14. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

"I grow very fond of this place, and it certainly has a desolate, grim beauty of its own, that has a curious fascination for me." This is what Teddy Roosevelt once said of the area that would be named after him because of his conservation efforts. It is largely because of Teddy that we have so many natural parks, monuments, and forest reserves.The park is located in the badlands (the western side) of North Dakota, and is split into three sections. I have not spent time in the North Unit, but I understand that there is a hiking trail that links it to the South Unit. It sounds like an interesting hike through the backcountry, and one that I would like to attempt (it takes a few days at least). I also have not visited the Elkhorn Ranch site, but that is where Teddy Roosevelt primarily lived in the badlands.The South Unit is the most easily accessible area of the park from I-94. As you approach from the east, you will drive past the Painted Canyon. It is a beautiful introduction to the park. The colors are amazing... mostly shades of red, but you will also see some blacks, greys, greens, and even purples.The park itself offers affordable and scenic camping. A paved roadway offers a driving loop (36 miles) for the less adventurous, there are many hiking trails for the slightly more adventurous, and available backcountry hiking and camping for the true adventurers. You will undoubtedly see a ton of wildlife, including elk, mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, bison, bighorn sheep, wild horses, weasels, badgers, prarie dogs, rabbits, porcupines, beavers, bats, coyotes, a variety of reptiles, and large birds.John Steinbeck notes, in "Travels with Charley", "the late afternoon changed everything. As the sun angled, the buttes and coulees, the cliffs and sculptured hills and ravines lost their burned and dreadful look and glowed with yellow and rich browns and a hundred variations of red and silver gray, all picked out by streaks of coal black. It was so beautiful that I stopped near a thicket of dwarfed and wind-warped cedars and junipers, and once stopped I was caught, trapped in color and dazzled by the clarity of the light .. I can easily see how people are driven back to the Bad Lands." The badlands look different every hour as the sun changes altitude and as the clouds shift. They are desolate and almost eerily empty at first site, but host a great variety of life and interesting scenery.