Gigantic Views Found Lurking in the Dakotas! TWT Goes International!

Join us as we go international! But first, we make a couple stops to check out the views in North and South Dakota!

Unplanned Detour

This was not supposed to be part of our first international trip. We had been planning our trip to Canada for six months. Something we learned about international travel is that it requires LOTS of advance planning. Passports, dog identification, removing and not packing any contraband, and all sorts of other things need to be considered when you think about taking a travel trailer (or even a car!) over the border. Add in all the extra research needed for finding and reserving rv parks and you have quite a challenge!

So, we did all this planning for a trip to Canada to see the Canadian Rockies. You know, Banff, Jasper, Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise? We also wanted to do a loop over to the west coast to see British Columbia, and back on the US side, Washington, Oregon and northern California. Well, theres a lot of truth about what happens when you tell God your plans…

Four days before our trip (sooo not a typo), while we had family here visiting from Nebraska, we received an email from Jasper National Park in Canada saying that the campground we had booked had burned down and the park was closed because of wildfires in the area. We were heartbroken. First for the people and animals in harms way, and then for ourselves having to postpone our dream trip.

Going in a New Direction

When we got that email, we talked about several options. We first thought about keeping the rest of our trip the same, but then we looked at the fire map. There was basically a line of fires between us and the west coast of both Canada and the US. So, that option was out.

Next, we thought about just not going anywhere. Nope, we had planned for this trip for a while. We had readied all the paperwork to get the boys into Canada and back, both of us had passports and we wanted to test our ability to travel outside of the US this year.

Then, Danny came up with a brilliant idea. Why not go EAST? We could still go through Canada, but visit the part that wasn’t on fire, and come back into the US through Michigan and see the Great Lakes area. We could also travel through North and parts of South Dakota that we had never visited before. I loved this idea, especially when we looked at the map and decided to come back through Wisconsin, which is one of my very favorite states to visit. So, in four days, we cancelled all those reservations that we had spent the past six months making and planned and reserved a completely different month-long trip!

Not to worry, though! We have a trip to the Canadian Rockies on the horizon! One of the best things about using the RV Life Trip Wizard for planning our trips is that we can save that research and use it again… hopefully in May and June this year… barring any wildfires…

Now That You Are All Caught Up, North and South Dakota

Danny and I had both been to parts of South Dakota multiple times. One of our very first trips with Lost (the travel trailer, short for Let’s Get Lost) and Ironman (our truck) was north through Nebraska to the South Dakota Badlands and the Black Hills. This time, we stayed on the far western side. Our trip coincided with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so there were lots of people around, but we were lucky enough to find a campsite at the Spearfish City Campground. This campground sits in the middle of Spearfish, SD right along the Spearfish Creek. It is also next to the DC Booth Fish Hatchery, which offers tours of the hatchery and the museum. When we arrived, we were pretty tired from our long travel day, so we didn’t visit, but hope to the next time we are in the area.

There is a great walking trail along the creek that runs from the campground through the entire city. We only took part of it, but along the way had some great views of South Dakota wildlife and plants. On the way back to the campground, we also walked by the beautifully manicured grounds of the fish hatchery. With plenty of trees, flowers, and wildlife scents to sniff, the boys ended their evening exhausted but happy.

Enormous North Dakota Views!

Neither Danny nor I had ever visited North Dakota before. We were warned in advance that there isn’t much there. People told us it is like the Nebraska or the Kansas of the north. They were right, but Danny and I enjoy Kansas and grew up traveling across Nebraska. However, once we traveled a bit further north, we saw some amazing views that went on forever!

Teddy Roosevelt National Park

If there were an award for the best views in North Dakota it would have to be given to Teddy Roosevelt National Park. The park actually has three branches, or units. The South Unit is near the middle of the state and is the most popular of the three units. The Elkhorn Ranch Unit features the ranch that Teddy Roosevelt called home. This unit retains the solemn nature of the man who lived there after the death of his wife and daughter. As a result, there are no visitor centers, paved roads or scenic drives. Just a single unpaved road back to the house. We didn’t visit this unit of the park this trip, but it is on my bucket list for the future!

The unit we did visit was the North Unit. This unit has all the scenic beauty and wildlife of the South Init mixed with the rugged, never-ending views of the North Dakota Badlands. It is truly beautiful! We enjoyed the 14 mile scenic drive which took us past cliff dwelling bison, antelope and deer. We especially enjoyed the scenic River Bend Overlook at the top of the canyon. You could see for miles!

A Delicious End to the Day

We didn’t make advance reservations for this part of the trip, partly because we were originally going to visit the South Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park, so we planned to stay closer to that area. Since we decided to keep going further and visit the North Unit, we ended up staying at the Buffalo Trails Campground right outside of Williston, ND.

For dinner that night, Danny and I treated ourselves to a meal at Doc Holliday’s Roadhouse. We were really glad we did! The steak was tender and cooked to perfection, with a nice dollop of garlic sauce on top. The sides were as delicious as the steak itself and made the meal a big treat for us!

Afterwards, we went back to Lost and settled in for our last night in the US. For the next week, we would be in international territory, but more about that next time! In the meantime, check out the full video for amazing views of North and South Dakota below.

Please don’t forget to check out our other Travel-a-Long, Drive-a-Long, Hike-a-Long, and Top 5 Tips and Tricks videos, as well as our other Behind-the Scenes Blogs and Merch store featuring TWT swag and our newly released book!