Wanderlust World Wanderlust World North Dakota, nicknamed the "Peace Garden State" for a garden that extends across the northern border to Canada, is home to large expanses of grassland. With the Great Plains in the west, Badlands in the north and the Red River Valley in the east, much of the state is devoted to parks and wildlife refuges.
The badlands themselves, a dry type of terrain where millions of years worth of erosion has worn the soft rock into bizarre and otherworldly shapes, is considered -- along with Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and others -- one of the natural wonders of the United States. Although often desolate due to the arid climate and constant wind over the flat land, North Dakota's badlands include Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The state's only national park is known for spectacular geological formations.
With large expanses of primarily flat grassland, North Dakota has a vast array of wildlife that freely roam across the state, mostly over the flat land of the Great Plains and Drift Prairie. Grazing animals such as feral horses, bison, elk and deer, as well as reptiles including snakes, lizards and salamanders, are found all over North Dakota. Theodore Roosevelt National Park alone contains 186 types of birds.
The east of the state is dominated by the relatively fertile area of the Red River Valley. This part of the state, which now contains its largest city of Fargo, was once covered by a the glacial Lake Agassiz. The valley itself is mostly flat but still contains remnants of the enormous lake that stretched from North Dakota and Minnesota, through Manitoba and into Saskatchewan. The Red River forms a natural border between North Dakota and Minnesota.
Beyond Theodore Roosevelt National Park, all regions of North Dakota contain several state parks, wildlife refuges, grasslands, wilderness areas, camping spots and hiking trails. These are spread all over the three major geographical areas of the state. One of the more notable locations is Sheyenne State Forest in Ransom County in the southeast, which includes a mineral springs and the state's only natural waterfall.