Leaving Bismarck, we
decided to take a “scenic” route to our next stop and that would allow us to
see some of the fracking operations and Roosevelt NP. We ended up on ND 200 which turned out to be
at the center of the fracking oil fields that we had heard so much negative
news on some of the cable channels. About half of our time on ND 200 there was
only gravel and huge ruts and grooves caused by the heavy equipment.
After touring T Roosevelt
NP, we continued north to Lewis and Clark State Park, ND. We had to pass thru Williston to get
there. As we neared the town, the roads
started to get rough. Then rougher and
as we got thru town and out the other side towards the state park, the roads
disappeared into a very ugly construction zone.
You had to contend not only with the construction equipment but also the
heavy oil field equipment that had ruined the road in the first place.
We were beginning to
understand why some folks are upset. The
heavy trucks, dirt, and construction traffic was destroying the roads, turning
the countryside into old fashioned oil rush zone. There were some beautiful ranches that were
completely surrounded by areas that looked like a modern-day gold rush. The
roads were so bad that a team from the caravan spent hours on the road
searching for a route out of the state park that would avoid most of the
hazards. They did a pretty good
job. We only had about 8 miles of spring
busting gravel road to get thru before we found actual pavement.
The pictures are not
the best quality as they were shot from a moving (slowly) motorhome over some
very rough non-roads.
The state park was
very nice with one large loop area we all could park in. It will be a great place to visit, if the construction
process comes to an end.
