North Dakota Isn't as Boring as You Think

North Dakota. Ah, the hilled country side, the vast open plains where you can watch your dog run away for a year. It's always the same landscape; there's a hill over there, a tree row over there, and a field of sunflowers over there. You've got your rednecks at the local, small town bar, and the sheriff is in love with the fire chief's wife.

Oh wait, that's stereotyping. North Dakota isn't as boring as everyone makes it out to be; you just have to enjoy the outdoors. It's true, we don't have much in the way of tourist attractions, aside from the state fair and giant turtle on a giant snow mobile, but we aren't boring.

Here we have so many opportunities for photographers looking to get pictures of fantastic landscapes, or looking for a good place to set a model. There's so many places you may not give a passing thought to during the day, but drive through our state when the sun is setting or rising and you'll get some gorgeous photos. We even have some people do shoots in some of our locally run stores. Or, if you aren't into photography, there's a plentiful amount of other activities.

Camping is huge in ND. We have so many parks were you can park a camper or set up a tent. There's the Lewis and Clark State Park, where you can participate in planned events throughout the year; snowshoeing and skiing during the winter, hiking the largest historical trail in ND, camping; they are connected to Lake Sakakawea so you can go boating, fishing, tubing, and for winter water recreation, you can go ice fishing. We also have Fort Stevenson State Park, which is a hot spot for geocaching, skiing, water-based recreation, and lots of hiking. Keep in mind that this list only covers two of the fourteen state parks in our state.

For smaller camping grounds, we have places like KOA, RV parks, Rough Rider, Morning Star, Down Stream, Hillcrest Acres, General Sibley, Cottowood, Buffalo Gap, and many, many more. All of these parks have your basics, like a playground, bathrooms, dumping stations, and tenting spots. These campgrounds are located throughout North Dakota.

Every park has its own specialty recreations, along with the basics of a volleyball/bad-mitten court, horseshoe court, grills, playgrounds for kids, and many more. Many of the parks also have modern amenities like dumping stations for campers and RVs, fish cleaning stations, amphitheaters, concessions stores, cabin rentals, among other things.

If you aren't into the great outdoors, definitely check us out during July, when we hold our annual North Dakota State Fair. This year alone we've got some good bands coming to play, like Nickleback, Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore, and Micheal Ray. Not into music? How about our Enduro race or truck and tractor pull? Our state fair also has plenty of rides, carnival games, and food concessions. We've got the Flickertail Gardens bar located on the grounds that also has live music. You can participate in contests like karaoke. You can view livestock, art, our 4H and FFA exhibits, and much more. Let's not forget the massive amount of shopping you can do—from anime merchandise to pots and pans, they've got it all. There are lots of free mini events that vary from year to year, as well.

So if you have ever wanted to just explore the great outdoors, North Dakota should be a destination on your list. We may not have very many major tourist attractions, but we still have plenty to do here. Whether you're a photographer, an outdoor enthusiast, a concert junkie, or just curious to what's out there, we've got something for you.