North Dakota?

[mraf]

Last year it was said to steer clear of North Dakota if you were planning a ride that would take you through there. It was said that there were very few motel rooms to be had because of the oil boom through there. My question is does this shortage still exist, if so is it state wide and does it extend into any other neighboring states?

[djh3]

Goggle up a ride plan and then use something like expedia to check you hotel costs. If rooms are booked to capacity I would guess they would be high. But what is high to you might be OK with someone else.

[CaptainJoe]

Very good question.

 

Glad you posted.

 

Comeon June!

[bj66]

I am from northeast SD, so I havent been up there personally. Around here if you want to buy a mobile home the prices are nuts. All the trailers are still going up there. I also hear that the traffic can get wild. Think BIG trucks....lots of them. I dont think the eastern part of the state would be too bad at all. As far as western SD goes, there isnt much drilling going on in our state. I think they are going to do a couple of test wells. I dont think the Bakken extends far enough down into SD. Up around Williston ND it is pretty crowded. I know I wouldnt be to anxious to drive up in western ND on a bike at all. Eastern ND I dont think I would be to worried. As far as western SD wouldnt think it would be too bad. Northwestern SD is pretty sparce, so population is more west central and south west, so you should be ok. Like I said I havent been up there to see it first hand, no desire to either. Hope this helps some...

[bj66]

Goggle up a ride plan and then use something like expedia to check you hotel costs. If rooms are booked to capacity I would guess they would be high. But what is high to you might be OK with someone else.

Rooms out in western ND are few and far between anyway, so you can imagine the prices. not sure about Montana. I would for sure double check everything west of Fargo ND.

[friesman]

I am from Regina Sk, about an hours drive north of the US border and about straight north of the North Dakota/Montana state line. Things are busy and expensive here because of the oil boom but we havnt been hit as hard as the Williston area, Ive been told that that the Willliston area is the worst area with the big rigs on the narrow roads squeezing riders out and pounding out the road surfaces, so I would recommend trying to avoid it, but the rest of ND was fine last summer when I went thru a couple of times.

I would also check road reports as we have had record snowfalls around here in SK and in ND so I am expecting some significant flooding again this year that may affect roads and low lying towns. THe dams were opened more yesterday trying to lower lake and river levels in the area before this snow melt hits, so I hope its early enough to save ppl downriver from the damage we saw 2 years ago.

 

Brian

[bongobobny]

Last fall we had no issues, but we had a set destination based on how far we expected to get for the day so we booked our room the night before. We tried out a site called booking.com and found some good deals. Of course this was just after Labor day...

[djh3]

Whats that a pic of? A salt mine?

[mraf]

Thanks for the info. Locals have the best first hand info. Things are still in the planning stage for any long ride. All the roads out there nothing but tunnels in the snow?

[friesman]

Whats that a pic of? A salt mine?

 

That's a pic of snow on the railway tracks taken about 10 days ago just north of town a bit, so we have a BIG melt going on.

[Big Dog]

I try to stay away from that area it is just crazy there the trucks dont care about anything but making good time on the deliveries. If you go that way dont plan on staying in a campgroud or motel if you find an available room it will cost you an arm and a leg. A better choice is Interstate 94 then go North at Glendive Montana to Hwy 200 or further north to HWY 2.

[sarges46]

Highway 2 can be nuts as well especially west or Bismarck towards Williston etc. We stayed in Minot Saturday night and had no problem booking a hotel that day from Bismarck airport. Book ahead would be the best advice and that can be done so easy now a days.