North Dakota

Parks

  • National Historic Site

    Fort Union Trading Post

    Two States: MT,ND

    Between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the most important fur trade post on the Upper Missouri River. Here, the Assiniboine and six other Northern Plains Tribes exchanged buffalo robes and smaller furs for goods from around the world, including cloth, guns, blankets, and beads. A bastion of peaceful coexistence, the post annually traded over 25,000 buffalo robes and $100,000 in merchandise.

    View of Fort Union Trading Post NHS from Bodmer Overlook

  • National Historic Site

    Knife River Indian Villages

    Stanton, ND

    Earthlodge people hunted bison and other game, but were in essence farmers living in villages along the Missouri and its tributaries. The site was a major Native American trade center for hundreds of years prior to becoming an important market place for fur traders after 1750.

    Aerial photograph of Big Hidatsa National Historic Landmark, located within Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site.

  • National Historic Trail

    Lewis & Clark

    Sixteen States: IA,ID,IL,IN,KS,KY,MO,MT,NE,ND,OH,OR,PA,SD,WA,WV

    The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail winds nearly 4,900 miles through the homelands of more than 60 Tribal nations. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean. Follow the trail to find the people, places, and stories that make up the complex legacy of the expedition.

    photo of a replica keelboat with a crew member on the bow at sunset

  • National Scenic Trail

    North Country

    Eight States - Vermont to North Dakota MI,MN,ND,NY,OH,PA,VT,WI

    Come to the North Country. Trek the hills and valleys. Stand on the shores of lakes & streams from glaciers 10,000 years before. Clear-flowing water, red/gold of autumn, a fairyland of snow, open prairies, and distant horizons paint the land. Historic sites along the way tell how America settled and grew as a nation. From North Dakota to Vermont, adventure is never far away.

    A hiker enjoys the view along the North Country Trail in New York.

  • National Park

    Theodore Roosevelt

    Medora, ND (South Unit). The North Unit is located 15 miles south of Watford City, ND

    When Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota Territory to hunt bison in 1883, he was a skinny, young, spectacled dude from New York. He could not have imagined how his adventure in this remote and unfamiliar place would forever alter the course of the nation. The rugged landscape and strenuous life that TR experienced here would help shape a conservation policy that we still benefit from today.

    Sunset on the badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park

By The Numbers

These numbers are just a sample of the National Park Service's work. Figures are for the fiscal year that ended 9/30/2020.