Medora is a western town that exists partly as a theatre set and partly as a gateway, and both roles work. It lies on the edge of the North Dakota Badlands, beside the Little Missouri River, and it was founded in the 1880s by the Marquis de Morès, a French aristocrat who planned a meatpacking empire and named the town for his wife, Medora. The scheme failed within a few years, but a young Theodore Roosevelt arrived about the same time, hunting bison and later ranching nearby, and he later said that his time in the Dakotas shaped everything that followed. Today the main street has boardwalks, saloons and a summer musical staged in an amphitheatre.
The South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park starts at the edge of town, with a scenic loop of about thirty-six miles. It is a gentle, well-paved road that rolls over buttes and down into river bottoms, with banded layers of clay, sandstone and coal in orange, grey and pink. Bison walk along and across the road, prairie dogs pop out of burrows, and wild horses graze on the hillsides. Speed limits are low for good reason, because a bison on the tarmac is a roadblock, and you give it space and time. Pronghorn and mule deer are common, and elk are sometimes seen.
Evening is the best time for the loop, when long light turns the badlands gold and the heat fades. In the wind, sagebrush and juniper scent the air. Thunderstorms can roll across the prairie in summer afternoons, so keep an eye on the sky, and in winter the roads can be icy or closed. A park entry fee applies, and the visitor centre in Medora has maps and information about road conditions.
Practical details matter in this empty country. Medora has fuel, food and places to stay, but the next towns, Belfield and Beach, are twenty-five to thirty-five miles away, and Dickinson is the nearest larger place. Fill the tank before you head out, and bring water on hot days. Late spring and early autumn are the most comfortable seasons, with fewer people than in July and August.