North Dakota

Before he became the 26th president of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt became a conservationist and a cowboy after spending many years here. Drive through the Badlands, visit Roosevelt’s restored Maltese Cross Cabin or take in the breathtaking view of Painted Canyon, where jagged mountain peaks compete with grazing bison for most photo-worthy image.

A kind of rural roadside gallery, Enchanted Highway is decorated with large scale metal sculptures all along its 48 kilometers. Ranging from grasshoppers to fish to tin people, the highway ends in Regent, where you’ll find a gift shop offering all of the sculptures in miniature as well as the Enchanted Castle Hotel.

This Washburn site is where explorers Lewis and Clark settled a winter headquarters, met Sakakawea and began logging their observations about the people and environment around them. Tour the reconstructed fort to imagine what life was like for these intrepid pioneers.

This Jamestown museum dedicated to Plains history is located in a log cabin within Frontier Village, which also includes a 19th century town with restored buildings, homes and businesses to tour. At the museum, exhibits reflect the history of bison in the area and present Plains Indian artifacts. The museum also maintains a live herd of buffalo, including the mystical-looking White Buffalo. Don’t miss a photo op at the “World’s Largest Buffalo” statue.

North Dakota's official history museum in Bismarck tracks the state’s evolution from 600 million years ago to the present, and includes thousands of fossils, dinosaur skeletons and other artifacts presented in numerous exhibits, as well as an amphitheater for performances and two indoor theaters.

This park in Minot commemorates the Scandinavian pioneers who helped shape North Dakota and features traditional Scandinavian structures and symbols on its grounds, such as the nine-meter-tall Dala Horse, a grass-roof Stabbur (a little Norwegian house used to store food), windmills, flags and the centerpiece building here, a full replica of a Stave church.

See the remnants of earth lodge dwellings, cache pits, fortification ditches and trails in this Stanton site, where the Plains Indians established villages and encountered Lewis and Clark. The museum showcases artifacts and crafts as well as a replica of an earth lodge.

Fargo’s Plains-oriented art museum houses nearly 4,000 works in its permanent collection, which includes regional as well as national art, substantial American Indian art and folk art collections, historic photographs and murals. A heritage garden and amphitheater were recently added. 

This park situated around Devils Lake – North Dakota’s largest – is home to some of the best fishing in the state. Swimming and boating are popular pastimes at this beautiful spot.

This 930-hectare garden located near the Canadian border in the Turtle Mountain region was devised to celebrate the peaceful relations between the USA and Canada. Visit the tower, the flower clock, floral flags and bell tower. Walk the gardens and spend some time in the Interpretive Center, which houses a conservatory and restaurant.