Opinion: Take this late summer trip – Fort Totten, N.D.

Despite autumnal signs – pools closing, back-to-school ads, shorter days – there’s time for a day trip or weekend getaway. I recommend the Fort Totten area, 13 miles south of Devils Lake, North Dakota. It’s got a lot: woodland scenery and lake views, American Indian and settlement history, and a unique inn housed in the 19th century buildings of a former U.S. Army fort and Indian boarding school, now a state historical site that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearby is a national wildlife sanctuary that was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.

Fort Totten is a remarkably well preserved brick-built fort of the late 19th century period of westward expansion. Fifteen of the original buildings still stand. All are open to visitors. The fort’s history as a military outpost and later as an Indian boarding school is displayed in photos and text in the big rooms. The officers quarters is now the Totten Trail Historic Inn. Its 10 rooms, parlors, central staircase and game room have been restored and furnished in mid-19th century theme and decor. The inn’s front door opens to the main square of the fort, which features a boardwalk along the fronts of the buildings, a community garden and a traditional native teepee. A stroll through the square and into the buildings is a walk back into territorial and state history that can be both inspirational and disturbing.

Nearby White Horse Hill National Game Preserve (formerly Sullys Hill) is a national wildlife refuge with a mix of diverse landscapes that can be found nowhere else in the state. The forested hills, native prairie grasslands and wetlands are easily accessed by an auto tour route or on more than two miles of hiking trails. The habitats are home to buffalo, elk, prairie dogs and countless upland birds and waterfowl. A visitor’s center houses interpretive displays and classrooms. An outdoor amphitheater hosts birding gatherings and other special events throughout the year.

For one of most spectacular vistas in the state, ambitious hikers can climb a timber stairway to the 200-foot crest of the hill, which overlooks the woodlands and grasslands to the south and the vast expanse of Devils Lake to the north.

The inn at the fort stays open until mid-September. The fort itself is open year round. The wildlife refuge is open all year, but portions of the motor route are closed in winter. The mixed hardwood forest and native prairie are beautiful when they go to fall colors.

From Fargo, it’s just short of 200 miles to the fort and the refuge, all on good roads. And for travelers who have not been through the area, the drive from the city of Devils Lake down Highway 57 to Fort Totten is a jaw-dropper. A bay of the huge lake appears to the east. Another mile and the main body of the lake stretches to the west as far as the eye can see. The rest of the drive, with the forested hills on one side and the windswept lake on the other, is one of the most scenic in the state. It’s worth a trip.