1061 - Medicine Rocks State Park
This photo shows the unique sandstone formations at Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana. The weathered rocks are full of holes, caves, and unusual shapes, surrounded by scattered pine trees under a clear blue sky.
In the quiet corner of southeast Montana, a swath of grassy prairie coexists with fragrant, towering pines and magical eroded sandstone formations. The breeze whispers amongst the grass, dances through the trees, and slips over the sandstone pillars, in a place where Theodore Roosevelt stood in awe of fantastic beauty. A place that would become known as Medicine Rocks State Park.
Long before becoming a state park, the Medicine Rocks held cultural and historical significance for the Cheyenne, Lakota, Arapaho, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Crow Indigenous Nations. Known by the Lakota name “Inyan oka-lo-ka”, which means rock with a hole in it, it was a place of “big medicine”, where Indigenous hunting parties sought magical spirits and medicine people prayed. In years past, the soft, malleable sandstone formations caused by weathering served as a canvas upon which visitors scratched, pecked, and chiseled messages, leaving behind a chronological diary filled with inscriptions, petroglyphs, symbology, and other stories. Even though carving is no longer allowed, the display connects you to the generations who have come before, seeking guidance and medicine in this unique landscape.
In 2017, Medicine Rocks State Park was inducted into the National Register of Historic Places. Since then, the 330 acre park was designated an official International Dark Sky Sanctuary, an effort to protect the night and preserve the integral nocturnal environment within the park. When the sun sets on another day, the quiet stillness is palpable and a blanket of stars that seem to stretch to infinity lull you into a connection with the spirit. Perhaps this is the awe-inspiring feeling Theodore Roosevelt felt when he said “keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground”.