The Sheyenne River is North Dakota's only homegrown river, the only one that begins and ends within its borders. Accordingly, the banks of the Sheyenne are steeped in heritage, where industrious Norwegian immigrant farmers and adventurous frontiersmen worked together to settle the fertile valley. With its small town hospitality and pioneer historic sites, the Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway offers you a little of the old frontier and more.
Historic buildings along the Sheyenne River Scenic Byway demonstrate life on the open, uncrowded frontier. The King School preserves the last operating one-room schoolhouse in Barnes County, complete with blackboard and desks, as a shop that sells homemade country crafts. Visit Fort Ransom State Park for living history exhibits of life on an old Scandinavian immigrant farm, including horse-drawn machinery and other antique equipment. All along the byway, excellent interpretive signs reveal the history of this valley.
Fort Ransom State Park also features excellent seasonal outdoor activities, including horseback riding, canoeing, and cross-country skiing. Lake Ashtabula and Baldhill Dam fill the northern end of the byway with miles of water recreation. The open prairies leave you to adventure unrestrained, and when you return to town, chow down on the good home cooking that the valley residents have been perfecting for generations.
Canoeing the Shining Sheyenne River 
Snowmobiling Fun on the Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway