8/2 Beaver Creek Recreation Area, ND

This is a place I will come back to.  After my recent kidney stone problems I really needed a quiet, scenic place where I could rest and recuperate, and get some work done.  I had picked this place because it was on the way to Minneapolis, but also because it was a Corps of Engineers facility.  In case you are not aware, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers builds and maintains dams and locks throughout the country.  And in nearly all places where they build dams and locks, they also include campgrounds. 

Because they are on lakes or rivers, there is nearly always a great view and good places to walk and hike, as well as fish and boat.  In addition, the Corps nearly always does an excellent job of building and maintaining campgrounds--paved roads and campsites, at least electric service and often water and even sewer hookups, plus restrooms and showers with hot water.  They also do a very good job with landscaping and providing natural areas. 

But the best part is that because these all are federal facilities, those of us who are over 62 and have the Federal senior pass get our campsites for half-price.  So this site with a 180 degree view of the Missouri River cost me only $9 per night--a big difference from the approximately $30 I pay for a state park.  And, because there is hardly anyone else here, I have the whole place mostly to myself!

Driving here from Bismarck, it was mostly country roads, but then I fund a boat launch and the river came into view.  No one there, either, because it was a weekday.  (I am SO glad everybody else has to work!)

I always love these long views of country roads, especially ones like this where it looks like the surveyor could not make up his mind!

And I am pretty sure this was a beaver.  He was a lot bigger than a muskrat would have been.  He was swimming very fast, about 30' from shore, from the main Missouri River up the wide entrance to Beaver Creek.  It gets a lot narrower up past the park boundaries, so I am assuming he was looking for a new home???  He even had a pretty good bow wave and wake behind him.

Pretty views in this park no matter where you stand. This is looking south, down the Missouri.  It is a very wide river here because of dams.  I don't think it is navigable at this point because we are very far north.

Nothing like an empty campground for peace and quiet.  Actually, there were three other RVs and one tent camper in a loop with about 30 sites.

View of my motorhome.  Best site in the entire park because I have a 180 degree view.  I have the wheels chocked because my site is so close to the edge.  My rig is dirty, but that is not the way I want to bathe it!