New York Times Picks Theodore Roosevelt National Park as Place to Go in 2016

It seems like the rest of the country is finally figuring out that North Dakota isn't simply a barren, frozen tundra, as the New York Times has picked Theodore Roosevelt National Park as one of their 52 places to go in 2016.

Countries like Mexico and Mozambique are joined on the list by more touristy spots like Bordeaux, France and Sydney, Australia. And, right there in the middle of it all is North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

So, what led the New York Times to include one of the country's most gorgeous national parks for their list? Let's let them explain:

The National Park Service turns 100 years old in August thanks to President Woodrow Wilson, who signed the Organic Act of 1916, but few presidents have done as much for conservation as Teddy Roosevelt. Fly into Dickinson in western North Dakota to visit the park named after him, where rolling grasslands dotted with bison collapse into the spectacular red, white and gold badlands of tumbling mud coulees. Lonely dirt roads bring you to one of the park’s less-visited attractions, Elkhorn Ranch, about 35 miles north of Medora, where Roosevelt arrived in 1884 as a young New Yorker ready to raise cattle and heal from the deaths of his wife and mother. Transformed and inspired, the 26th president eventually set aside more than 230 million acres of federal land to help preserve the wonder of places like Crater Lake, Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park isn't the only entry from the United States on the list, though. The New York Times also suggests visiting Park City (UT), Grand Rapids (MI), Washington D.C., Providence (RI), East Bay (CA), Rosine (KY), St. Louis (MO), Marfa (TX), and Beaufort (SC).

To see the complete list, visit the New York Times HERE.

[New York Times]