Is it worth staying more than 2 nights in De Smet in late September?
Apart from doing all the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites (which i think will take a full day), is there much else to do or would we be better driving up to ND & exploring the area up towards Fargo?

I would not suggest staying more than 1 night in De Smet. What else are you planning on doing in South Dakota? I can give you more advice if I know what you already have planned, how long you will be there, etc.

We're not planning to spend that much time on this trip in South Dakota.
We're driving in from New Ulm via Walnut Grove so we'll get there pretty late.
We thought 1 day to do the Laura Wilder sites & then travel north into North Dakota as far as Fargo before going back into Minnesota to look at the Mississippi headwaters & that region.
We have been to the other side of the state before & visited The Badlands, Rapid City, Rushmore etc but our vacation thsi time is concentrated on doing MN, IA, WI, ND, SD & possibly a part of MI.
It's hard trying to cram everything into a 2 week vacation when you don't know the region that well.

I've been to De Smet and loved touring the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and memorabilia. However, I think you can pretty much do it in a day. If you plan to head up I-29 to Fargo and into MN, I would consider a stop at the Terry Redlin Museum right on the interstate at Watertown, SD. I would also consider
the Hjemmkomst Center in Moorhead, MN. Are you planning to visit the headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca State Park in MN? Late September would be a beautiful time to see the fall colors!

If you are going on up to ND from DeSmet, consider taking US 81 from Arlington up to Watertown. It is (a little) more scenic that I-29.

We were planning to avoid the interstate as much as possible as we want to experience & appreciate the view outside the freeway.
We were thinking of taking the US 25 up to ND if that offers any nice views?
From Fargo we're planning on staying @ Bemedgi (sp) & going to look @ the Headwaters of the Mississippi.
Can this be done en route to Bemedgi or would you recommend a 2 night stop in this area?
My problem @ the moment is lack of information to plan a decent route as good old Amazon are taking nearly 3 months to send us a guide book i need.
The state guides & maps can only get you so far in your planning & you have to rely on instinct or recommendations from people like yourselves which is so useful!

I've only done I-29 except for the little piece I mentioned earlier.

Any baseball fans in your traveling party? A stop at the Roger Maris museum in Fargo might be of interest. Wouldn't take long to check it out. It is located in the West Acres Mall right on I-29 / I-94.

Tanya,

Sorry I haven't checked this thread in a while.

From New Ulm, I would suggest also going to Pipestone, MN. It is not far, and quite interesting. From there, you can easily get to DeSmet. From DeSmet to Fargo, I really would suggest taking the interstate. There really isn't anything special along the way that would warrant not taking the interstate. I second the suggestion for the Terry Redlin museum in Watertown.

http://www.redlinart.com/

You mentioned US 25, but I don�t think this goes through SD up to ND. Again, I really would take the interstate. The view really isn�t going to be much different on a side road than on the interstate, and it will be much faster on the interstate.

As for Bemidji, I would suggest doing Itasca State Park (where the headwaters are) on your way from Fargo to Bemidji. Itasca is really a wonderful park, and worthy of at least a one night stay. I would stay there rather than in Bemidji.

Bemidji is an ok town. Make sure to take the obligatory picture with the Paul Bunyan statue on the shores of the lake.

Where are you thinking of going from Bemidji?

I�ll check this thread more regularly in case you have any other questions.

Josh

I agree with jneugeba.

Take the interstate from Watertown up to Fargo. No reason not to.

I also agree that a night at Itasca (or someplace in the Brainerd lakes area) would be preferable to a night in Bemidji.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.
We'll take the interstate as suggested and hopefully pay a call to the museum depending on the weather & tiredness.
After looking at what's available in Bemedji (sp) we've decided to stay a couple of nights @ Detroit Lakes as it looks a better area to stay in without being too far from Itasca state park.
From there we're now planning on driving up to reach route 11 and, car hire & immigration restrictions permitting, driving along route 11 to International Falls & possibly doing a day trip over the border to Canada either as foot passengers or with the rental car.
Noticed route 11 goes on both sides of the border so i don't know what we'd be allowed to drive in Canada a US rental car.
Eithe route should be interesting?