Start Location: Williston, ND
Ending Location: Medora, ND
Miles Today: 260
Trip Miles: 1378
States Visited: 4
Provinces Visited: 0
Low Temp: 49.8° F
High Temp:71.7° F
Min Elevation: 1158'
Max Elevation: 2935'
Route Map:
National Parks 2010 - Day04
It looks like we left Williston a little early, if we had waited a few
days we could have attended a big Tea Party Rally - probably just as
well.
So
we lucked out - sort of. It seems that we had bad information
last night. A guy told us that the road towards the park was being repaired and
there was a long stretch of dirt and gravel before the park. Not
seeing any alternatives, we left anyway. There was construction
on and off along the way to the park but no dirt or gravel roads. However,
when we got to the Visitor Center of the North Unit, they told us that
the road to the South Unit was the one under construction and it would
be virtually impassable for a motorcycle. They were able to
provide us a detour route but it added about 75 miles to the trip.
The
North Unit is the smaller unit and there was a 14 mile out and back
road through the park that, while not as amazing as some of the parks
we have visited, was still well worth the ride. We still find it
amazing that you can be riding through fairly normal scenery and then
turn into a park and find a whole different world. Each one seems
to have its own personality. This park is important because it
was a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt who is probably our country's most
influential conservationist.
The South Unit is quite a bit
larger and can be accessed mainly by a 36 mile loop route through the
park. It was a nice drive and we enjoyed it that much more
because it was finally dry.
The ride was cold all day with
temperatures that ranged from 50 - 55 degrees all day. It also
rained on and off most of the morning. It was dry in the
afternoon but got very windy which was somewhat of a different
challenge. All in all it could have been worse. We met a couple
at the motel tonight that had come from Minot and they had hard rain
the whole day.
The roads have been great - good condition
and very little traffic. In fact, on the detour, we went 64 miles
without seeing another vehicle traveling in the same direction we were
and only a handfull going in the opposite direction. This was
route 16 which was a gently winding road through rolling hills and
grasslands - mostly in the Little Missouri National Grassland. We probably never would have found this road otherwise so some things just seem to work out.
The
South Unit Visitor Center is located in the town of Medora, ND and
that's where we're staying tonight. It's a tourist town that
reminds us of Winthrop - wooden walkways and all. We even ate at
the Cowboy Cafe.
So tomorrow it's off to South Dakota and the Badlands.
