Views from the Scenic Drive - North Unit - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Returning from the western end of Scenic Drive in the North Unit of  Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we stopped at several pullouts along the way during our May 2021 visit to the park. 

Sperati Point and Oxbow Overlook

Layered buttes

Prairie

Looking down a draw formed by an unnamed stream to the Little Mo

One more look at the Oxbow

Last look

Bison

Badlands carved by the Little Mo

Grays and tans of the badlands (MP 9.8)

Bentonitic Clay Overlook

Rock slide

Stark contrast

Bison at the Juniper Picnic Grounds

Long X Trail is hidden in the brush

Another view of the Long X Trail

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm.

Oxbow Overlook - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Driving west on Scenic Drive in the North Unit of  Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we arrived at the end of the road and Oxbow Overlook at mile marker 14. Here the Little Missouri River turns from flowing north to flowing east. The 90-degree turn has caused massive erosion in the badlands, but the river redeposits much of that load of silt fairly quickly due to its average descent of only one to two feet per mile through the North Unit.

Paved parallel parking is available for six automobiles. In addition, ten paved pull-through spots are available for RVs. We visited in May 2021.

A broken, but beautiful landscape

The Little Mo flowing north

The oxbow bend in the river

Sperati Point behind an unnamed butte

Beginning of the oxbow

Middle and end of the oxbow

View upstream

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm.

River Bend Overlook - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Continuing our May 2021 visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we drove west on Scenic Drive in the North Unit to mile marker eight and the paved pullout for the River Bend Trail. There is paved parking for two handicap placarded vehicles, two RVs, and about a dozen other vehicles. A 220-foot ADA compliant trail leads from the parking area to a wood decked overlook. Leaving the overlook, a non-compliant trail descends a series of wooden steps and follows a gravel path for another 250 feet to the CCC-constructed shelter.

Trailhead information sign

Typical trail conditions

ADA-compliant viewing platform

View downstream from the platform

View upstream including the CCC shelter

Looking back at the viewing platform

The CCC "boys" built this shelter in 1937

Interior of the shelter

The Little Missouri River from the shelter

The view downstream from the shelter

The view upstream from the shelter

Upstream badlands from the shelter

Downstream badlands from the shelter

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm.

Cannonball Concretions - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Directly across Scenic Drive from the Juniper Picnic Area and Campground is a pull-off for the cannonball concretions of Battleship Butte. The paved parking area has spaces for three RVs, five cars, and one handicap placarded vehicle. It is located 4.5 miles from the North Unit park entrance on US-85.

This is also where the Buckthorn Trail crosses Scenic Drive. We visited in May 2021.

From the informational sign at the parking area:

The large, round rocks littering the ground and protruding from teh butte are bizzare. They don't seem to fit with the rest of the landscape. Where did they come from?

These "cannonballs" were not carried here by flowing water or glaciers. Instead, they formed within the sediment layers of the badlands. Now, erosion is slowly exposing these buried treasures.

Notice how some cannonballs have completely eroded out of the butte while others are being exposed. Even More lie deep within the rock layers, yet to be revealed. 

View across the Squaw Creek floodplain

Another view

Battleship Butte

A mostly exposed cannonball

Other shapes emerge

Cannonball about four feet high and five feet wide

Looking back at the butte with more concretions

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm.

Little Mo Nature Trail - Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We continued our May 2021 visit to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park by driving along Scenic Drive to the Juniper Picnic Area and Campground at mile 4.5.  After a nice picnic lunch at the CCC shelter in the picnic area, we drove back to the Camptender's parking area which also serves as the trailhead for the Little Mo Nature Trail. It is hard to imagine the Camptender's building functioning as the visitor center, but it was used in that manner for a couple of years.

The trail consists of a 0.7-mile paved inner loop and an additional 0.7-mile unpaved extended loop. The paved loop is about five feet wide and is wheelchair accessible. We only hiked the paved section.

Trailhead marker in the median

Trailhead information

Bridge over Squaw Creek

Squaw Creek

CCC picnic pavilion for the former Squaw Creek Campground

Buttes north of the Little Missouri floodplain

Beginning of the loop

Battleship Butte

Viewing bench

Floodplain and buttes south of the river

Floodplain and buttes north of the river

Beginning of the unpaved outer loop

Another view of Battleship Butte

Little Missouri River

Typical condition of the paved trail

Another viewing bench

A spur trail ends at the river with no access to it

View upstream

View downstream

An entry fee of $30 per vehicle, $25 per motorcycle, or $15 per person is valid for seven consecutive days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($80 for a lifetime), Access Pass (free with a documented disability), and Military Annual Pass (free for active-duty personnel). Also available is a Theodore Roosevelt National Park Annual Park Pass for $55.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm.