Fodor's Expert Review Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site

A 60-mile drive north of Bismarck, this site makes for an excellent day trip for anyone interested in Native American culture. The monument preserves depressions formed by the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes' circular earth-and-timber lodges. The museum and interpretive center display pottery shards, other artifacts, and a full-scale furnished replica of an earth lodge. There are also a few hiking trails that originate at the monument; the 1.5-mile Village Trail passes through what remains of two different villages.