Take A Drive Down One Of North Dakota's Oldest Roads For A Picture Perfect Day
By Leah|Published July 26, 2018
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Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
When the automobile came around, North Dakota was quick to jump on building roads and highways. They often followed the path of the railroads that helped build the state up to what it is today and founded hundreds of small towns in their paths. Those early roads have often been replaced by newer roads or faded away into the landscape, but there are still some out there that have lasted throughout the decades. This road in particular was one of the first popular roads for automobile owners wanting to traverse North Dakota and explore the landscapes. It was built back over 100 years ago, and you can still drive it today:
What was once know as the Old Red Trail, or the Old 10 when it became Highway 10, is now known as the Old Red Old Ten and is an official scenic byway of North Dakota - and one of the best.
The original road was built back in the earliest years of the 1900s as cars were catching on and needed places to drive on and go. It went through 100 miles of western North Dakota from Mandan to Dickinson.
The huge expanse of rolling hills and prairie is simply stunning, and the Old Red Old 10 Scenic Byway goes right through it all. Today, most of this has been bypassed with I-94, but if you'd rather take the scenic route and enjoy the land and its history, you'll definitely want to take this instead.
It goes by some interesting pieces of the landscape including things like the Twin Buttes near Glen Ullin, through fantastic hunting and fishing areas, and simply along a route of pure North Dakotan beauty.
The highway passes through many small towns, each with their own quirks and fun things to visit. Towns include Almont, Taylor, Richardton, Hebron, Gladstone, and more. Every one of them has a bit of uniqueness about them that are worth traveling through and seeing.
You'll even have the chance to get the full American road experience with some fun roadside attractions along the way. Things like Salem Sue in New Salem, the world's largest holstein cow, and the gateway to the Enchanted Highway where a whole menagerie of huge sculptures exist just outside of Gladstone.
Through the history of the area and the preserved, stunning landscapes, the Old Red Old Ten Scenic Byway is still going strong after all these years as an amazing drive for a picture perfect day.
For more information on this scenic byway, you can click here. This is one of a handful of fantastic scenic byways and backways in North Dakota that are some of the best ways to explore the state. Check out more right here!
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