Theodore Roosevelt National Park Summer destination thoughts

We visited TRNP two years ago in mid-Oct. We had spent the night in Dickinson, ND; got up early and drove to the north unit and then after a few hours (at most) drove to the south unit.
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The north section is in and out, at that time the visitor center was a trailer and the ranger was not too engaged in her work (which in my experience is unusual). IIRC it's 12 miles in and then turn around. We did see bison and big horn sheep up close. There were a few hiking trails.

The south section is larger and it has a loop road but it was closed for repairs on the south end so for us it was also in and out the same way. There are more trails there and the visitor center in Medora is nicer and I believe they have a movie but we did not watch it. We did do a few short hikes.

The Painted Desert VC is off of I 94 between Dickinson and Medora. It has scenic overlooks.

Medora is small and seemed like a cool town but it was shut down for the season in mid Oct. The ND Cowboy Hall of Fame is there and that looked interesting but we did not go in; may have been closed.
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Statue at the HOF.

Since you are staying near the north unit you might want to check out the Fort Union Trading Post which is about an hour from Watford City, ND. I wanted to go there but we didn't have time.

TRNP is like a "poor mans" Badlands NP, IMO. Similar terrain but less colorful. But, we were in the park for the most part during the middle of the day. I would think the views would be better earlier or later in the day when the sun is not directly above. It would certainly make for better pictures.

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These pictures were in the north unit.

Yeah
Weve been to the badlands
Had a great time in SD

Thanks for tips and such