'''Grand Forks''' is a city in northeast North Dakota, a state in the United States of America. With a population of about 55,000 people, it's the third largest urban area in the state. There are another 10,000 people in East Grand Forks on the other side of the Red River in Minnesota. Grand Forks is best known for the disasterous flood of 1997 and the productive nearby farms which grow mostly wheat and sugar beets. Grand Forks sits at the center of the former Lake Agassiz which is why this area is so incredibly flat.
Get in
By Plane
'''Grand Forks International Airport''' ({{IATA|GFK}}) [http://www.gfkairport.com/] is served by '''Northwest Airlines''' via Northwest Airlink flights operated by Pinnacle Airlines and Mesaba Airlines, both on routes to Northwest's chief terminal at '''Minneapolis/Saint Paul''', Minnesota.
'''Allegiant Air''' also provides nonstop service between Grand Forks and Las Vegas twice weekly.
Alternatively, you may also fly to the larger airports in Fargo or Winnipeg, Manitoba.
By bus
'''Greyhound''' [http://www.greyhound.com/home/] and '''Jefferson Lines''' [http://www.jeffersonlines.com] serve Grand Forks.
By car
US Highway 2 runs east-west, and Interstate 29 and US 81 run north-south. Fargo is about an hour south, Winnipeg is two hours north, and Minot is three hours west.
By train
Amtrak's Empire Builder serves Grand Forks once daily in each direction. Eastbound trains arrive at 12:45AM, Westbound trains arrive at 5AM. The train station is located on the edge of town; the only all-night taxi service is
Grand Forks Taxi, 780-8890.
Get around
Public Transportation
Grand Forks has the best bus system in North Dakota, which may not say much, but it's adequate for most daytime excursions.
'''Cities Area Transit''', 746-2600, [http://grandforksgov.com/bus/index.html website]
Taxi
'''Grand Forks Taxi''', 701-780-8890.
'''Nodak Radio Cab''', 701-772-3456.
'''Red, White, and Blue Taxi''', 701-746-5008.
See
'''Ralph Engelstad Arena''', 801 North Columbia Rd, [http://www.theralph.com]. This has been selected as one of the top 10 sports arenas in the world. It is the home of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey teams(men and women). Attached to it is the Betty Engelstad Arena, home of UND's men basketball and women's basketball and volleyball.
Do
Sports! High school and college.
Hunting and fishing ("hard" water fishing in the winter).
Numerous theaters featuring a wide variety of plays and productions. Lots of entertainment comes to town to play at the Alerus, the Ralph Engelstad Arena and the Chester Fritz.
Buy
'''Columbia Mall''', Columbia Road and 32nd Ave South, rather small traditional mall given the size of the city.
'''Grand Cities Mall''', South Washington, Rather large strip mall.
'''Grand Forks Marketplace''', along 32nd Ave S between 34th Street and I-29. A large collection of strip malls and "big box" stores.
Eat
'''Deek's Pizza''', Washington Street, Cheap Pizza.
'''China Garden''', 32nd Ave SW, Sit-down Chinese Restaurant. High quality food, very reasonable prices ($7-$15+/person depending on order)
'''Sanders''', 22 3rd St S, (701) 746-8970. Wonderful Food, great wine list, excellent service $20-$25/person depending on order, worth every penny. Call for Reservations. Opens at 5PM, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.
'''Downtown Grand Cities''', 100 block N. Third Street. Good place to start, downtown Grand Forks offers great coffee shops, small pizza joints, long-standing restaurants on both sides of the river, and the river itself. Add to this farmer's markets on the weekends in the city square, and numerous pubs/bars/clubs, downtown Grand Forks is basically the locally-owned business center of the city.
Drink
In its early years, Grand Forks was a dry town, and East Grand Forks was more than happy to pick up the slack and to this day, the best drinking establishments are located just across the border on De Mers Avenue. Whitey's is one the oldest and nicest bars.
Sleep
'''Best Western Town House''', 710 1st Avenue N, (701) 746-5411, Fax: (701) 746-1407, [http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=35023].
'''Fairfield Inn Grand Forks''', 3051 S 34th Street, (701) 775-7910, Fax: (701) 775-7910, [http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/GFKGF].
'''Holiday Inn''', 1210 N. 43rd St., (701) 772-7131, [http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/6c/1/en/hd/gfknd].
'''Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites''', 4051 32nd Ave South, (701) 772-7700, [http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/6c/1/en/hd/gfkso].
Select Inn Grand Forks. 001 Gateway Drive Grand Forks, ND 58203 . 01-795-9960 . ttp://www.vistarez.com/north-dakota/grand-forks-snd152-home.aspx.
Get out
Winnipeg is two hours north.