Notes:
- This state sees the highest production of sunflowers in the country.
National Parks
| Name | Nearest City | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park | Medora | South Unit – 36-mile loop. Maltese Cross Cabin, Skyline Vista Overlook, Wind Canyon Trail (0.4 miles), Painted Canyon Overlook, Painted Canyon Nature Trail (1-mile loop), Boicourt Overlook Trail (0.2-0.5 miles), Buck Hill (0.2 miles), North Unit – 14-mile loop. River Bend Overlook, Oxbow Overlook |
| Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site | Williston | Two States: MT, ND – Between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the most important fur trade post on the Upper Missouri River. Here, the Assiniboine and six other Northern Plains Tribes exchanged buffalo robes and smaller furs for goods from around the world, including cloth, guns, blankets, and beads. A bastion of peaceful coexistence, the post annually traded over 25,000 buffalo robes and $100,000 in merchandise. |
| Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site | Stanton | Earthlodge people hunted bison and other game but were farmers living in villages along the Missouri and its tributaries. The site was a major Native American trade center for hundreds of years before becoming an important marketplace for fur traders after 1750. A reconstructed earth lodge contains artifacts from the Plains culture. |
State Parks
| Name | Nearest City | Lake / River | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver Lake State Park | Wishek | Beaver Lake | Boating, fishing, camping |
| Butte Saint Paul State Recreation Area | Dunseith | Turtle Mountains vista point | |
| Cross Ranch State Park | Center | Missouri River | Boating, canoeing, camping |
| Crow Flies High State Recreation Area | New Town | Lake Sakakawea | Scenic lake views |
| Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park | Mandan | Heart River, Missouri River | Home to On-A-Slant Indian Village |
| Fort Ransom State Park | Fort Ransom | Sheyenne River | Preserved homesteader farms |
| Fort Stevenson State Park | Garrison | Lake Sakakawea | Includes Fort Stevenson State Park Arboretum. Campgrounds, cabins, prairie dog town, gift stores, marinas, hiking, playground, historical center about the fort. |
| Grahams Island State Park | Devils Lake | Devils Lake | Last remaining unit of the four former Devils Lake State Parks |
| Icelandic State Park | Cavalier | Lake Renwick | Includes the Gunlogson Arboretum Nature Preserve |
| Lake Metigoshe State Park | Bottineau | Lake Metigoshe | Adjacent to Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, Manitoba |
| Lake Sakakawea State Park | Pick City | Lake Sakakawea | Adjacent to Garrison Dam |
| Lewis and Clark State Park | Rushville | Lake Sakakawea | Fishing, boating, camping |
| Little Metigoshe State Recreation Area | Bottineau | Lake Metigoshe | Picnicking, fishing |
| Little Missouri State Park | Killdeer | Little Missouri River | Badlands hiking and equestrian trails |
| Pelican Point State Recreation Area | Tekemah | Lake Metigoshe | Undeveloped day-use area |
| Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area | Walhalla | Pembina River | River kayaking; trails for hiking, horseback riding, and off-road vehicles |
| Sully Creek State Park | Medora | Little Missouri River | Start of the Maah Daah Hey Trail |
| Turtle River State Park | Arvilla | Turtle River | Camping, fishing, trails |
State Historic Sites
| Name | Nearest City | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bagg Bonanza Farm | Mooreton | Preserved bonanza farm. |
| Stutsman County Courthouse | Jamestown | The oldest surviving courthouse in North Dakota |
| Fort Totten State Historic Site | Fort Totten | The fort was built in 1867 by soldiers protecting the Totten Trail, an overland route which extended across Dakota Territory from southern Minnesota to the goldfields of western Montana. It also served as an Indian boarding school until 1935. |
| Fort Mandan State Historic Site | Washburn | The winter home of the Lewis & Clark Expedition from 1804-1805. The fully-furnished quarters bring to life what it was like for the brave men in the Corps of Discovery during that North Dakota winter over 200 years ago. |
| Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park | Bismark | General George Custer’s last home is reconstructed, as are the central barracks, granary, commissary and a stable. Tours take visitors back to 1875, the year before the 7th Cavalry rode to the Little Bighorn. Tour one of On-A-Slant Indian Village’s five reconstructed earthlodges. |
| North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum | Bismark | |
| Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site | Cooperstown | Two sites telling the story of the Cold War years in North Dakota: Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility and the November-33 Launch Facility. They are the last remnants of the 321st Missile Wing, a cluster of intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites that were spread over a 6,500-square-mile area. |
| Chateau de Mores | Medora | This 26-room, two-story frame building was built in 1883 as the summer residence of the Marquis de Mores and his family. The Chateau is now a historic house museum. |
| Writing Rock State Historic Site | Alkabo | Two granite boulders inscribed with thunderbird figures displayed in a shelter with iron bars. |
Best Canoeing Rivers
- Sheyenne River – winding through rolling hills, hardwood forests, open prairie, and rich agricultural land along the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway. A kayak kiosk is located at Bjornson Golf Course in Valley City and canoe and kayak rentals are available at Fort Ransom State Park.
- The Little Missouri, North Dakota’s only designated State Scenic River, offers canoeists a unique perspective to revel in the surrounding Badlands splendor. From the river vantage, buttes, ravines, and plateaus rise to cast abstract landforms against the horizon. The river passes through Sully Creek State Recreation Area, the Little Missouri National Grassland, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
- The Pembina River flows through miles of lush, unbroken forest between steep banks it once carved. Canoeing has become a popular activity on this sheltered river recognized for its tranquil beauty and diverse natural features. The Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area offers kayak rentals.
- Mouse River – Two of the refuges, Upper Souris and J. Clark Salyer, contain canoe trails varying in length from three to 13 miles. For the curious canoeists, the Mouse River system also contains several river oxbows worthy of exploration.
- James River – A popular canoe run has been the James River, starting in Grand Rapids and canoeing down to the James River Dam site in LaMoure. Fort Ransom State Park offers canoeing within the park and also has rentals available.
Attractions
- Alexander
- Lewis and Clark Trail Museum – This is not a museum about Lewis and Clark, but about the history of the region and the families that built it.
- Belcourt
- Turtle Mountain Chippewa Heritage Center – Artifacts from a vibrant multi-cultural community which includes traditions from the Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) and Metis/Cree people.
- Bismark
- ★ North Dakota Capitol and Heritage Center – The collection of Plains Indian artifacts found here at the Heritage Center and State Museum is second only to the Smithsonian’s. See displays on the state’s rich military and agricultural history and step back into the time of the dinosaurs. The 19-story Capitol, built in the early 1930s, has a top-floor observation deck.
- Steamboat Park – replica of Lewis and Clark’s keelboat, 4-headed thunderbird statue, view of Missouri River
- Bottineau
- ★ Tommy Turtle is 30 feet tall. He is the Tallest Turtle in the World and he straddles the Largest Snowmobile in the World, which is 34 feet long. He guards the entrance to Bottineau’s municipal tennis courts. He weighs three tons.
- Bowman
- Pioneer Trails Regional Museum – A museum exploring the rich history of the prairies of the Midwest, from Native American civilizations to early settler culture to dinosaur fossils.
- Carrington
- Indian Muffler Main. Stands next to the entrance to the Chieftain Cafe at the Chieftain Motel.
- Cartwright
- Fairview Bridge & Cartwright Tunnel Trail – 1-mile trail across an old caste iron lift bridge and North Dakotas only tunnel.
- Center
- ☆ Scientific Center of North America. Another competitor to the center of North America. It was pure serendipity that this center was in a town named Center, which got its name because it was the center of Oliver County, not of the North American continent.
- Cooperstown
- ☆ Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site – Last remnants of the 321st Missile Wing. It tells the story of the Cold War years in North Dakota. Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility is the underground launch site and November-33 Launch Facility is a silo.
- Dickinson
- Dickinson Museum Center: Badlands Dinosaur Museum, Joachim Regional Museum, Prairie Outpost Park, Pioneer Machinery Hall – a 12-acre cultural and natural history campus with dinosaur exhibits, heritage exhibits, Pioneer Machinery Museum – ranching and farming equipment, Prairie Outpost Park with 11 historic buildings, classes, demonstrations, educational programs, and special events!
- Ukrainian Cultural Institute – Features folk art cultural exhibits, religious displays, and houses a research library. The beautiful hand-crafted “Psyanky” Easter Eggs are showcased. Embroidered cloths adorn the walls next to the heritage paintings of the early settlers. Varenyky or pyrohy, better known as “Cheese Buttons”, are distributed in stores across the upper Midwest and can also be purchased in-house.
- Dunseith
- ★ International Peace Garden – The tribute to peace between the U.S. and Canada encompasses 2,300 acres of natural beauty; two pristine freshwater lakes, scenic hiking and driving trails, wildflowers, waterfalls, and a large variety of North American birds and animals.
- ★ W’eel Turtle: World’s Largest Turtle – made of tire rims.
- Epping
- Buffalo Trails Museum – preserving a record of the Epping, Wheelock and Springbrook area. Also of its early Indian inhabitants, and of the trials and triumphs of the plains pioneer. The eight-building complex includes a homesteader’s log cabin, a dentist’s office, a photograph gallery, a library, and the original Stevens country school.
- Fairview
- Fairview Bridge & Cartwright Tunnel Trail – 1-mile trail across an old caste iron lift bridge and North Dakotas only tunnel.
- Fargo
- Roger Maris Museum – located in The West Acres World Shopping Center which is the biggest mall in Fargo and the largest in the U.S. between Minneapolis and the Pacific Ocean (according to its promotional literature). The museum has a perpetual lease there.
- ☆ Space Aliens Grill & Bar
- Bonanzaville – 43 historic buildings and more than 400,000 artifacts, including Fargo’s first house, Donbrinz Schoolhouse, St. John’s Church, Embden Train depot, Houston House, automobile museum, tractor museum, airplane museum, and more.
- Red River Market – Farmers Market on Saturdays 10-2, July – October.
- ☆ Moorhead Dairy Queen – 16-foot-tall Dilly Bar statue. The Moorhead Dairy Queen has been around since 1949 when Bob and Phyllis Litherland opened it. The Dilly Bar was created at this location in 1955. Its original franchise contract which gives it the flexibility to serve items not available at other locations.
- Red River Zoo – 33-acre zoo
- Fargo Air Museum – dual hangars are home to aircraft of all eras – from a modern unmanned reconnaissance drone to the “most accurate recreation of a Wright Brothers’ flyer the Smithsonian Institute has ever seen.”
- Plains Art Museum – Free Parking. Free Admission. The primary strengths of the Museum lie in modern and contemporary, regional, and Native American art.
- Fort Ransom
- ☆ Hilltop Viking Statue – The statue stands about 25 feet tall and is lumpy, made of wire mesh covered with heavy fiber tape and then painted soot-black.
- Mineral Springs Fall – The only natural waterfall in ND. 1 mile southeast of Fort Ransom, ND along Valley Road to get to trailhead parking. Roughly a 2.2-mile scenic hike to get to the waterfall.
- Garrison
- “Big Gene” is the gatekeeper at the Garrison City golf course entrance. Fifteen feet tall, and made out of sheet metal; it looks as if its inspiration was the robot in Colossus of New York
- ☆ Wally Walleye – “World’s Largest Walleye,” is the 26-ft. long fiberglass sculpture on Main Street.
- Grand Forks
- Darcy’s Cafe – Legendary diner serving homemade Midwestern classics like cinnamon roll pancakes, corned beef hash, knoephla soup, leischkuekle and a variety of hotdish specials.
- Grand Forks County Historical Society’s grounds
- Rhombus Guys Brewing Company in the historic Metropolitan Opera House
- Flood Memorial Monument
- Sertoma Park – contains a small Japanese Gardens
- 14-Foot-Tall Pink Bra – Built in the 1990s. Titled “Losing Support,” it was a red-white-and-blue protest against government funding cuts for the arts. Salvaged and painted pink in 2015, retitled “Gaining Support,” it encouraged breast cancer awareness. Tim Shea’s Nursery and Landscaping
- Grassy Butte
- Grassy Butte Historic Post Office Museum – Built in 1912 of logs and sod, this structure housed the Grassy Butte Post Office from 1914 to 1963. The Ukrainian-type log building is significant as one of the last known examples of Ukrainian-type log and clay plaster construction in North Dakota
- Hope
- Steele County Museum – artifacts of secret societies (including Freemasons and Odd Fellows), a huge collection of antique radios, and a two-headed calf.
- Jamestown
- ☆ World’s Largest Buffalo and National Buffalo Museum – The World’s Largest Buffalo Monument towers over the city of Jamestown and the adjacent National Buffalo Museum. See the live bison herd on site. The buffalo is 46 feet long, weighs 60 tons, and is 26 feet tall.
- Mandan
- ☆ Fort Abraham Lincoln and On-A-Slant Village – At Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, history goes back 300-plus years to when On-A-Slant Village was home to the Mandan Indians. Today it’s a 977-acre park on the banks of the Missouri River, and its exhibits relate to the life of the Mandans and the military history of the fort. Tour the home of General George and Libbie Custer and the 7th Cavalry.
- Medora
- Shows at Old Town Hall Theater or Burning Hills Amphitheatre https://medora.com/book/
- Brunch with President Roosevelt or Gospel Brunch
- Walking with the Roosevelts – a walking tour of the town.
- Magic Show
- Theodore and Edith – Enjoy the captivating tales that Theodore and Edith will recount of their life before, during, and after their time in the White House. This living history duo is incredible to watch and their knowledge and performance of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt is uncanny! Old Town Hall Theater
- Pitchfork Steak Fondue – 12 oz steak cooked on a pitchfork and buffet
- Medora Musical – the ultimate Country Western Music Revue. This live outdoor spectacle showcases a variety of music favorites – from Dolly to disco.
- Chateau de Mores State Historic Site – This 26-room, two-story frame building was built in 1883 as the summer residence of the Marquis’s family. The Chateau is now a historic house museum and contains many of the original furnishings and personal effects of the de Mores family.
- Shows at Old Town Hall Theater or Burning Hills Amphitheatre https://medora.com/book/
- Minot
- ☆ Scandinavian Heritage Park – A tribute to the area’s Scandinavian heritage. See a typical Norwegian house and a Norwegian stabbur (storehouse). Among other attractions, there’s a Danish windmill, a 30-foot-tall Dala horse (the national symbol of Sweden), and a Nordic-style visitors center. 1020 S. Broadway
- Dakota Territory Air Museum
- North Dakota State Fair – July
- Pioneer Village Museum, operated by the Ward County Historical Society. Located just 15 minutes west of Minot, you can explore over 20 historical buildings including a prairie church, fire station, jail, and log cabin furnished with authentic artifacts and antiques recreating life from a bygone era. The museum is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
- Nekoma
- The Pyramid of North Dakota – A large pyramid-shaped defunct missile defense station. You can only see it from a distance.
- New Town
- ★ Earl Bunyan – Nineteen feet tall and supposedly the brother of forest gobbler Paul Bunyan.
- Parshall
- Paul Broste Rock Museum – This unique museum displays rock specimens from all over the world. Open May to Labor Day.
- Regent
- ★ Enchanted Highway – Classic roadside art in the form of giant metal statues that rise from the prairie alongside the Enchanted Highway between Gladstone and Regent in western North Dakota. It’s selfie heaven.
- Rugby
- ☆ Geographical Center of North America – In 1928, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) designated a point 15 miles southwest of Rugby, North Dakota as North America’s geographical center. To mark this center, the people of Rugby erected a 15-foot obelisk in 1931 made from local rock. However, this designation had no official status, and the town claimed the title even though it was contested.
- Prairie Village Museum – The museum features 21 historic buildings and seven exhibition halls arranged around a charming village square. As you explore, you’ll encounter structures like the Penn Depot, York Jail, Pleasant Lake Bank, and the Silva Consolidated School. Each building tells a unique story of prairie life during the late 1800s and beyond. Inside the museum’s six exhibition halls, you’ll find an array of fascinating items: Antique cars, Farm machinery, Native American objects, Household items dating from the mid-1800s to more recent times. Lots of oddities.
- Rutland
- “Pride of the Prairie.” The disk-shaped griddle that cooked a 3591-pound hamburger is proudly displayed like a billboard for all to see.
- Saint Michael
- ☆ White Horse Hill National Game Preserve – Bison, elk, prairie dogs, and migratory birds are plentiful at White Horse Hill on the shores of Devils Lake. Hiking trails and an auto tour wind through the preserve, St. Michael
- Stanton
- Fort Clark State Historic Site – mostly an empty field with signs.
- ☆ Knife River Indian Villages Historic Site – Very nice visitor center with exhibits, along with the wonderful example of a Mound house. There is also a short trail and a nice garden.
- Tioga
- Norseman Museum – Displays containing history, pictures and artifacts of early settlers’ homes and farms, businesses, churches, schools, city, military, oilfield.
- Valley City
- ☆ Medicine Wheel Park –
- ☆ Hi-Line railroad bridge – Chautauqua Park from where you´ll see the magnificent Hi-line Bridge, 3.800+ feet long, over the river.
- Wahpeton
- ☆ World’s Largest Catfish – 40 feet long, 5,000 lbs, known to the citizens of Wahpeton as “The Wahpper.”
- Washburn
- ☆ Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan – Stop into this world-class interpretive center along the route Lewis and Clark traveled. Exhibits focus on artifacts from every tribe the explorers encountered, showcasing the culture of the Mandan Indians and the winter of 1804-05. Fort Mandan is two miles west of the interpretive center.
- ☆ Fort Mandan State Historic Site – a fully furnished, full-size replica of the fort in which the Lewis and Clark Expedition overwintered in 1804-1805.
- Watford City
- McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum – Free. Explore McKenzie County‘s rich history, from prehistoric to farming and ranching to modern day oil exploration. Step back in time exploring buildings and artifacts from the great “Island Empire”, the last and largest county in the state of North Dakota to be settled. Discover more about the petroleum industry and its history and its future here, including a to-scale replica of a drilling and work-over rig.
- Williston
- Fort Buford State Historic Site and Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center – a supply depot for the U.S. Army during the Indian wars and the site of Chief Sitting Bull’s surrender in July 1881. The Interpretive Center has a small museum and a short walking trail to the confluence. The admission fee gives you access to both.
- ★ Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site – Home to John Jacob Astor’s powerful American Fur Company, Fort Union Trading Post dominated the peaceful fur trade on the upper Missouri River between 1829 and 1867. Today, see museum exhibits in the Bourgeois House and shop for gifts and souvenirs in the reconstructed Indian Trade House.
- Norseman Museum – Displays containing history, pictures and artifacts of early settlers’ homes and farms, businesses, churches, schools, city, military, oilfield.
- Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center – tells the story of the geology, wildlife and history of the confluence. The site also includes walking trails and a boat ramp.