North Dakota's Pembina Gorge State Park completes first season

Garry Redmann/NDDOT By Maxwell Marko November 07, 2026 at 7:55 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? WALHALLA, N.D. — Pembina Gorge State Park eased into its first summer season as North Dakota’s 14th state park. The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department was happy with the season, not only for Pembina Gorge, but also nearby Icelandic State Park. Parks and Recreation manager Mike Duerre always appreciates a busy season without too many surprises. ADVERTISEMENT “We weren't at full capacity on the weekends for sure. But our holiday weekends were pretty good. Then as the weather got nicer, traffic picked up,” Duerre said. Work continues at Pembina Gorge as it builds momentum and aims to reach usage levels seen at other popular parks in the area, like Icelandic. The Gorge saw some unfortunate weather hiccups early in the summer that were unable to be amended. Its opening dedication, which was going to be attended by Gov. Kelly Armstrong, was postponed due to weather conditions. A makeup date was never officially set and a smaller ceremony was later held with little fanfare. “It ended up being a bit strange for scheduling. From the June opening, we rescheduled to Saturday, Sept. 26, in conjunction with Walhalla’s Pumpkin Days and for fall colors, but ended up having to significantly reduce the event to just being the staff at Icelandic hosting an open house with s’mores due to bad weather again,” Duerre said. Those same weather conditions limited some of the recreational opportunities early on, and since this was its first camping season, the realization that the park was officially open for business was delayed. As the summer progressed, though, Duerre said visitation picked up and more people discovered what the park has to offer. “We’re managing remotely from Icelandic (State Park) so it got a little bit difficult to cover all the bases. We were able to effectively get it done and we’re looking at next season as an improvement on that end,” Duerre said. Duerre and staff are continuing to make improvements at Pembina Gorge, with several projects underway to enhance both access and visitor amenities. Parks and Recreation will be hiring full-time and seasonal staff to work there. ADVERTISEMENT The new park rest area is expected to be completed in time for the start of next season and work continues on surfacing and armoring the trails. These improvements will help the trail system better withstand heavy rain events, reducing damage and allowing trails to open faster after wet weather. “We're looking at amenity development as a whole, across that system, and then also improving on some of that stuff that's already there,” he said. “We’re widening out the trails to 72 inches to accommodate those bigger machines.” More development is being considered for kayaking access as well as full-service, year-round cabins. Those were two topics brought up in the original master plan from 2014. “We did actually purchase a little bit of land around the campground, so we're looking at developing that for more user amenities,” Duerre said. Open year-round, Pembina Gorge is also connected by an extensive snowmobile trail system. As the first Off-Highway Vehicle campground in the state park system, it features larger camping pads and designated trailer parking areas. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags PEMBINA COUNTY OUTDOORS RECREATION By Maxwell Marko Digital Content Producer and Sports Reporter at the Grand Forks Herald since December of 2020. Maxwell can be contacted at [email protected]. Twitter Listen to this article Conversation ADVERTISEMENT What To Read Next North Dakota Voters in 2 North Dakota counties reject property tax increases 3h ago · By Jack Dura / North Dakota Monitor North Dakota North Dakota traffic victims to be remembered 11h ago · By Staff reports North Dakota Fedorchak to continue connecting with North Dakotans in second term 1d ago · By Jordan Rusche ADVERTISEMENT Get Local Must Reads Local Voter turnout in Stutsman County lower than 2022 general election 1d ago · By Masaki Ova National Burgum, with millions invested in AI industry, leads charge allowing data centers on public lands 2d ago · By Mark Olalde / ProPublica Subscribers Only Prep Braden Hemminger finishes the year as the Jays top ground-gainer 1d ago · By Katie Ringer North Dakota Is agriculture ‘losing its voice’ in North Dakota's Legislature? Some are concerned 1d ago · By Pamela Knudson