The weather was great for our drive and when we arrived at the South Unit. We drove to the campground 5 miles into the park, found a site and ate our lunch. Our next activity was to go back to the entrance to tour the visitor center and to drive around the town of Medora.Later that evening we drove the scenic loop and saw some animals as well as great views.
One thing South Unit has is feral horses. These are the descendants of horses that escaped from ranches long ago. They now reside at the national park.
Of course there were lots of deer.
We drove to one of the overlooks and had a great view in all directions
once we climbed the steps.
Our first full day in Medora, we decided to geocache our way to Dickinson. That was where the closest Wal-Mart was located. We needed a few supplies and there was no grocery store in any of the closer towns!On the Thursday we chose to hike to Petrified Forest. It is located in a remote region of the park. We accessed it by driving out of the park through ranch and oil land to the trail head closest to the forest. It would have been an 11 mile hike if we hadn't! It was 4 mile round trip hike by going outside the park!
It was a great hike and we had some warm weather--temps in the lower 70s!The area was filled with petrified wood,
bentonite (the grey ground and stuff holding the rocks), and capstones.
Friday we planned to hike the Burning Coal Vein Trail, but the weather had different plans for us. When we woke up it was raining and had already hit the high for the day--48 degrees! What happened to our sunny weather?????We drove into Medora and looked through the shops that were open--some were closed for the season. Then we returned to the rv to get warm and dry. About 3 o'clock the snow started. That's right, snow! It snowed until 6:30 pm and then it stopped! This was the view from our rv.
The road looked clear so we took the car and drove the loop again. What a different perspective with snow!The feral horses weren't bothered by the snow.
Neither were the deer.
Neither was this buffalo!
The views were great--snow and twilight.
Saturday morning the snow had started melting so we packed up and headed toward Mt. Rushmore. 
We weren't sure where we would stay--maybe Ellsworth AFB, maybe a local campground. Only we know for sure!
1 comment:
Welcome to North Dakota ;)
My husband is retired from the Air Force. We retired from Minot AFB and knew this was where we would stay, but this California girl had the hardest time adjusting to North Dakota's unpredictable weather. No other base, not the horrid humidity of Oklahoma, the baking heat of New Mexico, or all the things that made Incirlik AB in Turkey such an adventure were any match for the first time I walked outside with wet hair in below zero temperatures and froze my hair!
I hope you enjoyed your time, snow and all. I have never been to the South Unit when it has snowed, just the North Unit. The horses are beautiful in the snow!
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