Grand Forks

Grand Forks is a city in northeast North Dakota, a state in the United States of America. With a population of about 57,000 people in 2017, it's the third largest urban area in the state. There are another 8,600 people in East Grand Forks on the other side of the Red River in Minnesota. Grand Forks is best known for the disastrous flood of 1997 and the productive nearby farms which grow mostly wheat and sugar beets. Grand Forks sits at the center of the former Lake Agassiz which is why this area is so incredibly flat.

By bus
Greyhound and Jefferson Lines serve Grand Forks. Buses stop at the (450 Kittson Ave), which is also the hub for local bus transportation. +1 701 775-4781.

By car
US Highway 2 runs east-west, and Interstate 29 and US 81 run north-south. Fargo is about an hour south, Winnipeg is two hours north, and Minot is three hours west.

By train
Amtrak's Empire Builder serves Grand Forks daily on its route between Seattle/Portland and Chicago including stops at Spokane, Glacier National Park, Fargo, Saint Paul, and Milwaukee. Both eastbound and westbound trains arrive at inconvenient times, at midnight and 4:30AM respectively.

By bus
Grand Forks has the best bus system in North Dakota, operating Monday–Saturday, and it is adequate for most daytime excursions.

Eat
A good place to start looking for restaurants is Downtown &mdash; the 100 block of North 3rd Street. There are various coffee shops, pizza places, and other locally owned restaurants in this area. A short walk over the bridge to East Grand Forks is a good followup.



Drink
In its early years, Grand Forks was a dry town, and East Grand Forks was more than happy to pick up the slack. Now the best drinking establishments in town are in the heart of the Downtown district.

Go next

 * Winnipeg is two hours north via Interstate 29, and Fargo is about an hour south.
 * Turtle River State Park is 20 minutes to the west on US Highway 2. Year-round recreational activities, including camping, picnicking, fishing and trails for hiking, mountain biking and cross country skiing. Rustic group cabins can also be rented.
 * Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site near Cooperstown, 1.5-hour drive to the southwest. Preserved deactivated Minuteman II ICBM launch facility (topside only) and guided tours of preserved deactivated "Oscar Zero" Launch Control Center that was part of nuclear deterrent attached to Grand Forks AFB during the Cold War.