Watford City in McKenzie County, North Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

North Dakota Badlands

Photographed by Don Morfe, June 9, 1997

1. North Dakota Badlands Marker

Inscription. The badlands you see here were so named because they were badlands to travel over before modern roads were built. A part of the Northern Great Plains the area has been carved by rain, wind and running water of the Little Missouri River. These layers of sand, silt, clay and lignite coal were deposited by river, lake and swamp system during the Paleocene Age, about 55 million years ago. The land-still undergoes change with each storm.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Landmarks.

Location. 47° 36.433′ N, 103° 20.785′ W. Marker is in Watford City, North Dakota, in McKenzie County. It is on Scenic Drive. This marker is located at Long X Trail Pullout in the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Marker may have been removed. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Watford City ND 58854, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Dakota’s Bakken Oil Patch.

It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor,

on the prairies,

and on the Northern Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Long X Trail: A Dusty Trail to Greener Pastures (approx. 0.4 miles away); Cannonball Mystery (approx. one mile away); The View that Launched a Park (approx. 1½ miles away); Bentonitic Clay (approx. 1.9 miles away); Tilted (approx. 2.2 miles away); Work in Progress / Better Together

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

(approx. 2½ miles away); Layers in Time / Portraits in Stone (approx. 2.8 miles away); Theodore Roosevelt National Park (approx. 4.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Watford City.

Other markers no longer nearby. Long X Cattle Trail (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been permanently removed); “Cannon Ball” Concretions (was approx. one mile away but has been permanently removed); Building From Hard Times (was approx. 1½ miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Slump Formation (was approx. 2.3 miles away but has been permanently removed); Man and Grass (was approx. 2.6 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Longhorns (was approx. 2.9 miles away but has been permanently removed).

North Dakota Badlands image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, June 9, 1997

2. North Dakota Badlands

Photographed by Don Morfe, December 20, 2007

3. North Dakota Badlands

Visitor Center-North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, June 9, 1997

4. Visitor Center-North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Credits. This page was last revised on August 13, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 629 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 12, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.