Fast Facts
- Population
- ~59,166 (2020 census)
- Typical visiting season
- Late May–Sept
- One Unusual Stat
- Ralph Engelstad Arena cost over $100 million
- Miles from Fargo
- ~80 mi · ~1 hr 15 min on I-29
What to Know Before You Arrive
The name is the point: the town sits where the Red River and the Red Lake River meet, and the name means exactly what it says. French fur traders called the meeting place Les Grandes Fourches, which the English translation preserved. The city is North Dakota's third-most-populous after Fargo and Bismarck, and it is defined by the University of North Dakota, the oldest institution of higher education in the state and the largest employer in the metropolitan area. If you're not stopping for the school or the hockey, come for the riverfront and a downtown that rewards a slow walk.
The 1997 Red River flood is the other defining fact. The flood caused extensive damage across town, and while the river was still coming up, a major fire destroyed eleven buildings in the downtown area. The city rebuilt behind a new levee system that took ten years to complete; the downtown you walk today is a working example of a small American city that had to reimagine itself in a hurry. Storefronts on Third Street occupy buildings that mostly did not exist in April 1997 or were gutted to the walls.
UND hockey is the local religion. The men's ice hockey team plays in NCAA Division I and has been in the Frozen Four championship game eight times, runner-up five. They play in the Ralph Engelstad Arena, which opened October 5, 2001 at a cost of over $100 million, seats 11,643, and is genuinely one of the finest college hockey rinks in North America — concourses in granite, cherry-wood-and-leather seats in every bowl. A weekend game is the biggest thing in town from October through April.
The Road Trip Stop
The Ralph Engelstad Arena is the anchor, whether you're here for a hockey game or just to see the building. It opened October 5, 2001 at a cost of $104 million (about $189 million in 2025 dollars), seats 11,643, and finished the concourses in granite and the seats in cherry wood and leather — hockey players still refer to it as one of the nicest arenas in North America. Wayne Gretzky called it “one of the most beautiful buildings we have in North America.” The arena runs guided tours Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m.; hockey weekends are the reason to plan the whole trip.
Budget the time
- Non-game days: guided tours start at the Sioux Shop inside the main entrance, Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the arena asks visitors to allow 60 to 90 minutes. Tour tickets are $12* for adults and $6* for ages 5–17, seniors 55+, students and military. Walk-up guests are welcome, and the tour page encourages reserving at least 24 hours ahead through the Sioux Shop.
- Home hockey runs from October into February. The 2026-27 schedule on the UND athletics site lists home games at the arena from October 3 through February 20; its March entries are conference playoff and NCAA tournament games, all with times to be announced. For single-game tickets the arena lists Ticketmaster and its own ticket office, and it notes a fan-to-fan resale option for hockey home games that would otherwise be sold out.
- The UND campus is close to the arena. The arena lies less than half a mile north of the University of North Dakota campus in a straight line, and UND says it was founded in 1883, six years before North Dakota became a state.
- Confirm current parking policy. The arena’s parking page says there is no general admission parking on arena premises; UND operates paid general admission lots off-site for regular-season hockey, and the page adds that spaces are limited and fill up quickly, so it asks visitors to arrive early.
*Fees subject to change, please check theralph.com for updated information.
Neighborhoods
Downtown & Third Street
The rebuilt downtown core after 1997 — brick storefronts, restaurants and small offices, all newer than they look. Walkable in an afternoon.
UND campus
The oldest university in North Dakota (est. 1883), on the west side of town. Tree-lined campus with older brick classroom buildings and the Ralph a short walk away.
The Greenway (both sides of the Red)
A long park corridor built on top of the post-1997 levee system, connecting parks and trails on both sides of the Red River and into East Grand Forks, Minnesota.
East Grand Forks, MN
Across the Red River in Minnesota; technically a separate city and county, functionally part of the same downtown at night. A Bass Pro Shops store is here.
The Food Stop
Downtown Third Street is the sit-down district: a small run of restaurants, bars and coffee shops in the rebuilt storefronts. No source confirms a single current favorite among the downtown restaurants; the Visit Greater Grand Forks dining and nightlife directory lists restaurants and bars, so check it for current hours and menus before planning a meal.
East Grand Forks, Minnesota, is the city across the Red River. Visit Greater Grand Forks says the former Whitey’s space in East Grand Forks is now a different restaurant that kept the horseshoe bar and used letters from the original sign, and a separate listing says a speakeasy in downtown East Grand Forks holds the original 1930s bar furnishings and is open for private event functions at this time. A Whitey’s sign on the bridge side could not be confirmed, so check with the venue before planning a stop.
3 breweries within 10 miles of Grand Forks, 2 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.
See all 3
- Half Brothers Brewing Company17 N 3rd St, Grand Forks
- Rhombus Guys Brewing Co116 S 3rd St, Grand Forks
- Oxford Brewing Company1215 N 20th St, Grand Forksproduction site*
*Check before you go. This list says what the source records as open and where it is — nothing more. Opening hours, whether a kitchen is serving, and whether anywhere suits your family are not in this data and change without notice. A production site may have no public room at all. Please confirm with the venue.
Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)
The Home Teams
North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey
NCAA Division I · NCHCOne of the winningest programs in college hockey: eight national championship appearances and five runner-up finishes. Home games sell hard from October through April, and the atmosphere at The Ralph is the reason to plan the trip.
North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
NCAA Division I FCS · Missouri Valley Football ConferenceFCS football at the indoor Alerus Center, which also handles concerts and the state high-school basketball tournament. NDSU, which UND’s athletics site listed on its 2025 Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule, joined the Mountain West Conference as an affiliate member for football, with membership effective July 1, 2026.
No MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL or MLS team plays in North Dakota. The Ralph on a Friday night is the closest experience Grand Forks has to a big-league game, and that is not a small compliment.
Day Trips
| Destination | Time | Distance | How we got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargoguide | 1 hr 25 min | 81 mi | routed |
| An hour and fifteen minutes south on I-29: the Fargo Theatre, Bonanzaville, and North Dakota's biggest downtown. | |||
| Turtle River State Park | 34 min | 23 mi | routed |
| About 19 miles west in a straight line. North Dakota Parks and Recreation describes the state park as a wooded valley along the Turtle River with over 13 miles of trails. | |||
| Winnipeg (border and beyond) | 2 hr 50 min | 145 mi | routed |
| Winnipeg, Manitoba, is about 137 miles north of Grand Forks in a straight line, across the Canadian border. Canada.ca recommends that American citizens always travel with a valid passport, and says that travelers entering by land without one can present identity documents showing full name, date of birth and citizenship. For the return to the United States by land, U.S. Customs and Border Protection lists a U.S. passport, passport card, enhanced driver’s license or Trusted Traveler program card among accepted documents for citizens. | |||
| Bemidjiguide | 2 hr 15 min | 114 mi | routed |
| About two-and-a-half hours east: the Paul Bunyan and Babe statues, Lake Bemidji, and Itasca State Park with the Mississippi headwaters. | |||
2 of these are places the Hub has its own guide to — marked guide and linked from the name.
Routed figures are computed over map data at free-flowing speeds, between map points rather than street addresses, so a real drive runs longer.
Distances routed by OSRM and places geocoded by Nominatim, over map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Practical Road Trip Info
One full day covers downtown, the Greenway, and the Ralph; add a second day for a UND home game weekend and East Grand Forks in the evening.
Best season is late May through September for the outdoor side, October through April for hockey. NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for Grand Forks International Airport put the average January high at 15.8°F and the average low at -3.1°F, against a July average high of 80.7°F.
Ralph Engelstad Arena game tickets are priced game by game. The arena’s event pages list adult tickets at $25–$45* for the October 16 game against Bentley and $49–$65* for the November 6 game against Western Michigan, and the Bentley page says the all-in price on its ticketing platform includes fees; check the event page for the game you plan to attend.
The Red River can flood in spring. The National Weather Service in Grand Forks publishes spring flood outlooks for the Red River of the North basin, and NOAA’s river-gauge listing for Grand Forks records closures of Greenway trailheads and parks at higher river stages. The city says its permanent flood protection was completed in 2007 and keeps a Flood Fight page with river levels and a river camera; check both before using Greenway trails in early spring.
*Fees subject to change, please check theralph.com for updated information.
The Local Debate
Family-Friendly
Ralph Engelstad Arena tour
The arena asks visitors to allow 60 to 90 minutes for the guided tour, which it says covers approximately one mile. Game nights are loud — better for older kids.
The Greenway
Visit Greater Grand Forks lists over 20 miles of paved trails along the Red River and the Red Lake River through Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, plus picnic sites and a natural play area with balance beams and climbing ropes on the lower trail, just north of 47th Avenue South.
Turtle River State Park
Half an hour west, with easy trails through wooded river valley — the closest state park to Grand Forks and an easy outing.
Bass Pro Shops (East Grand Forks)
The big-box outdoor store across the river is listed on the retailer’s own site as Bass Pro Shops East Grand Forks. Its store page describes a 60,000-square-foot retail showroom along the Red River and lists an aquarium and a mountain exhibit among its in-store features, with fish feedings on Saturdays at 1 pm.
Plan Your Visit
Ralph Engelstad Arena
- Address
- 1 Ralph Engelstad Arena Dr, Grand Forks, ND 58203
- Hours
- Guided tours Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m.; game schedule at fightinghawks.com
- Price
- Guided tour $12* adults, $6* ages 5–17, seniors 55+, students and military; game tickets vary
- Link
- theralph.com
*Fees subject to change, please check theralph.com for updated information.
We checked seasonal opening, fees, opening hours, operating status and closures on 2026-10-15. These change without notice — confirm with fightinghawks.com, ndmoa.com, theralph.com, stores.basspro.com, visitgrandforks.com, canada.ca, cbp.gov and api.water.noaa.gov the week you travel.
Sources — 47 claims, 44 checked against the source on 2026-09-22
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Population 59,166 (2020 census); third-most populous city in ND after Fargo and Bismarck; named for its location at the fork of the Red River and the Red Lake River | Grand Forks, North Dakota — Wikipedia | Checked |
| University of North Dakota is the oldest institution of higher education in the state; largest employer in the metropolitan area | Grand Forks, North Dakota — Wikipedia | Checked |
| 1997 Red River flood caused extensive damage; a major fire destroyed 11 buildings in the downtown area; a new levee system took 10 years to build | Grand Forks, North Dakota — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Ralph Engelstad Arena opened 2001 at a cost of over $100 million; UND men's ice hockey home; team has been to eight Frozen Four championship games and five runner-up finishes | Grand Forks, North Dakota — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Ralph Engelstad Arena opened October 5, 2001; construction cost $104 million (~$189M in 2025 dollars); capacity 11,643; granite concourses, cherry-and-leather seats; 2019 $6 million scoreboard upgrade | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Wayne Gretzky called Ralph Engelstad Arena ‘one of the most beautiful buildings we have in North America’; built by UND alumnus Ralph Engelstad | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Wikipedia | Checked |
| 1997 Red River flood: crested April 22, 1997 at Grand Forks; ~50,000 residents evacuated; property damage estimated ~$3.5 billion; downtown fire started April 19, 1997 | 1997 Red River flood — Wikipedia | Not confirmed |
| UND's 2026 football schedule marks Missouri Valley Football Conference games with MVFC and lists home games at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks (checked 2026-10-15) | UND Fighting Hawks football — 2026 schedule | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| The museum's history says UND agreed to give it a 1907 gymnasium as its home, and that by legislative act it serves as the official art museum of the State of North Dakota (checked 2026-10-15) | North Dakota Museum of Art — About | Checked |
| Empire Arts Center is a restored 1919 movie palace in downtown Grand Forks; donated to the North Valley Arts Council 1994, renovation begun 1995, reopened 1998 | Empire Theatre (Grand Forks) — Wikipedia | Not confirmed |
| Turtle River State Park occupies 775 acres on the Turtle River in Grand Forks County; its published coordinates, with those of Grand Forks, give a straight-line distance of about 19 miles west (checked 2026-10-15) | Turtle River State Park — Wikipedia (coordinates) | Checked |
| Tour page lists tour tickets at $12 for adults and $6 for ages 5-17, seniors 55+, students and military (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Tours (prices) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Downtown restaurant lineup; Empire Arts Center schedule | No source accepted yet | Not confirmed |
| NDSU joined the Mountain West Conference for football only, effective 1 July 2026, moving up from the Missouri Valley Football Conference (checked 2026-10-15) | North Dakota State University — joining the Mountain West | Checked |
| Tour page lists guided tours Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m. starting at the Sioux Shop, asks visitors to allow 60 to 90 minutes, and welcomes walk-up guests while encouraging reservations (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Tours (schedule) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| The 2026-27 schedule lists home games at Ralph Engelstad Arena from October 3 through February 20, followed by conference playoff and NCAA tournament games with times to be announced (checked 2026-10-15) | UND Fighting Hawks men's hockey — 2026-27 schedule | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Single-game tickets are sold through Ticketmaster and the UND/REA ticket office; Ticketmaster fan-to-fan resale is offered for hockey home games that would otherwise be sold out (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Ticket info | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| UND says it was founded in 1883, six years before North Dakota became a state (checked 2026-10-15) | University of North Dakota — History | Checked |
| Published coordinates for the UND campus, used with the arena's coordinates to give a straight-line distance of about 0.4 miles (checked 2026-10-15) | University of North Dakota — Wikipedia (coordinates) | Checked |
| Published coordinates for the arena, used with the UND campus coordinates to give a straight-line distance (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Wikipedia (coordinates) | Checked |
| Parking page: no general admission parking on arena premises; UND operates paid off-site general admission lots for regular-season hockey; spaces are limited and fill up quickly (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — Directions, parking and transportation | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| The arena's own page says all concourse floors are granite and each seat is built of leather and cherry wood (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — About Ralph Engelstad | Checked |
| June 26, 2019 report: arena officials unveiled a new $6 million center-hung scoreboard (checked 2026-10-15) | Grand Forks Herald — Ralph Engelstad Arena officials unveil new $6 million scoreboard | Checked |
| Visit page: admission is free, donations welcome (checked 2026-10-15) | North Dakota Museum of Art — Plan your visit (admission) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Visit page: Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm, Saturday and Sunday 1-5 pm, closed on major holidays (checked 2026-10-15) | North Dakota Museum of Art — Plan your visit (hours) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Exhibitions page says exhibitions rotate quarterly (checked 2026-10-15) | North Dakota Museum of Art — Exhibitions | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| The tourism board's dining and nightlife directory lists restaurants and bars in Greater Grand Forks (checked 2026-10-15) | Visit Greater Grand Forks — Dining & Nightlife | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Dining listing says a restaurant in the former Whitey's space in East Grand Forks kept the horseshoe bar and used letters from the original sign (checked 2026-10-15) | Visit Greater Grand Forks — Dining listing for the former Whitey's space | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Listing says a speakeasy in downtown East Grand Forks holds the original 1930s bar furnishings and is open for private event functions at this time (checked 2026-10-15) | Visit Greater Grand Forks — Whitey's Underground listing | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| The city-owned Alerus Center describes itself as a 13,500-seat arena and home of the UND football team that also hosts family shows, sporting events, conventions and trade shows (checked 2026-10-15) | Alerus Center — Arena | Checked |
| NDSU's February 9, 2026 announcement that its football program is joining the Mountain West Conference (checked 2026-10-15) | NDSU Athletics — Football joining Mountain West Conference | Checked |
| UND's athletics site describes the Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule UND plays through 2026 (checked 2026-10-15) | UND Athletics — MVFC releases 2025 and 2026 slate | Checked |
| The state parks department describes a wooded valley along the Turtle River with over 13 miles of trails (checked 2026-10-15) | Turtle River State Park — North Dakota Parks and Recreation | Checked |
| Canada.ca recommends that American citizens always travel with a valid passport and lists identity documents that can be shown instead when not travelling by air (checked 2026-10-15) | What you need to enter Canada — Canada.ca | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| CBP lists the documents U.S. citizen adults can present to enter the United States by land: U.S. passport, passport card, enhanced driver's license and Trusted Traveler Program card, among others (checked 2026-10-15) | U.S. Customs and Border Protection — WHTI frequently asked questions | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Published coordinates for Winnipeg, used with those of Grand Forks to give a straight-line distance of about 137 miles north (checked 2026-10-15) | Winnipeg — Wikipedia (coordinates) | Checked |
| 1991-2020 monthly normals for the Grand Forks airport station: January average high 15.8F and low -3.1F; July average high 80.7F (checked 2026-10-15) | NOAA NCEI — 1991-2020 monthly climate normals, Grand Forks Intl Airport | Checked |
| Event page lists adult tickets at $25-$45 and youth at $15-$45 and says the all-in price on its ticketing platform includes fees (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — UND Hockey vs Bentley (Oct. 16, 2026) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| Event page lists adult tickets at $49-$65 and youth at $29-$65 (checked 2026-10-15) | Ralph Engelstad Arena — UND Hockey vs Western Michigan (Nov. 6, 2026) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| NWS Grand Forks product depicting the spring flood threat in the Red River of the North basin during the spring snowmelt season (checked 2026-10-15) | NWS Grand Forks — Probabilistic Flood Outlook Summary | Checked |
| NOAA gauge data for the Red River at Grand Forks lists Greenway trailhead and park closures at higher river stages (checked 2026-10-15) | NOAA National Water Prediction Service — Red River of the North at Grand Forks (gauge data) | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| City page says permanent flood protection was complete in 2007 and offers river levels, a river camera and flood notifications (checked 2026-10-15) | City of Grand Forks — Flood Fight | Checked |
| Tourism board says the Greenway has over 20 miles of paved trails along the Red River and the Red Lake River (checked 2026-10-15) | Visit Greater Grand Forks — Cycling | Checked |
| Tourism board's Greenway listing: all-season trail system, picnic sites, camping areas, and a natural play area on the lower trail north of 47th Avenue South (checked 2026-10-15) | Visit Greater Grand Forks — The Greenway | Checked |
| Retailer's store page for 210 Demers Ave NW, East Grand Forks, MN: 60,000-sq.-ft. retail showroom, aquarium and mountain exhibit listed among services, fish feedings Saturdays at 1 pm (checked 2026-10-15) | Bass Pro Shops East Grand Forks — store page | Checked monitored · 2026-10-15 |
| NDSU's FBS FAQ says its Mountain West membership becomes effective July 1, 2026 (checked 2026-10-15) | NDSU Athletics — FBS frequently asked questions | Checked |
| UND's athletics site describes the Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule UND plays through 2026 and lists North Dakota State among UND's conference games on the 2025 and 2026 schedules (checked 2026-10-15) | UND Athletics — MVFC releases 2025 and 2026 slate | Checked |
Road Trippin’ with the Harts
The Highway Heads books turn the miles between stops into a game the whole car can play.
See the booksLive Conditions
Wildlife Spotted Nearby
Nearest Airports
Straight-line distance from Grand Forks, not drive time.
- Grand Forks International (GFK) — 7 miles
- Thief River Falls Regional (TVF) — 40 miles
- Hector International (FAR) — 70 miles
Explore the Full Road Trip
Return to the Highway Heads map and discover the next family-ready stop.
Explore the Map