Fun things to do in North Dakota

1 more image

Besides the Mandan Indian village, the State Park had other historical military buildings, like Custer House, to visit ( also reconstructed, not the originals) that were interesting. You can also see the foundation of some of the original fort.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in western North Dakota in the area commonly referred to as the North Dakota Badlands. The Park is divided into north and south units, with a combined area of 70,447 acres. This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful and interesting part of North Dakota. The park is accessed by two loop roads, the South Unit Scenic Loop Drive, 36 miles, and the North Unit Scenic Loop Drive, 28 miles. The park is always open, but these roads may close temporarily during winter due to ice and snow. On my August visit there I saw Bison, Pronghorn, Elk, Prairie Dogs, a Golden Eagle and other wildlife.

As a young man Theodore Roosevelt first visited this area on a hunting trip in Sept. 1883. He returned again the next year and established Elkhorn Ranch. Later, as the U.S. President who did more for conversation than any other, Roosevelt said, "I never would have been President if it had not been for my experience in North Dakota."

President Theadore Roosevelt established the U.S. National Forest Service, including 150 National Forests. Using the 1906 antiquities act, he proclaimed 18 National Mounuments. He also established 5 National Parks and 51 National Wildlife Refuges.

Fees
$5.00/7 days per person, or
Maximum $10 per private vehicle

Another fifteen miles down the Enchanted Highway we come to the World's Largest Grasshopper. This grasshopper is forty feet tall and fifty feet long and it certainly dwarfs Becky who is standing next to its rear hip (though I suppose technically grasshoppers don't have hips since they don't have bones).

The scrap metal sculptures are the brainchild of "artist" Gary Greff, a retired school teacher. The idea is to turn scrap metal into giant art and follows the philosophy first articulated in that modern American classic baseball book "Shoeless Joe": "If you build it, they will come." The "they" in this particular case are tourists with pockets full of money. The only hitch as far as I can tell is that there does not seem to be any place along the Enchanted Highway where the tourist can unload his or her cash.

The Enchanted Highway calls for a fairly serious time comitment. Starting from Dickinson the entire round trip is over 100 miles long and the speed limit along the Enchanted Highway is only 45 mph. The entire route is going to take over two hours. Bring water because there is not much in the way of services along the route.

The lead pheasant is forty feet tall, seventy feet long and weighs in at 13,000 lbs. That's a lot of pheasant.

A National Historic site which means it is part of the national park system. No entrance fee, a very nice little museum filled with artifacts and a great bookshop.

In 1804 when Lewis and Clark visited, the Hidatsa village at Knife River had 3000-5000 inhabitants. The explorers invaluable guide, Sakakawea, lived in this village before joining the expedition.

Giant metal sculptures dot the so-called Enchanted Highway between Gladstone and Regent about 15 miles east of Dickinson. The first sculpture just south of Gladstone is "Deer Crossing" which is still less than a year old having been "sculpted" in September 2002.

The earthlodges at On-Slant-Village at Fort Abraham Licoln State Park are masterfully recreated. At one time there were eighty-five of these earthlodge structures on this site next to the Missouri River. The inhabitants were called the Mandan people. The Mandan were devestated by small pox in the 1780s and this village was eventually abandoned.

www.fortlincoln.com