North Dakota & western Nebraska road trip
Jul 19th, 2016, 03:38 PM
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North Dakota & western Nebraska road trip
As part of my goal to visit all 50 states, my husband and I decided to go to North Dakota the week of 4th of July. Since we didn’t feel that there was enough to do in North Dakota to fill our 8 days, we also visited sites in western Nebraska since we’d never been to that part of the state. I’m not including much on hotels and meals because they were mostly chains. Here’s what we did:
Friday (3.5 hour drive to Fargo, not originally planned):
The trip didn’t start well. We had a flight from Detroit to Minneapolis to Fargo but on arrival in Minneapolis we found out that our flight to Fargo was cancelled and the soonest Delta could get us there was Sunday morning. So since it’s < 4 hours drive from Minneapolis to Fargo, we rented a car and drove. Of course our walkup rental in Minneapolis was about 50% more expensive than the car we had reserved in Fargo, but we weren’t willing to lose a day of our trip. A refund from Delta after I sent in a complaint on our return covered a good portion of that cost.
Saturday (total drive 3 hours ending in Bismarck):
Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County (actually in Moorhead, Minn) - Well worth doing. The story of how the Viking ship was built and sailed to Norway was interesting, the stave church was beautiful (make sure to do the guided tour to see the inside), and the temporary exhibits were well done
National Buffalo Museum - Jamestown, off I-94 halfway between Fargo and Bismarck - When we arrived and saw the place, we were dubious that it would be worth $8 per person, so we didn’t go in. Instead we walked around the “frontier town” that is also there, took a picture with the giant buffalo statue, and got an ice cream. The frontier town might be entertaining if you have young children, otherwise I’d skip it. But it broke up the drive.
Saturday and Sunday night we stayed in Bismarck. We had dinner one night at The Walrus Restaurant which was quite good. We also liked MacKenzie River Pizza Company.
Sunday:
Fort Mandan and Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center - the museum/visitor center there was pretty good and had some interactive things for kids. It was interesting to walk down to the Missouri River. The Fort might have been more interesting to us if we hadn’t see pretty much the identical fort at Fort Clatsop in Oregon last year.
State Capitol - tours are hourly on Sunday (1-4), no reservations needed. The tour was interesting although I found the building to be one of the uglier state capitols that I've toured.
Monday (3-4 hours driving ending in Medora):
North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum - interesting museum, recently renovated. Lots of dinosaur skeletons.
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park - we enjoyed this stop. The tour of the Custer home was well done and the Mandan village was fascinating.
Enchanted Highway - This added some time to the drive but it was fun to see the scrap metal sculptures. There is a place to pull off and take photos at each one. My favorite was the fishing one.
Monday and Tuesday night we stayed in Medora at the Rough Rider Hotel. We found Medora to be a strange place. A number of the businesses are owned by Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and do not have their own websites or published phone numbers, so it was difficult to get information. Despite arriving at the height of the tourist season, we discovered that most shops closed early. It wasn’t even possible to get an ice cream cone at 7:30 at night. The hotel was nice enough, but I’m not sure if it was worth $200 a night. We ate at Badland’s Pizza (pretty good), Cowboy Cafe (decent diner), and Boots (barely mediocre).
Tuesday:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park - we started at the South Unit Visitor Center and then we drove the loop around the south unit, stopping often to take in the scenery. It is beautiful, but not was not as impressive to us as the South Dakota badlands
Chateau de Mores State Historic Site - very interesting. The guides were quite knowledgeable.
Medora Musical - the performers were good, but this was totally not our style. If you liked Hee Haw or you enjoy Branson, Missouri you’d like this.
Wednesday (longest driving day, about 8 hours) :
We had already seen the sights in South Dakota on another trip so we drove through South Dakota with a dip into Wyoming and ended in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Fort Laramie, Wyoming - Interesting site but not very well presented. Perhaps if we’d been there early in the day there would have been more going on. The audio tour didn't work very well. While we were there we discovered that we were near Register Cliff and some well preserved Oregon Trail ruts, so we detoured about 20 minutes to see those.
Thursday (4 hours drive, ending in Kearney):
Scottsbluff - we enjoyed this site. The museum and visitor center are very good and the views from the summit are beautiful.
Chimney Rock - something I’d always wanted to see. The visitor center had some good exhibits with a fun one for kids where they could load their wagon for the trail.
Friday (1 hour drive, ending in Grand Island):
Museum of Nebraska Art - very nice small museum with free admission. The temporary quilt exhibit was fabulous.
The Archway Museum of Westward Expansion - we liked this more than we thought we would. The first floor was somewhat a repeat of what we’d already seen on this and other trips but the 2nd floor, which focused more on the building of the various cross country roads and highways, was interesting. The audio and the exhibits aren’t really integrated and the audio plays in a loop in each room. We found it best to listen to the whole loop and then take it off and look at the exhibits.
Saturday (2.5 hour drive, ending in Omaha):
Stuhr Museum of The Prairie Pioneer - the 2 museum buildings here were good, but we should have done the outdoor exhibits first while it was cooler. The day was extremely hot and humid and we quickly gave up on walking between the houses. The interpreters in the houses did not have presentations to give, they just sat and waited for questions so that could have been improved.
Dinner at Blatt Beer and Table in Omaha. Very good food, nicely served.
Sunday:
flew home from Omaha. Our flight was at 6:10 am and we were surprised that the airport was relatively busy and we were able to get something to eat before boarding.
Totals for the trip:
1800 miles and 6 states - Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa (very briefly on the way to Omaha airport)
I find the flat land and the wide open vistas in this part of the country very beautiful. I hope this report helps someone, there is very little info on the forum about these areas.
Friday (3.5 hour drive to Fargo, not originally planned):
The trip didn’t start well. We had a flight from Detroit to Minneapolis to Fargo but on arrival in Minneapolis we found out that our flight to Fargo was cancelled and the soonest Delta could get us there was Sunday morning. So since it’s < 4 hours drive from Minneapolis to Fargo, we rented a car and drove. Of course our walkup rental in Minneapolis was about 50% more expensive than the car we had reserved in Fargo, but we weren’t willing to lose a day of our trip. A refund from Delta after I sent in a complaint on our return covered a good portion of that cost.
Saturday (total drive 3 hours ending in Bismarck):
Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County (actually in Moorhead, Minn) - Well worth doing. The story of how the Viking ship was built and sailed to Norway was interesting, the stave church was beautiful (make sure to do the guided tour to see the inside), and the temporary exhibits were well done
National Buffalo Museum - Jamestown, off I-94 halfway between Fargo and Bismarck - When we arrived and saw the place, we were dubious that it would be worth $8 per person, so we didn’t go in. Instead we walked around the “frontier town” that is also there, took a picture with the giant buffalo statue, and got an ice cream. The frontier town might be entertaining if you have young children, otherwise I’d skip it. But it broke up the drive.
Saturday and Sunday night we stayed in Bismarck. We had dinner one night at The Walrus Restaurant which was quite good. We also liked MacKenzie River Pizza Company.
Sunday:
Fort Mandan and Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center - the museum/visitor center there was pretty good and had some interactive things for kids. It was interesting to walk down to the Missouri River. The Fort might have been more interesting to us if we hadn’t see pretty much the identical fort at Fort Clatsop in Oregon last year.
State Capitol - tours are hourly on Sunday (1-4), no reservations needed. The tour was interesting although I found the building to be one of the uglier state capitols that I've toured.
Monday (3-4 hours driving ending in Medora):
North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum - interesting museum, recently renovated. Lots of dinosaur skeletons.
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park - we enjoyed this stop. The tour of the Custer home was well done and the Mandan village was fascinating.
Enchanted Highway - This added some time to the drive but it was fun to see the scrap metal sculptures. There is a place to pull off and take photos at each one. My favorite was the fishing one.
Monday and Tuesday night we stayed in Medora at the Rough Rider Hotel. We found Medora to be a strange place. A number of the businesses are owned by Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and do not have their own websites or published phone numbers, so it was difficult to get information. Despite arriving at the height of the tourist season, we discovered that most shops closed early. It wasn’t even possible to get an ice cream cone at 7:30 at night. The hotel was nice enough, but I’m not sure if it was worth $200 a night. We ate at Badland’s Pizza (pretty good), Cowboy Cafe (decent diner), and Boots (barely mediocre).
Tuesday:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park - we started at the South Unit Visitor Center and then we drove the loop around the south unit, stopping often to take in the scenery. It is beautiful, but not was not as impressive to us as the South Dakota badlands
Chateau de Mores State Historic Site - very interesting. The guides were quite knowledgeable.
Medora Musical - the performers were good, but this was totally not our style. If you liked Hee Haw or you enjoy Branson, Missouri you’d like this.
Wednesday (longest driving day, about 8 hours) :
We had already seen the sights in South Dakota on another trip so we drove through South Dakota with a dip into Wyoming and ended in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Fort Laramie, Wyoming - Interesting site but not very well presented. Perhaps if we’d been there early in the day there would have been more going on. The audio tour didn't work very well. While we were there we discovered that we were near Register Cliff and some well preserved Oregon Trail ruts, so we detoured about 20 minutes to see those.
Thursday (4 hours drive, ending in Kearney):
Scottsbluff - we enjoyed this site. The museum and visitor center are very good and the views from the summit are beautiful.
Chimney Rock - something I’d always wanted to see. The visitor center had some good exhibits with a fun one for kids where they could load their wagon for the trail.
Friday (1 hour drive, ending in Grand Island):
Museum of Nebraska Art - very nice small museum with free admission. The temporary quilt exhibit was fabulous.
The Archway Museum of Westward Expansion - we liked this more than we thought we would. The first floor was somewhat a repeat of what we’d already seen on this and other trips but the 2nd floor, which focused more on the building of the various cross country roads and highways, was interesting. The audio and the exhibits aren’t really integrated and the audio plays in a loop in each room. We found it best to listen to the whole loop and then take it off and look at the exhibits.
Saturday (2.5 hour drive, ending in Omaha):
Stuhr Museum of The Prairie Pioneer - the 2 museum buildings here were good, but we should have done the outdoor exhibits first while it was cooler. The day was extremely hot and humid and we quickly gave up on walking between the houses. The interpreters in the houses did not have presentations to give, they just sat and waited for questions so that could have been improved.
Dinner at Blatt Beer and Table in Omaha. Very good food, nicely served.
Sunday:
flew home from Omaha. Our flight was at 6:10 am and we were surprised that the airport was relatively busy and we were able to get something to eat before boarding.
Totals for the trip:
1800 miles and 6 states - Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa (very briefly on the way to Omaha airport)
I find the flat land and the wide open vistas in this part of the country very beautiful. I hope this report helps someone, there is very little info on the forum about these areas.
Jul 19th, 2016, 06:10 PM
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I took a similar trip a few years ago in the opposite direction, through western Nebraska and north through the Dakotas. It's true that there are not a lot of choices to stay in Medora, but I found that the town kinda grew on me.
I agree that the wide "big sky" spaces are stunning and I found the people to be open and very friendly. Where some see "a lot of nothing," I find that part of the country fascinating.
I think that most people would work western Nebraska and western North Dakota into a trip that included the Black Hills area of South Dakota, Badlands NP, and Devils Tower in Wyoming.
I agree that the wide "big sky" spaces are stunning and I found the people to be open and very friendly. Where some see "a lot of nothing," I find that part of the country fascinating.
I think that most people would work western Nebraska and western North Dakota into a trip that included the Black Hills area of South Dakota, Badlands NP, and Devils Tower in Wyoming.
