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A homemade Viking ship that actually sailed to Norway is the pride of Moorhead, the Minnesota half of the Fargo-Moorhead metro on the Red River of the North. The city of about 44,000 grew up where the Northern Pacific Railway crossed the river in 1871, and Scandinavian settlers soon filled the surrounding wheat country.
That heritage is on full display at the Hjemkomst Center, home of the Viking ship replica built by local teacher Robert Asp and sailed across the Atlantic in 1982, and of a full-size copy of Norway's Hopperstad Stave Church. The Comstock House recalls the family that helped found the city's university and sent daughter Ada Comstock to lead Radcliffe College.
Moorhead is a college town too, home to Minnesota State University Moorhead and Concordia College, whose Christmas concert is a beloved December tradition. Summer nights bring musicals and concerts to the Bluestem Center for the Arts, and to the east the land opens onto some of the last tallgrass prairie in Minnesota at Buffalo River State Park.
A full-size replica of the medieval Hopperstad Stave Church in Vik, Norway, built of wood by a local craftsman and opened in 1998 on the Hjemkomst Center grounds. Carved dragon heads crown its steep roofs, and the dim interior smells of tar and timber. Tours run in summer; the exterior is free to view.
The university began in 1887 as a teachers college, and its campus near downtown has tree-lined lawns and Weld Hall, a classical building from 1915 with a domed auditorium used for concerts. Visitors can walk the grounds and check the theater and music calendars for performances open to the public.
The 1882 home of Solomon Comstock, a lawyer and legislator who helped found the school that became Minnesota State University Moorhead. His daughter Ada went on to become the first full-time president of Radcliffe College. Guided tours show original furnishings; open on summer weekends.
A regional art museum set in Moorhead's historic former post office on Main Avenue, with a permanent collection of Native American, African, Hispanic and contemporary regional art. The galleries are intimate and change often, and the summer art show fills the grounds. Check hours, as they are limited.
An outdoor amphitheater on the south side of Moorhead where the Trollwood Performing Arts School stages a big summer musical with student casts, and touring bands play under the open sky. Bring a blanket for the lawn and bug spray for the evening. Ticketed events run from June to September.
Each December, Concordia College's choirs and orchestra present a Christmas concert that has been a tradition for nearly a century, with a giant painted mural behind the performers. Performances in Moorhead sell out quickly, so buy tickets well in advance; the concert is also broadcast in some years.
A wooded city park on the banks of the Red River at the south end of Moorhead, with picnic shelters, a playground and walking paths that follow the water. It is a quiet place to see the river that gives the valley its name. Spring floods can close low areas, so check conditions in April and May.
About 14 miles east of Moorhead, this park protects rolling tallgrass prairie and a wooded stretch of the Buffalo River. In summer, hike through grasses taller than your shoulders, swim in the spring-fed pool and look for prairie flowers and bobolinks. A state park vehicle permit is required.
Next to Buffalo River State Park, this preserve is one of the largest remaining tallgrass prairies in Minnesota, home to prairie chickens, wildflowers and hundreds of plant species. There are no developed trails, so walk lightly on firebreaks. Early mornings in spring are best for hearing prairie chickens.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Bobak Ha'Eri, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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Photo: Ken Lund, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Photo: Minnesota Local History & Historic Preservation, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Minnesota Local History & Historic Preservation, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Minnesota Local History & Historic Preservation, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
