Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- The North Dakota badlands have been home to a number of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, including the Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow, and many others.
- The park is a wildlife lover's paradise. Visitors frequently encounter bison, prairie dogs, elk, coyotes, big horn sheet, badgers, and porcupines.
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the only American national park named after a single person.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park honors the importance of the North Dakota landscape in the life of Theodore Roosevelt and the key role that the region played in fostering the former president’s passion for the outdoors and for conservation.
Roosevelt first came to the Dakota Territories in 1883 to hunt bison. A year later, devastated by personal tragedy, he returned to grieve and to lose himself in the vast and rugged landscape. While his ranch operations ultimately failed, his love for the rocky beauty of the land brought him back time and again for the rest of his life. Roosevelt credited his Dakota experiences as the basis for his ground-breaking preservation efforts and the shaping of his own character.
Today the 70,000-acre park rewards visitors with the opportunity to experience a wealth of natural beauty, from rolling prairies and river bottoms to floodplain forests and the undulating badlands. The park is comprised of three separate areas. The North and South Units feature scenic drives, wildlife viewing, hiking, visitor centers, and ranger-led programs. The undeveloped Elkhorn Ranch Unit preserves the site of Roosevelt's "home ranch" in a remote area along the Little Missouri River.
What JNPA Does Here
JNPA stores in the park’s official visitor centers offer a wide range of educational products that enrich visitors' experiences. Proceeds from the sale of the stores’ products benefit the educational programs of the park.
