Paddling North Dakota’s Little Missouri
2 Jun
Call it canoeing through horse country.
When we think of North Dakota’s badlands, we don’t automatically think of canoes. We think of Teddy Roosevelt, on a horse, hunting bison, with a big stick. (Or something like that.)
But a river runs through the heart of the western North Dakota badlands and the national park named after the 26th president. It’s the Little Missouri, and Grand Forks Herald outdoor reporter Brad Dokken recently paddled down the river and filed THIS story.
Dokken found a river shadowed by bluffs and buttes and lined with cottonwood trees. Bison grazed along the banks in some spots during their four-day, 90-mile trip from the southern unit of the park near Medora to the northern unit near Watford City. He and his party also watched cattle cross the river in front of them and heard oil wells pounding in the night.
If you’re interested in paddling the river, remember that the Little Missouri sees very high and very low flow during the seasons. The USGS does provide THIS handy water level resource for interested paddlers, however.
Photo by Mary Brazell courtesy of the NPS.
