One Of The Midwest's Best Counties To Retire Is A North Dakota Treasure With A Vibrant City And Endless Outdoor Fun

With its downtown riverside walks and swaths of untouched prairie landscape, Grand Forks County on North Dakota's eastern border is a destination well suited to nature-loving retirees. Anchored by the city of Grand Forks, the county offers a mix of the amenities of a regional hub and the wilder expanses of the Red River Valley. There are museums, golf courses, and a historic town square hosting regular farmers markets. The county also hosts a couple of expansive parks suited for a birdwatching outing or relaxed hike. For those reasons and more, Grand Forks County was ranked among the top 10 retirement destinations in the Midwest by The Motley Fool in 2026.

Grand Forks County appeals to retirees for its small-city atmosphere and access to nature while boasting low costs. The Motley Fool study cited the county's affordability, low crime, and cultural opportunities as some of the driving factors for ranking as the Midwest's No. 10 best place to retire (holding the top spot for North Dakota). One notable tradeoff is that Grand Forks comes with long, cold winters. That may be a drawback for retirees chasing year-round warm weather, but for others, the changing seasons have their own charms. In winter, you can cozy up in a downtown restaurant or browse indoor attractions like the North Dakota Museum of Art. When weather warms up again, head to the Turtle River State Park or Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for low-key recreation among native prairie and wetlands.

The most populous city of Grand Forks County, Grand Forks is not only North Dakota's best college city but also a welcoming hub for travelers in retirement. Its downtown district is a walkable, riverside corridor with historic buildings, shops, and cultural institutions. Much of the city's community life is centered around its Town Square, its entrance framed by a giant waterwheel sculpture, a nod to the city's persistence through the 1997 Red River flood. The Town Square hosts the city's farmers market on Saturdays, bringing together vendors of fresh produce, flowers, crafts, and live music.

Grand Forks has a distinguished arts scene, with over 160 public artworks dotted around the city, per Visit Greater Grand Forks. Look out for metal sculpture dancers in Pillsbury Park or a pixelated wheat field mural on South 3rd Street. Arguably the centerpiece of the city's arts scene is the North Dakota Museum of Art, the state's official art museum and one of the top-rated attractions in the city on Tripadvisor. The museum has a permanent collection of contemporary Native American art and a sculpture garden — and all of it is free.

Grand Forks' connection to the outdoors begins at the edge of downtown with the Greenway, a riverfront park system covering 2,200 acres (more than double the size of NYC's Central Park). It provides miles of paved trails that follow the Red River. Its green space features disc golf courses, a floating dock, and picnic areas, fit for a morning walk along the river or a more active outing without heading far out from the city.

Grand Forks County has the largest section of surviving tallgrass prairie in North Dakota, according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. A portion of this prairie is protected at the Kellys Slough NWR, about a 20-minute drive from the city of Grand Forks. Featuring a mix of grassland and wetlands, the refuge is a haven for shorebirds, hosting around 35,000 of them from April through August, per the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, making it a birdwatching hotspot. The refuge has an observation deck and a short trail (under 0.2 miles) to watch from.

If you're looking for somewhere with a little more varied recreation available, Turtle River State Park caters to a few different interests. A bit of a departure from the treeless prairie, the park sits in a valley landscape of shaded forest and the namesake river. Here, visitors can follow nearly a dozen different trails, ranging between 0.6 and 2.5 miles in length, according to North Dakota Parks & Recreation. The forest's oaks, maples, and cottonwoods turn fiery in the fall, making the park one of the best places for a Midwest fall getaway. Trails are groomed in winter for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. Meanwhile, anglers can cast a line in the trout-stocked river.

For long-distance travelers, the Grand Forks International Airport is the county's main entry point. The airport is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Grand Forks. If you want to check out the city or explore some of Grand Forks County's outdoors, it's also easy to drive in from Fargo, North Dakota's walkable, largest city, which is about an hour and 20 minutes by car from Grand Forks.