Parkhurst Campground - Jamestown, North Dakota

 

This campground actually exceeded my expectations - but my expectations were pretty low.

The horse corrals were filled with weeds and dirty, but the corrals were secure. As long as our horses are safe, it's good.

There are about ten campsites that have high-lines for horses, which is very nice. I don't mind highlining my horse while I am eating or for short periods, but I don't feel comfortable doing it for overnight. A lot of horses are actually more comfortable on a high line.

If you do plan to high line your horse, do some trial periods where you are close by and can watch to make sure the horse doesn't get tangled up and is OK.

The campsites were no hook-up, but we parked next to the camp host and plugged into a spare outlet to get electricity.

There is one water pump with non-potable water for the campground.

There are vault toilets and a free RV dump.

We went into Jamestown because we wanted to see the World's Largest Buffalo.

Jamestown is a lovely small town with some beautiful architecture.

The World's Largest Buffalo is located in Frontier Town, a small tourist attraction, which looks a little worn.

There is a small herd of buffalo in the pasture across from the World's Largest Buffalo.

We even lucked into the last summer concert of the season at a park in downtown Jamestown.

I put the horses on a couple of the high lines to allow them to graze. 

While the horses were otherwise occupied, we cleaned all the weeds out of the corrals.

That afternoon there was a track meet at the park. I went out to buy groceries and when I came back there were easily 50 cars parked in the campground, along with a large school bus.

They  left around 5 in the afternoon.

One of the kids managed to sell Ari three candy bars as part of a school fundraiser. The kid used one of the oldest tricks in the book. He told Ari that they were the last three candy bars he had to sell.

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park - Mandan, North Dakota

 

Harmony Stables gave us this nice note set as a parting gift.

This is our third state park in North Dakota. Ari says this is his favorite, so far.

There is an RV dump in the non-equestrian campground area. We were a little worried that our LQ was too big, but it fit just fine.

The horses are spoiled - they have a large pen with a covered area. 

There is a water pump and stock trough in the large pen.

There are open pipe corrals in the equestrian campground, but we put our horses up in the nicer pens.

The equestrian campground has only four sites, but they are well kept. Not a lot of shade. 

No hook-ups. This is boondocking only.

There are a couple of water pumps available, but you need a decent amount of hose to get water to your campsite.

Our Winegard had no problems here and we were able to stream movies in the evening.

You can see the Little Missouri River from the campground in the distance.

Tacking up for our ride, vault toilet in the background.

The trails don't have a lot of shade, but it is easy riding. I am hoping my horse and I can relax a bit now that we are out of the Badlands.

This picture was taken by some tourists. We are above the fort cemetery with the Little Missouri River in the background. The views from the trails on the ridge lines are fabulous.

Both horses were kept barefoot and did fine.

You can see the Little Missouri River on the left.

General Custer and his troops were stationed at this fort. They were tasked at handling the "Indian problem" and protecting the settlers in the area.

This is Custer's house. The nicest building on the property. There is a lovely grand veranda.

You can see the well that was used for water on the left and a small servant's quarters.

Bismarck is on the other side of the river. At the time, it was little more than a small group of homesteads.

The commissary is now a small gift shop with a little cafe. The ranger working there allowed us to charge our jackery in his office so we wouldn't have to run our generator too much.

There also is a nice sitting area where you can plug in your laptop with free WIFI.

 

We rode the same trail as Custer and his troops as they marched out to the Battle of the Little Big Horn. None of the casualties from that battle are buried at the cemetery here.

The terrain is pretty much what the troops marched through, so we got a real sense of history.

On the Custer Trail - this is where the troops marched in formation...to one of the biggest massacres in American history. You can see the barracks where the troops lived in the distance.

Little Missouri River behind me

Mandan has a beautiful indoor community pool. $5 for seniors. There is an aqua aerobics class three afternoons a week. We attended two of the classes. It was so nice to get in the water and get some nice exercise. The classes were great fun.

It was only about 15 minutes to drive into Mandan for the swim classes and groceries.

Harmony Stables - Bismarck, ND

 

Harmony Stables is a horse motel, located about 15 minutes outside of Bismarck, North Dakota. Bismarck is the second largest city in the state, but still smaller than most of the cities we know with a population under 100,000.

We knew a big storm was coming in, so I wanted the horses to have a nice shelter. We booked the Harmony Stables for a couple of nights and took a couple of days off from riding. We couldn't ride in the weather any way.

The horses had good-sized stalls which were clean and ready for them.

It's a bit pricy at $75 a night, but included food and mucking.

We were able to turn the horses out in the large arena so they could stretch their legs a bit. They liked being out of the rain and wind.

We had electric hook-up for the trailer and water available.

Our internet worked fine.

We spent our "down time" from riding by getting our laundry done at a local laundromat, grocery shopping, and getting ready for the next campground - Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. 

That campsite is primitive, so we need to refill our propane tanks and get our water tank topped off.

Little Missouri State Park - Killdeer, North Dakota

 

Little Missouri State Park has a very similar set-up as Sully Creek State Park. Electric hook-up, water pumps placed strategically around the park, corrals, and a round pen.

This park is pretty much in the middle of nowhere - closest town is about an hour away.

Additionally, there is a small general store where you can buy ice and snacks, which is useful since there are no nearby stores. Come here with all the supplies you might need.

Hay is also available for sale.

The corrals at LMSP - the horses seem happy

There are also nice picnic pavilions for groups and hitching posts, which Sully Creek didn't have.

The view from the campground is pretty spectacular.

The campsites are nice - although less shade than at Sully Creek.

We were able to access internet using our Winegard.

Getting the horses ready to ride.

We managed one trail ride on the EN trail. There were some steep up and down sections, some erosion and some areas where the brush was pretty overgrown. There is a lot more riding here on offer than at Sully Creek, but it is challenging. 

We had one day here with a lot of rain, so we basically hid in our trailer.

Sully Creek State Park - Medora, North Dakota

 We enjoyed our stay at Sully Creek State Park, even though the temperature was in the triple digits, making it too hot to ride most of our stay.

Campsites are good sized and mostly shady. We had electric hook-up only. There are water pumps placed throughout the park, but you need a lot of hose to get water to the horses and trailer. There are vault toilets and fire rings. There is a shower house (pay) close to the entrance. They also sell hay. The hay was good quality and only $8 per bale.

There is a good-sized round pen. We have been putting the horses in the round pen so they can stretch their legs and take rolls.

We used PVC pipe and tarp to cover the corrals to provide the horses with some shade. The wind made it so we would have to take down the tarp and re-do it each day, but at least the horses had some relief from the heat. We used zip ties to secure the pipe and tarp because it is easy to just cut the ties to take everything down.

The air quality due to wildfires has been in the 150 range - which is really poor.

Due to the heat, we spent more than one evening at the Medora City Pool. They don't have any adult lap swim periods, but we were told that if we came after 7 pm, the pool is pretty empty. This was true. It was $4 per person to get in, which was reasonable. The pool was heated and pleasant. They provide pool noodles and toys for the swimmers.

I had reserved to spend some time at the Boots Campground which is across the road. They advertise that they have horse pens and full hook-up.

But when we checked it out, they had a trailer blocking access to the horse pens, plus the pens were filled with garbage and were in no condition to be used.

So, we cancelled the reservation and went back to Sully Creek.

For Ari's birthday, we went into Dickinson, had lunch at Applebee's and then toured the Pioneer Museum. These are petrified wood fragments.

Dickinson is the closest big town and most of the restaurants are fast food. Applebee's was pretty much the nicest restaurant available.

Medora has several restaurants offering burgers and sandwiches, a pizza joint, and one very upscale and over-priced restaurant.

The big treat for Ari's birthday was going to the Pitchfork Steak Fondue dinner and the Medora Musical - a variety show.

The venue was beautiful with fantastic views of the Badlands.

Dining was outdoors in a large pavilion.

Steaks were cooked using pitchforks.

The steaks were pretty good, but we were disappointed in the meal as a whole. Food was served buffet style. Click the link to see how the steaks are cooked and served.

The menu included cold, hard Texas toast, cold baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, cole slaw, mushy watermelon and cantaloupe, cold baby carrots and cold cauliflower and broccoli with ranch dressing. Dessert was chocolate brownies - which were pretty good - and tiny sugar donuts.

They were charging around $20 for a meal without the steak.  They had hot dogs available for those of us that didn't order steak. Condiments were mustard and ketchup. The hot dogs were not the best. I have had better hot dogs off street carts - plus the street carts have better condiments.

So, for $5 I can get a hot dog, a soda, and a bag of chips off the street cart near Laney College, where I used to teach, OR I could pay $20 plus for cold, barely edible food at this venue. 

I know it can be challenging to serve hundreds of people at the same time, but most buffets are familiar with how to use warming trays. 

Ari was hungry after the buffet but wasn't interested in any more of their food.

I had reserved us to eat at the 5:15 pm seating, but the show wasn't due to start until 7:30. This meant we had more than an hour to kill before the show.

The views were lovely.

Statues in tribute to the couple that donated for the construction of the venue.

Going in to the Pitchfork Steak Fondue dinner. Hint: - there was no fondue.

We had front row seats to the show. The stage set was really nice. The show beat our expectations.

It was very high energy and the performers were wonderful.

They had a guest segment with The Chicago Boyz  - an acrobatic troupe from Chicago. They appeared on America's Got Talent. They were pretty good. They would make a good act at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk or at a state fair.

Like most entertainment in the mid-west, the show opened with the Star Spangled Banner.

The musical numbers were high energy and very entertaining.