Grand Forks looks out over a panorama of land meeting sky in a cloudburst of color each evening. Music fills the Town Square, where in summer the Farmers Market sells mouth-watering goods and in winter, it becomes a skating rink filled with laughter. This is one view of Grand Forks.
The other view is where the town becomes a wound-up dynamo of activity stemming from world-class sporting facilities, shopping centers, and cultural venues spinning out a whirlwind of excitement. Shopping alone becomes an adventure.
There's a heap of malls here, but the most exciting is Cabela's which boasts a 60,000 square foot open-air store housing more than 150,000 products and a 35-foot indoor mountain with mounts of wild game, a freshwater aquarium, and trout stream. At the Grand Cities Mall, there's also a rock gym that can challenge even advanced climbers.
A plethora of restaurants in town satiate a hearty appetite. With the exception of Chinese and Italian, however, it's an all-American steak-and-potato approach.
Arts thrive at the ND Museum of Art, the Myra Museum and Campbell House and The Dakota Collection. Dance, music and theater come alive at the Chester Fritz Auditorium, the Empire Arts Center, and the Fire Gall Theatre.
There's fire on ice with some of the hottest hockey at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, home of the Fighting Sioux champions. And football fans thrill to University of North Dakota games at the Alerus Center.
Active sportsmen take note: Grand Forks has world-class golf and a heap of greens to choose from; canoeing down the Red River through 304 miles farmland, forest and prairie; fishing in the River and its tributaries for more than 50 species of fish; snowshoeing and cross country skiing at Lincoln Park and Turtle River State Park; and snowmobiling through a web of trails.
Biking is popular, too, with more than 43 miles of paths. But, the most satisfying sport of all is observing the beauty of nature all around the Red River Valley.
Grand Forks, a dynamo city, is 72 miles from Fargo, North Dakota.
