North Dakota is categorized as part of America’s Upper Midwest, but take a closer look, and you see a state that is truly part of the West. It has so many vestiges of what we call the Old West that visitors may find it easier to recapture a sense of that past here than they would in states that sit farther west on a map. For one thing, there aren’t many people in this rectangular piece of land; it was bypassed by most white settlers except for some number of Norwegians and Germans.

While many places can seem to look and feel like so many other places — the beach towns, the ski resorts, the malls, even the restored ghost towns and the like — North Dakota holds on to its own character and distinctiveness. The traveler will see the vast sweeping plains and magnificent emptiness that epitomize the frontier. The traveler also will find the descendants of the stubborn, hard-working northern Europeans who adjusted to the landscape and the harsh weather, as well as descendants of the Indians who objected. With that combination, the rodeo and pow wow are as much a part of the landscape as the state’s wide-open spaces and rugged terrain. Visitors also come for wildlife viewing, or for hunting and fishing.

Although traveler ratings don’t vary much by personality type, North Dakota is particularly suitable for venturers, who may be missing a good bet when they don’t give it a closer look. A vacation here means really getting away from it all. There are no crowded beaches or bright lights; those are for other people and places. Unless you're really a pioneer, spring, summer and early fall are the best times to visit. Temperatures may be cooler than you expect, and, if you do visit in winter, take sensible precautions.

Compete in the Annual Volunteer Fire Department Ice Fishing Tournament on Six Mile Bay, west of Devils Lake. Or, fish through the ice on Devils Lake itself, noted for perch.

Dance along with Native Americans at one of the numerous pow wows held in the state. Many of these events, including one of America’s largest, the United Tribes International event in Bismarck, include dances meant for visitor participation.

Stay at a dude ranch, one where you can be involved with such activities as cattle drives, roundups and branding as well as wilderness pack trips.

Travel by mountain bike across the state, using its excellent country roads or designated scenic byways and nonpaved backways for scenic trips.

Join a multiday trail ride through the Badlands and along the 96-mile Maah Daah Hey Trail. The trail, which takes you from Sully Creek State Park to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Little Missouri National Grassland, is also suitable for hiking, and parts for biking.

Take a trip by wagon train. Make it the annual (June) weeklong Fort Seward Wagon Train in Jamestown. You can participate on horseback or by riding a wagon.

Travel the wide-open spaces of North Dakota by motorcycle. Sample the state’s numerous off-road riding options in the Badlands, grasslands and river bottoms.

Be part of something larger: Travel the North Country National Scenic Trail, which links seven states beginning with New York in the East and terminating in North Dakota. Hike, ride horseback, cross-country ski or snowshoe, depending on season and inclination.

For women only: Attend the annual North Dakota Ladies Motorcycle Run (the venue varies).

Join a fossil dig at a 60 million-year-old site east of Medora. Your package will include chuck wagon breakfast and sack lunch. Only eight guest diggers can participate each day and preregistration is required. See www.ndtourism.com/events/viewEvent.asp?ID=1903

Attend the Melodrama, a show filled with villains and heroes, on summer weekends at the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. Also, arrive early enough to explore the on-site On-a-Slant Mandan Indian Village, with five reconstructed Mandan earthlodges in the former Mandan village, and the Custer House, the last home of George Custer.

Fish for catfish in the Red River of the North.

Canoe the Pembina River for a particularly awe-inspiring way to see Pembina Gorge. Or, canoe on the Little Missouri, a National Scenic River.

Tour a coal mine, such as the Freedom Mine or the Dakota Westmoreland Coal Mine, both in the Beulah area.

Go skiing (alpine or nordic) or snowboarding at Bear’s Den Ski Mountain.

Attend North America’s largest Scandinavian festival, the October Norsk Hostfest, in Minot. Or, go to the Norski Days Scandinavian winter festival in Fort Ransom and enter the Hagar and Helga look-alike contest. Attend a Polka Worship service, too.

Arrange a tour of the Grand Forks Air Force Base, home to the 319th Air Refueling Wing. You have to be part of a group of at least six.

Sample all things wintery at the Shiverfest at Devils Lake.

Drive a snowmobile through the forests of Turtle Mountains or Pembina Gorge, or the Missouri, Red or Sheyenne river valleys, or on any of a number of other routes on the state’s 1,800 miles of groomed snowmobile trails.

Attend a variety show — featuring a mix of modern country, gospel, patriotic and western music, with a live band and horses on stage — in the Burning Hills Amphitheater outside the picturesque cow town, Medora, in the Badlands. Or, attend the Frost Fire Summer Theater, offering Broadway-style productions in an outdoor setting overlooking the Pembina Gorge.

See a silent movie at the historic Fargo Theatre.

Attend a rodeo. Examples are the Killdeer Mountain Roundup Rodeo and Champion's Ride Rodeo in Sentinel Butte, but there are plenty in the state.

Gamble at one of the state’s Indian casinos.

Drive North Dakota’s Enchanted Highway, which is populated by amusing examples of immense metal sculptures representing things as diverse as a robot family, geese, grasshoppers, pheasants and others. It is one of the state’s several national and state scenic byways and backways.

Attend the Memorial Day Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora.

Stay at the 1869 Totten Trail Historic Inn Bed and Breakfast, formerly home to military officers and their families.

Eat Norwegian food specialties at Scandinavian festivals or restaurants.

Play golf along the Lewis and Clark Golf Trail, which boasts some 200-plus golf holes along the route traveled by the 19th century explorers.

For more information, consult the North Dakota Department of Commerce - Tourism Division at www.ndtourism.com

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