo, I made my way to Bismarck, where I picked up Annie at the airport. I had imagined that the moment Annie arrived, we would immediately point the truck toward Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Not quite. Annie had work that needed attention. I also had my own unfinished business: my road-trip blog posts. So we improvised.
We stopped at a Target near the airport, where Target suddenly became an office, coffee shop and grocery store all at once. While Annie handled her work, I settled in with my computer and managed to complete four blog posts.
Four posts completed.
Coffee consumed.
Work accomplished.
Groceries purchased.
Annie’s business handled.
Only then were we ready to disappear into the wilderness.
And there is something wonderfully authentic about that moment. Long road trips aren’t all scenic overlooks and campfires. Sometimes the wilderness begins with Wi-Fi at Target.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Once the groceries were loaded, we headed west toward Theodore Roosevelt National Park, one of the most consequential landscapes in the American West—not simply because of its spectacular scenery, but because of what it meant to the man for whom the park is named. We would spend two days exploring the South Unit and two days in the North Unit, giving us a much deeper experience than the typical drive-through visit.
The park’s two units offer distinctly different experiences. The South Unit is the more accessible and heavily visited portion, while the North Unit is considerably quieter and more rugged. The National Park Service describes the North Unit as a place of solitude and discovery, with more than 80% of the unit designated wilderness.
One of the exciting reasons to travel to North Dakota was to attend the newly opened Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. This wasn’t an ordinary museum visit.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library officially opened July 4, 2026, making our visit just weeks after its grand opening. Its location is extraordinarily appropriate: it sits in the very landscape that profoundly influenced Roosevelt’s life. That timing made the visit particularly significant. We weren’t simply visiting a historical institution. We were visiting one of America’s newest presidential libraries in the landscape that helped create the president it commemorates.
Before proceeding I wanted to share my research on why Theodore Roosevelt matters.
Roosevelt is difficult to put into a single category. He was:
- President of the United States
- Rough Rider
- conservationist
- author
- explorer
- rancher
- political reformer
- naturalist
- outdoorsman
- Nobel Peace Prize recipient
- and one of the most energetic personalities ever to occupy the White House.
But perhaps the most important part of the Roosevelt story for our journey is what happened before he became president. In 1884, Roosevelt suffered devastating personal losses, including the deaths of his wife, Alice, and his mother on the same day. He retreated to the Dakota Badlands, where he established himself as a rancher.
The Badlands gave him something he desperately needed: space, hardship, physical challenge and time to rebuild himself. That experience became part of the foundation of the man who eventually became president. And that makes the setting of the library extraordinarily powerful. When you attend this library you aren’t learning about Roosevelt somewhere else. You’re learning about him where the landscape itself helped shape him.
What makes the new library different?
The library’s permanent exhibition follows Roosevelt’s life chronologically through eight chapters, beginning with his childhood in New York and continuing through the Badlands, Cuba, the presidency, the Amazon and his later life at Oyster Bay, New York
But the library deliberately avoids being a conventional “walk through a museum and read the plaques” experience. The exhibits are designed to make the visitor participate.
The library describes the experience as moving between traditional narrative galleries and interactive environments in which visitors make choices and consider what they themselves would have done.
The exhibits I’d consider the highlights
1. Roosevelt’s childhood
The story begins with the sickly, intellectually curious young Theodore Roosevelt.
This is important because it establishes the remarkable transformation that followed. He wasn’t born the stereotypical rugged cowboy-president. He deliberately developed his physical strength, intellectual curiosity and appetite for adventure.
2. The Badlands
For our trip, this was arguably the most important section. We had just been camping and hiking in the very landscape that helped Roosevelt reconstruct his life. The Badlands weren’t merely scenery to Roosevelt. They were a turning point. The library makes that connection between landscape and character central to the story.
3. The “arena”
Roosevelt’s famous philosophy of getting into the arena—of choosing action rather than standing on the sidelines—is woven throughout the experience.
This is especially relevant to my own journey. I’ve spent weeks doing exactly that: getting into the arena. Driving thousands of miles. Sleeping in a rooftop tent. Hiking unfamiliar terrain. Meeting old friends in unexpected places. Exploring national parks. Adapting when plans change.
4. The conservation story
Roosevelt’s presidency helped establish conservation as a major responsibility of the federal government. His legacy includes the establishment and protection of enormous amounts of public land and the creation of national forests, wildlife refuges and national monuments. Standing in Theodore Roosevelt National Park while learning about his conservation philosophy makes this part of the story particularly tangible. We were literally experiencing part of the legacy he helped create.
5. The People’s Library
The final gallery is particularly interesting.
Rather than ending simply with Roosevelt, the exhibition turns the question back toward the visitor. The library creates a personal “constellation” based on the choices and interactions you made during the exhibition. The final view looks out toward the Badlands—the landscape that shaped Roosevelt. That’s a powerful concept: The story starts with Theodore Roosevelt. It ends by asking what you will do with the example.
And that’s probably one of the most appropriate messages for someone traveling across America for 160 days.
Four Days in Theodore Roosevelt Country
After camping, breakfast and getting ourselves organized each morning, Annie and I spent approximately four days experiencing the park from two very different perspectives.
South Unit — the big Badlands experience
The South Unit is the park’s more famous and accessible portion, centered around Medora. The scenic loop provides spectacular views across the rolling Badlands, with abundant opportunities for wildlife and hiking. The NPS describes the South Unit as the park’s most visited area. Among the memorable hikes and overlooks are:
- Wind Canyon
- Buck Hill
- Boicourt Overlook
- Painted Canyon
- Coal Vein Trail
- Skyline Vista
The park’s hiking guide ranges from very short walks to serious backcountry adventures. The Petrified Forest Loop, for example, is a roughly 10.3-mile, 5–6 hour adventure through ancient petrified forests and Badlands wilderness. Annie and I weren’t merely driving through the park. We were getting out of the truck and experiencing it on foot.
And then there was the camping
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable parts of this chapter was the rhythm we established together: Wake up → breakfast → coffee → prepare the day’s supplies → hit the trail → explore → return to camp → dinner → conversation → sleep → repeat.
That is a very different way of experiencing a national park than spending two hours driving through it. And because we were camping, we experienced the Badlands during the quieter portions of the day—the mornings and evenings when the light changes dramatically across the formations and the crowds diminish. The park became less of a sightseeing destination and more of a temporary home.
One footnote must be shared at this point: I would advise against wearing open-toed sandals at a campground at night in the dark. I slammed my right foot into a large boulder at our campsite the first night. No problem, we taped my baby toe and 2nd toe together to stabilize both. More on this later .
The North Unit is the quieter, more rugged side of the park. The scenery follows the Little Missouri River through deeply eroded badlands, and the scenic drive eventually rises to River Bend Overlook and continues toward Oxbow Overlook. The hiking is where the North Unit really becomes special. We took a lovely 4+mile hike. The North Unit also offers something that is increasingly difficult to find in a national park: solitude.
Our last night in the North Unit was filled with much drinking. We woke to a hangover. Thank goodness Annie was ready to rally. She drove the 6 hours to the South Unit. On our way there a young man about 16 years old side-swiped my Ram 1500 in an 80 mpg speed limited on highway I-90. We exchanged insurance, registration, contact information as well as photos. I submitted the claim to insurance as the side swiping of my vehicle created damage on both passenger side doors and rear wheel well area. His vehicle didn’t even have a scratch. I will take it in to a repair shop in late November / early December as it does not impair the driving.