North Dakota Beauty: Sheyenne River Valley

When people think of North Dakota, they think of the land right along the interstates, which is generally very boring, flat, and treeless (exceptions are on the Western side of the state, which gets into the Badlands, which we'll talk about another time). However, there are lots of cool things to see in North Dakota!

One such place of beauty is the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway. It is basically straight south of Valley City (technically, the Byway starts a little bit south of Valley), and the whole Byway runs about 60 miles.

If you have ever been through the hills of New York or Pennsylvania, that is what this looks like. There are trees and trees and trees (seriously.... and it's in ND), and lots of hills. It follows the river, so there is obviously some beauty that comes along with that.

They have some very cool historical markers along the way, which was actually maybe my favorite part. You got to learn about the area, from the first schools, businesses, churches, and people in the area. Very cool to see all of the original buildings and the way that things were.

If you are looking for some natural beauty in ND and are tired of I-94, check out a little detour on the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway!


* Image by Scooter Pursley