Golf Courses Near Bismarck, ND

Back in the 1800s, Bismarck, located in south-central North Dakota on the Missouri River, was an outfitting center for gold prospectors. Nowadays, if you’re prospecting for tee times, you can strike it rich in North Dakota’s capital city. Every year Hawktree Golf Club, a course with lots of elevation changes, neat short par 4s, challenging green complexes and black sand bunkers, vies for the #1 spot among North Dakota courses. Keep an eye out for Hot Deals when making tee times at Tom O’Leary Golf Club, a muni with tight fairways and small greens that Golf Advisor rated #3 in the state in 2021. Pebble Creek Golf Club, a 9-hole links-style layout that plays alongside a creek, was #3 in 2020. The 1969-vintage Riverwood Golf Course, a challenging muni with wonderful mature trees near the Missouri River, is another fine layout. It was Golf Advisor’s #2 top course in North Dakota in 2019.

The 21-story Art-Deco-style State Capitol building towers over the city and is the centerpiece of a complex that also includes the governor’s mansion and a history museum. Visitors are welcome. Downtown Bismarck is fun to stroll with its hodgepodge of architectural styles, burgeoning public art, and array of restaurants, shops, and bars. Bismarck is a site on the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail that traces the route taken by the Lewis & Clark Expedition. At the Port of Bismarck you can hop aboard the Lewis and Clark Riverboat paddlewheel steamer for 90-minute cruises on the Missouri River. Popular family attractions in Bismarck include the Dakota Zoo and seasonally, Papa’s Pumpkin Patch, regarded as one of the finest pumpkin patches in the nation.