By: Ryan
The truth is: this wasn’t out favorite park. There’s definitely some interesting things to see in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and it is beautiful in its own right, but the park really seems geared towards equestrians rather than hikers like us or other users.
The one really cool event for us was coming across a pack of wild horses as we were driving along the scenic road. That was very exciting to see! The scenic drive itself is also nice, but not spectacular. And we were able to do one small hike through Wind Canyon for sunset, which was indeed lovely as the rangers said it should be.
The truth is: this wasn’t out favorite park. There’s definitely some interesting things to see in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and it is beautiful in its own right, but the park really seems geared towards equestrians rather than hikers like us or other users.
The one really cool event for us was coming across a pack of wild horses as we were driving along the scenic road. That was very exciting to see! The scenic drive itself is also nice, but not spectacular. And we were able to do one small hike through Wind Canyon for sunset, which was indeed lovely as the rangers said it should be.
But unfortunately, most of the trails are designed for horseback riding, so when we tried another, we got turned back as the trail went right across a major river that we assume is fine for horses to cross but not so much for hikers. There’s even a horse ranch inside the park that caters to ‘equestrian-tourists’.
The other issue was the bugs - there were ticks everywhere, much worse than we’ve seen anywhere else. And mosquitoes, lots of them, again worse than any other park so far. And our bug spray seemed to nourish rather than repel them. (We have since procured higher % deet stuff). This of course isn’t actually an indictment of the park, but it did impact our experience of it.
TRNP is perhaps one of the premier parks for folks who enjoy watching and riding horses. But it wasn’t really for us. Between the lack of non-horse related activities and the bugs, we were fine with just two nights here.
The other issue was the bugs - there were ticks everywhere, much worse than we’ve seen anywhere else. And mosquitoes, lots of them, again worse than any other park so far. And our bug spray seemed to nourish rather than repel them. (We have since procured higher % deet stuff). This of course isn’t actually an indictment of the park, but it did impact our experience of it.
TRNP is perhaps one of the premier parks for folks who enjoy watching and riding horses. But it wasn’t really for us. Between the lack of non-horse related activities and the bugs, we were fine with just two nights here.