Best North Dakota
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Established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in the prairie pothole region of North Dakota. The refuge is most famous for hosting one of the world's largest nesting colonies of American white pelicans, which thrive on the remote, undisturbed...
The Little Missouri Badlands are an eroded landscape surrounding the Little Missouri River in western North Dakota. Layered sedimentary rocks have been shaped into steep gullies, ridges, buttes, and exposed bands of differently colored material, while grasslands occupy many of the gentler surfaces....
The Missouri Coteau is a massive plateau of glacial hills spanning the United States and Canada, notable for separating the Missouri River basin from the northern Great Plains. This distinct escarpment was formed by glacial action during the last ice age, resulting in a rugged landscape characterize...
Dakota, an Edmontosaurus annectens mummy discovered in North Dakota in 1999, preserves mummified skin and muscle tissue that allowed researchers to estimate the animal's body volume and musculature more precisely than skeletal material alone permits.
Little Missouri National Grassland encompasses more than one million acres of prairie land within North Dakota. This area’s notable badlands topography and diverse mixed-grass ecosystem provide unique opportunities for scientific research and conservation. It is primarily utilized by the U.S. Forest...
The Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System (PARCS) was a critical Cold War defense asset. Located at Cavalier Space Force Station in North Dakota, this phased-array radar system monitored missile launch trajectories across the continental United States. Built in 1977, PARCS provi...
The Fargo Marathon is an annual North Dakota race notable for its unique indoor start and finish inside the city's massive Fargodome stadium.
The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex is a massive underground facility constructed during the Cold War in North Dakota. It served as part of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system, designed to house and monitor early warning radar systems. The complex’s unique design incorporated multiple l...
The Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota preserves critical wetlands and native prairie habitats for migrating waterfowl.
Spanning the Des Lacs River valley in North Dakota, this refuge protects critical wetlands and mixed-grass prairie habitats for waterfowl.
White Butte is the highest natural point in North Dakota, reaching 3,506 feet above sea level in Slope County. It stands within the dissected grasslands and badland terrain of the state's southwest, and its pale sedimentary slopes contrast with the surrounding prairie. The summit is primarily visite...
The Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota protects vital wetlands and tallgrass prairie remnants along the Wild Rice River.
The J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge is a massive marsh complex in North Dakota, United States, notable for being a crucial breeding ground for diverse waterfowl species.
The Cedar River National Grassland is located in North Dakota and covers over 6,000 acres of restored mixed-grass prairie ecosystems.
Richardton is an H5 ordinary chondrite that fell near Richardton, North Dakota, on June 30, 1918. The H classification indicates relatively high total iron, while petrologic type 5 shows that its constituent minerals were substantially equilibrated by thermal metamorphism on the parent asteroid. Rec...
Sheyenne National Grassland is a federally managed landscape in southeastern North Dakota administered by the United States Forest Service as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. It protects an extensive tract of publicly owned tallgrass prairie mixed with sandy dunes, wetlands, oak groves, and ag...
The Kulm Wetland Management District in North Dakota oversees thousands of acres of vital prairie pothole habitat for migrating waterfowl.
A naturally formed rock column on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation straddling North and South Dakota, sacred to Lakota and Dakota peoples and the namesake of the tribe.
Killdeer Badlands is an eroded badlands area within the Little Missouri National Grassland in western North Dakota, featuring hoodoos and colorful banded sediments in a landscape used by Theodore Roosevelt for ranching in the 1880s.
Bullion Butte is a prominent isolated butte in Billings County, North Dakota, rising within the Little Missouri National Grassland near the badlands.
Lake Sakakawea is a large reservoir located on the Missouri River in North Dakota, United States. It was created by the construction of the Garrison Dam, which was completed in 1953 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States by surface area, it spa...
Writing Rock State Historic Site is a protected cultural site in northwestern North Dakota near the Canadian border. It preserves two granite boulders bearing carved figures, including thunderbird-like forms associated with Indigenous peoples of the northern Plains. The boulders are glacial erratics...
The Drift Plains of North Dakota comprise a fertile glacial till region in the north-central part of the state, formed during the last glaciation period. Characterized by rolling hills, numerous small wetlands, and productive agricultural lands, this area sits between the Missouri Plateau to the wes...
Sentinel Butte is a butte and small community in Golden Valley County, North Dakota, situated at the edge of the Little Missouri Badlands.
H4 ordinary chondrite found in the United States, classified among moderately equilibrated H-group chondrites and studied for thermal metamorphic history.
Rainy Butte is an isolated butte in Slope County, North Dakota, part of the rugged badlands terrain in the state's remote southwestern corner.
Heart Butte is an isolated butte in Slope County, North Dakota, rising above the Little Missouri Badlands in the sparsely populated southwestern part of the state.
Cannonball River Badlands is an eroded region along the Cannonball River in south-central North Dakota, notable for the spherical Cannonball concretions that gave the river its name.
Rattlesnake Butte is a butte in the North Dakota badlands, one of several Great Plains formations bearing the name for the rattlesnakes historically found nearby.
The Missouri Coteau Escarpment is a prominent geological plateau edge in North America, separating the Missouri River basin from the Canadian prairies.
