North Dakota

I traveled to North Dakota in July 2012 for a nice ride along the Missouri River on highway 1806.

Bismarck, right in the middle of North Dakota.

My route took me straight from my hotel in Bismarck through Mandan and south on 1806 (Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/KEKR). I can't say that there is anything I would have changed about the route. I normally prefer a loop to an out-and-back, but 1806 was a great road and it was worth seeing twice.

The route.

I didn't do much riding in Bismarck itself, but from what I saw it seemed fairly bicycle friendly. I came across some sharrows on Rosser Ave and other bike paths along the way as I went through Mandan towards 1806. Crossing the river was easy on Memorial Hwy with a nice and wide separated pedestrian path on the bridge.

Sharrows on Rosser Ave.

Near the Memorial Hwy bridge.

The view from the Memorial Hwy bridge.

Heading south from Mandan, there was a separated bike/ped path along 1806, plus a wide shoulder on the road itself.

Bike/ped path.

Plenty of shoulder.

More shoulder.

Eventually the shoulder disappeared, but traffic was light and the drivers I did see along the way didn't give me any problems. I had a great time out there and wished I had more time to follow 1806 all the way down to the South Dakota border and beyond.

Here are some more pictures I took along the way.