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Points 3-5
3. Cross Ranch State Park
The undeveloped stretches of the Missouri River and North Dakota's Cross Ranch State Park have an extensive trail system to explore on foot in summer or on cross-country skis during the winter. The ranch offers 5,000 acres dedicated to the nature preserve with river-bottom and cottonwood forests, mixed-prairie grasslands, and woody draws. Visitors often see the buffalo herd roaming the park's neighboring nature preserve. The park preserves the natural beauty of the land and creates a wildlife habitat for birding. Annual events include the High Plains Rendezvous and the Missouri River Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival.
4. Knife River Indian Villages
Continue on Rte. 83 to Washburn, site of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Focused on the complete expedition, it is filled with rare artifacts and interactive displays. It also houses the rare, complete collection of Karl Bodmer's historic artwork, which dates from the 1830s. Authentically reconstructed Fort Mandan, just west of the interpretive center, brings history to life with demonstrations and reenactments during Lewis and Clark Days in June and the Heritage Outbound Summer Adventure in August.
From Washburn, follow Rte. 200 to the Knife River Indian Villages, a National Park Historical Site located just north of Stanton. This historically important settlement was established by the ancestors of the modern Hidatsa people. The women of this tribe once gardened in the rich soil, growing squash, pumpkins, beans, sunflowers, and a variety of corn. They traded abundant crops to nomadic tribes and fur traders, gaining staples, foodstuffs, and buffalo hides.
By the early 1800s, the village was a burgeoning marketplace. Here Lewis and Clark met and hired a French fur trader, Toussaint Charbonneau, and his wife, Sakakawea, as interpreters for their Corps of Discovery.
Today the village site offers a free tour of the museum, exhibits, and artifacts, including circular depressions in the ground that once were homes of the Hidatsa Indians. Visit in July to watch the Northern Plains Indian Culture Fest.
5. Sakakawea State Park
When Lewis and Clark added Charbonneau to their expedition, they could never have dreamed that Sakakawea would become a heroine of the American West. During the winter of 1805, while wintering at Fort Mandan, she gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Carrying her baby, she provided translation and guided the party on its arduous journey across the Rockies.
Sakakawea's legacy lives on in the name of an expansive reservoir on the Missouri River, as well as a beautiful state park along the shoreline near Garrison Dam. The park's main entrance offers visitors a new welcome center with information for the area and entire state. Enjoy its swimming beaches, campsites, and boat ramps; throughout summer the park hosts numerous regattas, with sailboats, catamarans, and sailboards skimming the blue waters of Lake Sakakawea like birds in slow, stately flight.
6. Garrison Dam
It would take 2 million freight cars to carry the material used to build the immense Garrison Dam, which holds back the waters of the mighty Missouri for nearly 200 miles upstream. At 382,000 acres, Lake Sakakawea is one of the largest man-made reservoirs in America. After crossing the two-mile-long dam, the drive rejoins Rte. 83 near the town of Coleharbor.
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