Find the top rated hiking trails in North Dakota, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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If you want a long walk, a nice bicycle ride or practice for hiking, this trail is a very good choice! There's lots of beautiful foliage, signs describing the local ecosystem and plenty of benches you can rest at.
Visiting from SoCal, my wife and I rode this spectacular trail on October 1. Despite a heavy cloud cover and the threat of rain, we could not imagine a more beautiful time of year to to ride this trail thanks to the mild temperatures and an abundance of amazing fall color.
On a Friday morning/afternoon, we pretty much had this marvelously well-maintained trail and greenway all to ourselves.
Starting at Riverside Park in Grand Forks, North Dakota, we rode the Red River loop counterclockwise, plus one southerly spur into a lovely Grand Forks suburb for a total of fifteen miles. Just the loop, which crosses the Red River into East Grand Forks, Minnesota, would have been an easy, flat ten miles. If you have the Trail Link app, you first timers will want to rely on it since there are many unmarked forks in the trail.
This trail truly exceeded my expectations! It is without a doubt the calmest, quietest, safest, most beautiful urban/suburban trail I have ever ridden thanks to the well designed greenways. We loved how the emphasis was on the natural beauty of the trees, river, and greenways, and how it was enhanced by the beautiful protective walls, bridges, and curvy paths. On our three week odyssey of riding our bikes in ten states in sixteen days, this was by far our favorite! Kudos to the cities of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Your city planners hit a home run with this project!
(From the For What It's Worth department: The superb conclusion to our perfect North Dakota/Minnesota bicycle adventure was a delicious late lunch at the Blue Moose Bar and Grill in East Grand Forks. It was an ideal setting for us out on the covered patio overlooking the greenway, bike trail, and its gorgeous fall colors!)
This little trail was worth the stop just to see the cast iron lift bridge and North Dakota’s only tunnel. Trail has portajohns at beginning parking lot and is paved to bridge. The bridge surface was expanded metal over railroad ties and crosses the Yellowstone River. The trail turns to sand thru the old wooden railroad tunnel. Make sure you have a light since it gets dark in the middle but entire tunnel was dry. Short trail afterwards has a nice view of the valley but ends on private property.
Mostly shaded and near the river. My favorite paved biking path.
The section of trail along the Red River is as good as an urban trail can be. All smooth and very safe. The downtown loop is about 10 miles and gets a little confusing where the Red River meets the Red Lake River. The bikeway map on the city website is a lot better than the map on the Greenway website.
If you are staying at one of the hotels near the Alerus Center just take the trails south and east to the south end of the river trail, would be about 25 miles round trip including the river trail.
This is a remote area and trail is not used much. I saw one track made since the last rain. Bridge is fine to ride over with a little jump at the west end. I never imagined a lift bridge in this area.
The tunnel curves and after a 100 yards the entrance is no longer visible, so it is totally dark. I was alone, and even with a good headlight I got spooked and turned around. I spoke with a local fisherman who said the tunnel was open all the way.
The adjacent park isn't maintained very well, but looks safe.
The only desgnated parking area was small and full. Thankfully it was a Friday in August, so we were able to park at the Shiloh Christian School next door.
We didn't see any signs for the "Hay Creek Trail", but using the TrailLink map we headed out on our Trikkes.
The first part was a wide sidewalk by a road, later becoming a narrow sidewalk. There is a turn into a residential neighborhood that is not marked, while a sign saying "Bike Route" along a wide sidewalk went in another direction.
Eventually, the trail joined some off-road paths, near a golf course, but again the lack of signs made it confusing about which direction to take. Using TralLink and Google satellite views, we were able to choose a way to go which got us back to our vehicle.
There are several places where there are signs posted that show all the trails in the region, but the individual paths do not have any signage at any point. Also, there is also no way to tell if the various trails/paths are paved or not.
It seems that Bismarck has spent a good deal of time and money on recreation trails and paths, but has not utilized TrailLink to promote or inform potential users of the trails. Adding more signage to the various trails would be very helpful.
My wife and I had to address business in Grand Forks and brought our bicycles with us. We rode this trail and found it absolutely wonderful. The paved trail hugs the Red River and the boarder of Minnesota and North Dakota. The trail is asphalt and in great condition. Many rest areas and tool/air stations. There are many bridges that you can get to East Grand Forks Minnesota and back to Grand Forks North Dakota. The trail offers a ton of food and drink stops as most of the establishment are a short hop off the trail. The trail is also a multi use trail and offers great opportunity for a urban connector trail and way to get around Grand Forks.
Love the Grand Forks Greenway. The Wife and I have spent many hours riding the greenway. People are always friendly and many great places to stop and enjoy the fresh air. The greenway also connects to other bike paths that take you all around Grand Forks and the University. We would ride from our home but there are many places to park and start with many access points to get on the trail. Only downside is winter is long and I am not brave enough to ride in -30. Some people are though.
Recently moved away and we miss the bike paths. We loved how you dont have to cross any major roads. It is very well kept and we always felt very safe riding. We talk often about how much we miss Grand forks and the Greenway is a big part of that.
This is a uniquely wonderful trail set in the flood plain of the Red River. Instead of a narrow corridor of a rails to trails type path this occupies a wide swath of the river bottoms with a large dyke on the upland side of the path blocking views of town & residential neighborhoods. It's like riding through a lush and beautiful arboretum. The pathways are in excellent shape and mostly deserted in the fall mornings, giving one the feeling of being far far away from civilization.
The town of Grand forks is small and tidy with all the amenities one could want without the traffic congestion & noise of a larger city. I would highly recommend this trail for a bicycle vacation destination.
Luck would have that Handicap parking is at Trail grade at the west end. Otherwise it is a steep though short climb from the park below. The trail surface across the ties is a steel reinforcement web making a smooth ride. However at the east end the dirt has washed away and the web is not bent down over the side of the RR tie. This cut the side wall of my tire. Luck again, it did not blow out until an hour later after loaded it back in my Van. If the web reinforcement was hammered down, it would cure this hazard. Noel Keller 21 Jun 2013
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