Now that the weather is warming up, snow is melting, and ground is starting to dry, it’s a great opportunity to go explore the North Dakota outdoors. This particular state park has gorgeous trails that wind through forests and flower-filled meadows. Not only that, but you can also take the trails right to old homesteader farms from the pioneer days. This is an experience you’ll want to have. Check it out:
Head out to the serenity that is Fort Ransom State Park. This quiet place is nestled in the Sheyenne River Valley and is full of trees, gentle hills, and plenty of trails to enjoy it all.
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Though mostly wooded, the parks trails also go through meadows, up ridges, and down across creeks. You never know what you might see while you’re there.
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One of the park’s unique features that sets it apart from the other ND state parks is that it surrounds and preserves a historic homestead farm that you can reach on the forest trails.
NDPRD/Flickr
There are two spots: the Sunne Farm and the Bjorn House. Each were the sites of old farms that have been kept up perfectly. You can even spend the night in the Bjorn House.
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The Sunne Farm is stunningly picturesque, with a big red barn and other farm buildings, standing out against the lush green grass and worked fields.
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The farm is the site for the park’s annual Sodbuster Days, an event that celebrates the homesteader history with live demonstrations of the way people lived and farmed back then.
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It’s an absolutely lovely spot to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding nature as well as the people who came to North Dakota and started a way of life here that still persists today.
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You can visit the Sunne Farm and Bjorn House at Fort Ransom State Park, located at 5981 Walt Hjelle Parkway, Fort Ransom, ND 58033. For more information on the trails, reserving the Bjorn House, Sodbuster Days, and more, click here.
NDPRD/Flickr
Though we can visit these old places to get a feel of what life was like back then, we can only truly get a glimpse of it through photographs. Discover some fascinating vintage photos of North Dakota back in the pioneer days.
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