Elkhorn Ranch is the site of Theodore Roosevelt’s second ranch in North Dakota. It is the place he came to for solitude and some hard work while he mourned the loss of both his wife and his mother on a single day. It was also where he developed his conservation ethic that lead to the protection of more than 230 million acres.
The 218 acre site is the least visited unit in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There are several interpretive signs near the parking area and at the ranch site (an easy 3/4 mile hike from the parking area). Building sites are fenced and the locations of many of the structures are marked with metal posts.
Even today, Elkhorn Ranch is fairly remote. The ranch is roughly a 50 mile drive from Medora; about 28 miles are on unpaved roads. But these back roads are not as quiet as they were only a few years ago. A number of oil wells are located along the roads heading towards Elkhorn Ranch, and semi trucks regularly head both north and south from the freshwater station near the junction of Westerheim Road and Bell Lake Road about half way between Medora and the ranch. (Use caution when driving or when getting out of the vehicle for a photograph. The roads are fairly narrow and these trucks are moving fast.)
There are oil fields in nearly every direction from the Elkhorn Ranch Site. An active pump jack is visible on the bluffs on the opposite side of Little Missouri River from the site of Teddy’s cabin. I wonder what Roosevelt would have thought about this “progress” in his beloved wilderness? Perhaps this quote by him is still relevant:
“We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.”
Oil Wells near Elkhorn Ranch
Elkhorn Ranch is indicated by the small yellow oval near the middle of the map. The legend for wells can be found at: GIS Map Legend.
Oil and Water 