McKenzie County, ND

McKenzie County in western North Dakota hosts ragged buttes, sagebrush and prairie grasses, rolling fields of wheat and other marketable crops. The land speaks of its history through fossils, petroleum deposits, petrified forests and evolving terrain. It is a history that is rich with fortitude, from the days of the roaming dinosaurs, through the feral days of the old west, to its present state of worldwide links through modern technology.

It was once a wild country; its badlands and rolling hills inhabited by few. For the native Hidatsa, Mandan and Arikara tribes, the land provided ample resources as their hunting and ceremonial grounds. Wildlife was abundant and the land’s native inhabitants survived the windswept prairie with a reverence for its unpredictable disposition

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park, National Grasslands and Lake Sakakawea provide acres of wild country to be explored on foot, bike, horseback, canoe, sailboat or motored transportation.

The area is a paradise for the hunter or fisherman. You can still view most of the wildlife native to the area and more, including the bison, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer, white-tailed deer, coyotes, fox, bobcat, wild turkey, grouse, ring-necked pheasant, partridge, geese, ducks and many others.

Fishing on Lake Sakakawea is hard to beat. There is an ample supply of walleye, sauger, northern pike, small mouth bass and salmon, just to name a few. The seriously adventurous can fish the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers for huge and prehistoric looking paddlefish.

A lifetime of activities and adventures are available in McKenzie County. We welcome you to retrace the footsteps of Lewis & Clark to discover for yourself what it is about this land that digs a fierce desire for preservation into the marrow of its inhabitants.

Experience the breathtaking northern lights, breathe in a dimensional landscape where fluffy floating clouds cast random shadows over the vast rolling plains, and encounter a quality of life that is unmatched.