It’s probably surprising, but an abundance of rivers (and lakes) in North Dakota makes it a paradise for water recreation. Nothing beats a lazy afternoon with the pontoon beached on a Missouri River sandbar. The river enters North Dakota at the confluence with the Yellowstone River northwest of Williston and exits as Lake Oahe at the South Dakota border. In between, the Missouri includes a scenic mix of sandbars, wooded river bottoms, and staggering Badlands buttes. It includes Lake Sakakawea, a 368,000-acre lake with more shoreline than the state of California. Other major rivers in the state include the Red River of the North and the Souris River.
Despite the importance of rivers to North Dakota, it has no designated wild and scenic rivers of its approximate 54,373 miles of river.