Exploring North Dakota is akin to setting out on a grand adventure. The state’s broad spaces, obscure pasts, and oddly named villages beckon contemporary explorers, much like Lewis and Clark did when they delved into the unexplored core of the Northern Great Plains.
North Dakota encourages visitors to forge their own path and discover its natural beauty, Native American heritage, and frontier spirit, whether they want to explore the rocky badlands of Killdeer or the undulating hills and meandering Missouri River in Cannon Ball.
Zap
The town of Zap may have taken its name from a Scottish coal-mining hamlet, though its exact origins are unknown.
It gained notoriety in 1969 for the “Zip to Zap” college party that turned into a riot, in which between 2,000 and 3,000 students swarmed the town and the National Guard was called in to put an end to it.
The town is home to about 225 people now, but its image as a party destination endures, and college students and Instagrammers frequently stop by to take pictures in front of the town sign.
The archeological remnants of villages formerly inhabited by the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes—collectively known as the Three Affiliated Tribes—are preserved at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, which is located close to Zap and is an important cultural and historical monument.
Buttzville
Be certain that the only thing to do in Buttzville is to laugh at the town’s name while searching for a supposed town sign to take a photo beneath.
It was named in honor of Civil War veteran Charles W. Buttz, who established the expansive “Buttz Bonanza Farm” on 36,000 acres in Ransom County in 1882. Buttzville is now regarded as a ghost town in North Dakota.
Nevertheless, tourists can explore Lisbon, a small town in the Sheyenne National Grasslands, the only National Grassland in the United States’ tallgrass prairie region, five miles from Buttzville.
Visitors who wish to spend the night in a restored Percheron wagon, a historic farmstead with contemporary conveniences, or a full-service yurt should head to the neighboring Fort Ransom State Park in the picturesque Sheyenne River Valley.
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Pingree
The humorous and absurd-sounding little town of Pingree was named for Hazen Stuart Pingree, who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1889 to 1897.
The Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, located in Pingree, is a well-liked location for kayaking, fishing, birdwatching, wildlife viewing, and photography.
More than 250 kinds of birds, including sharp-tailed grouse and white-tailed deer, can be seen along the nine-mile Fort Totten Trail that winds through the refuge.
The hamlet of Jamestown, located about 20 miles south of Pingree, is well-known for housing the World’s Largest Buffalo, a 26-foot-tall, 60-ton concrete monster known as Dakota Thunder, one of the most visited roadside attractions in the Midwest.
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Killdeer
There are a number of hypotheses as to how the town of Killdeer got its sinister moniker, including as the town’s closeness to the Killdeer Mountains, the name of the local killdeer bird, or the Sioux expression “Tah-kah-p-kuty,” which roughly translates to “the place where they kill deer.”
At the conclusion of the Northern Pacific Railway branch that started in Mandan, it was established in 1914.
The 6,000-acre Little Missouri State Park, which is the starting point for the Killdeer Mountains, offers 40 miles of hiking and horseback riding routes through the untamed Badlands via the Killdeer Mountains Four Bears Scenic Byway.
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Pick City
Another little town with an odd name is Pick City, which looks out over Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea.
Named for Lewis A. Pick, the director of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River office, who constructed the Garrison Dam, the town was established in 1946.
After Lake Mead and Lake Powell, Lake Sakakawea is the third largest reservoir in the United States, spanning 178 miles.
Lake Sakakawea State Park, a well-liked location for camping under the stars, is located on the lake’s southern shore.
The North Country National Scenic Trail, which is 4,800 miles long and the longest continuous hiking trail in the United States, ends in the park.
Hikers can access the path outside the park’s Visitor Center. The trail starts in Vermont and travels through eight states before coming to a finish in the park.
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