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Williston is the capital of the Bakken oil boom, a prairie city that roughly doubled in size after 2008 when new drilling turned western North Dakota into one of the busiest oil fields in the country. Pump jacks and rigs still dot the wheat fields around town, and the economy keeps a frontier, round-the-clock energy.
Long before oil, this was fur-trade country. Near the meeting of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, a short drive southwest, Fort Union Trading Post was the busiest post on the upper Missouri from 1828 to 1867, and nearby Fort Buford is where Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881. Lewis and Clark camped at the confluence in 1805, and an interpretive center now tells their story.
In town, visitors find the restored Grand Theatre, the James Memorial Art Center and the huge Raymond Family Community Center. Lake Sakakawea and Lewis and Clark State Park lie southeast, and the rugged badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park's North Unit are about an hour south.
A reconstructed American Fur Company post on the North Dakota and Montana line, where Assiniboine, Crow and other nations traded buffalo robes for goods from 1828 to 1867. Climb the stone bastions, tour the bourgeois house and trade store, and visit in June for the Rendezvous reenactment.
This 1866 army post near the river confluence is where Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881. The original stone powder magazine, an officers' quarters museum and a military cemetery remain on the open prairie. Summer living history days bring soldiers and drills back to the grounds.
Next to Fort Buford, this modern center overlooks the meeting of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, with exhibits on Lewis and Clark, who camped here in 1805, plus Native peoples, steamboats and wildlife. A short trail leads to the water's edge. One ticket often covers Fort Buford too.
On a bay of Lake Sakakawea southeast of Williston, this park mixes eroded badlands buttes with marina access, campgrounds and a nature trail with prairie wildflowers. Walleye fishing and boating draw locals all summer. Reserve campsites early for July weekends and watch for rattlesnakes on trails.
Known locally as The ARC, this huge public recreation center opened in 2014 with an indoor water park, lap pool, climbing wall, running track, courts and fitness rooms. Day passes are open to visitors, making it a handy escape on a frigid winter day or a stormy summer afternoon.
Housed in a handsome early 1900s building that once served as Williston's public library, this art center shows rotating exhibits by regional artists and offers classes and small concerts. It is a quiet counterpoint to the oil-field bustle. Opening hours are limited, so check before you go.
A restored downtown movie theater with a classic marquee, showing first-run films at small-town prices. Its long history as the city's main cinema makes it a local landmark on Main Street. Catch an evening show and pair it with dinner at one of the newer restaurants that arrived with the boom.
Each June, Fort Union Trading Post hosts a rendezvous with buckskinners camped in canvas tents, black powder shooting, period trade goods and demonstrations of 1800s frontier skills. It is free to attend, and the late-evening light on the prairie makes it a fine time for photos.
About an hour south near Watford City, the quieter North Unit has a 14-mile scenic drive through colorful badlands to the Oxbow Overlook on the Little Missouri River. Bison, longhorn cattle and bighorn sheep are often seen. Fill up on gas first, since services inside the park are minimal.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Farragutful, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Acroterion, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Acroterion, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Acroterion, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Acroterion, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
