North Central

North Central North Dakota covers the broad rolling-prairie country south of the Canadian border, the agricultural belt running from the Souris River bend east to the Devils Lake basin. The terrain is gently rolling glacial drift — short-grass and mid-grass prairie, the Turtle Mountains rising along the Manitoba border, and the broad Souris and Sheyenne river valleys cutting through. The International Peace Garden straddles the border at the very top. Nine counties cover the region. Bottineau holds Bottineau and the Turtle Mountains; Pierce holds Rugby (which stakes a claim as the geographic center of North America); McHenry holds Towner and Velva; Rolette holds Belcourt and the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation; Wells holds Harvey; Eddy holds New Rockford. The International Peace Garden, Lake Metigoshe State Park, and the Turtle Mountain State Forest concentrate the public-land scenery near the Canadian line. Most trips here run prairie-and-international focused. The International Peace Garden draws the largest single-stream visitor traffic — a 2,300-acre garden straddling the U.S.–Canada border; Rugby’s geographic-center monument anchors road-trip stops; Lake Metigoshe runs a quiet cabin-and-fishing tradition; the Turtle Mountains carry birding and hiking through the boreal-forest pocket that extends down from Manitoba.