Skip to main content

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 12; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I-94 and Old US 10

By
After reaching Interstate 94 after a long stretch into North Dakota on US Route 85 I turned west towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park.


This blog serves at the 12th post in the 2016 Summer Mountain Trip Series; Part 11 can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 11; Lonely US Route 85 in the Dakotas

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is 110 square mile National Park consisting of the Little Missouri River Badlands located in Billings County and McKenzie County of North Dakota.  Although Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established in 1978 it has been an area of conservation far longer.  Theodore Roosevelt visited the Missouri Badlands throughout the 1880s to hunt bison and live in seclusion.  Subsequent books by Roosevelt brought attention the Missouri Badlands and it was designated as the Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area in 1935 which was transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1946.  In 1947 Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park was established by President Truman under the Antiquities Act and was the only such park to carry such a designation.  By 1978 Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established by Congress.

The Billings County annex of Theodore Roosevelt National Park largely is associated with US Route 10 which was subsequently replaced by I-94 in North Dakota.  I-94 is one of the few Interstates with direct access to a National Park.  From Exit 32 the Painted Canyon Visitor Center and Painted Canyon Nature Trail can be accessed.


Primary access to the Billings County annex of Theodore National Park is along former US 10 on Pacific Avenue in Medora and East River Road over I-94.  Medora dates back to 1883 when it was established as rail siding of the Northern Pacific Transcontinental Railroad along the Little Missouri River.  The initial primary export from Medora was buffalo meat which was shipped by the Northern Pacific.  Medora was visited various times by Theodore Roosevelt during the 1880s and was a notable stop on his 1903 Presidential Tour of the West Coast.  Despite being the Billings County Seat Medora's population never exceeded a couple hundred residents and primarily exists now to serve visitors to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The Rough Riders Hotel is located at the intersection of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue.




From East River Road there is a overlook view of Medora and the Little Missouri River.


Crossing over I-94 there is a overlook view of the Interstate 94 and the Little Missouri River from the Skyline Vista.






East River Road ends at the Scenic Loop Drive which is primary road access through the Billings annex of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  From East River Road I headed east on Scenic Loop Drive towards the Old US 10 Entrance Station.



Despite the road being obliterated ahead this trail ahead served US 10 traffic as an entrance to the Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area.  There is an entrance station shelter from the 1930s ahead about 1 mile on a trail.


The remainder of my day was spent hiking and viewing overlooks from Scenic Loop Drive. 






Upon leaving Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Medora I headed west onto I-94 into Montana.  From the North Dakota State Line I kept west on I-94 to Montana State Route 47 (which I clinched and should have took photos of) before turning east on I-90/US 212 towards Little Bighorn.

Part 13 of this blog series can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 13; Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

By
Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...
Post a Comment
Read more

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

By
For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...
2 comments
Read more