Minot Monday is made possible through a partnership with BeLOCAL Minot. BeLOCAL helps you discover local favorites in your new hometown. Basically, it’s a great guide to living like a local and quickly getting adjusted to our town. Check them out if you haven’t. Today, I’m telling you all about the Denbigh Experimental Forest–a new gem we’ve just discovered!
I love hiking. I’ll just start by telling you that. When Derek and I vacation, we typically plan around national parks and hikes. While Minot is not a hiking mecca, I’m always on the lookout and excited to find and share fun trails. Today I’ve got a good one.
Also, here’s a pro tip on how I discover so many great things in Minot: I talk to people. People are friendly–and not put off by a stranger striking up a conversation with them. I do this a lot on playgrounds with other parents who have littles playing near Gideon. Recently, this exact tactic lead to small talk with someone who transplanted to Minot from Germany. I learned that we share a love for hiking, and he told me about the Denbigh Experimental Forest.
And now…I’ll tell you.
Getting to the Denbigh Experimental Forest
The Denbigh Experimental Forest is just east of Granville, ND. It’s about a 40 minute drive from town to get there. But by North Dakota standards, that’s pretty darn close. Just take US-2 east out of town and follow it past Granville. Then you’ll see a sign for the forest. We used GPS to get out there and had no issues finding it. (Map here.)
The forest was planted in 1931 as part of a relief project to protect the area from dust storms and create jobs during the Depression. Since then the area has been used for research and still produces more than a million seedlings each year. (More history here.)
Hiking Denbigh Experimental Forest
What I really want to tell you about the Denbigh Experimental Forest is that it’s awesome. Totally a hidden gem near Minot that you need to check out.
There’s a really fun trail. It’s not a very long. In total, the trail is 5K, just over 3 miles. But it runs through a forest and prairie. There is lots of shade. It’s bike friendly, pet friendly, and appropriate for little hikers too.
We hiked with Gideon, and he insisted on walking (running) most of the trail himself. We weren’t sure how he’d do, so we brought along our jogging stroller. While we didn’t end up using it much, it wasn’t too hard to push along the trail–so if you need to bring a little one in a stroller you’ll be good to go. (A jogging stroller or something terrain-friendly is a must. An umbrella stroller will not do well.)
The grass does get high in places, so be sure to take bug spray to ward off ticks. (More on North Dakota ticks here.)
If you haven’t been, you should go. Take advantage of this great adventure, right in our back yard. For my other favorite walks (in town) check out this post. For more, see these BeLOCAL listing on parks and day/weekend trips.
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And remember–I do a round up of what’s going on in Minot each Monday evening on my Instagram stories. So be sure to follow along there. For more intentionally positive living join our community on Facebook and Instagram.
