{"id":338403,"date":"2025-12-10T23:59:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T23:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/aerospace\/a-scenic-road-winding-through-theodore-roosevelt-national-park-finally-reopens-after-six-years\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T23:59:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T23:59:06","slug":"a-scenic-road-winding-through-theodore-roosevelt-national-park-finally-reopens-after-six-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=338403","title":{"rendered":"A Scenic Road Winding Through Theodore Roosevelt National Park Finally Reopens After Six Years"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The South Unit Scenic Loop officially reopened to visitors in late November following $51 million of repairs, in time for the debut of the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library next summer<\/h2>\n
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Sarah Kuta<\/a><\/p>\n

– Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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The South Unit Scenic Loop road offers panoramic views of\u00a0Theodore Roosevelt National Park.<\/p>\n

National Park Service<\/span>
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Nearly two decades before becoming America\u2019s 26th president,\u00a0Theodore Roosevelt<\/a> fell in love with North Dakota\u2019s\u00a0Badlands<\/a>. After his first visit for a\u00a0bison hunt<\/a> in September 1883, Roosevelt returned again and again, crediting the rugged landscape with restoring his health, building his character and ultimately shaping him into the leader he became.<\/p>\n

Visitors can see and experience the Badlands first-hand at\u00a0Theodore Roosevelt National Park<\/a>, which protects roughly 70,000 acres across three sites in western North Dakota, including Roosevelt\u2019s\u00a0cattle ranch<\/a>. Admiring the park\u2019s striped bluffs and historic sites is now even easier, as the National Park Service (NPS) recently fully reopened the South Unit Scenic Loop road.<\/p>\n

About six miles of the route had been closed for\u00a0repairs<\/a> since 2019, meaning drivers couldn\u2019t complete the full loop and had to turn around before reaching sites like the Scoria Point Overlook and\u00a0Badlands Overlook<\/a>. The loop is popular, attracting roughly 100,000 vehicles each year, according to the NPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis picturesque drive has provided memorable experiences for generations of park visitors,\u201d says Rachel Daniels, the park\u2019s superintendent, in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The closed section was built between 1934 and 1941, reports the\u00a0Dickinson Press<\/em><\/a>\u2019 RubyAnn Stiegelmeier. It was constructed by workers with the\u00a0Civilian Conservation Corps<\/a>, the federal program that put millions of unemployed men to work during the Great Depression, per the\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>\u2019 Jack Dura. Recently, the road had started to show its age, with erosion causing sections to slide down a steep embankment.<\/p>\n

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Quick fact: How many people did the Civilian Conservation Corps employ?<\/h4>\n

Over the course of nine years, the program provided work for roughly three million<\/a> men across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fixing the route cost about $51 million, with most of the funding coming from the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund, which goes toward deferred maintenance costs on federal public lands. Roughly $450,000 came from the U.S. Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n

The high price tag reflects the difficulty of designing and constructing the roadway. Crews dealt with challenges like soil failure, bad weather and short summer construction seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like building a bridge,\u201d says John Hoeven, a U.S. senator for North Dakota, to the\u00a0North Dakota Monitor<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Michael Achterling. \u201cYou are building this stuff on the side of a butte, very steep, and it\u2019s on sandstone, so the structural engineering that went into this is pretty remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The national park is North Dakota\u2019s biggest tourist attraction, drawing more than 700,000 visitors each year. Officials expect that number to increase next year, with the opening of the nearby\u00a0Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library<\/a> on July 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

The nearly 100,000-square-foot venue, located just a few minutes from the national park, will have immersive exhibitions and features designed to give visitors an up-close look at the former president\u2019s life and legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to take you into Cuba, to the White House\u2026 we\u2019re going to take you down the Amazon and into Africa,\u201d Matt Briney, a spokesperson for the library, tells\u00a0KFYR-TV<\/a>\u2019s Michael Anthony. \u201cThere are these moments where you are going to feel like you\u2019re in [Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s] world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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