Lake Ashtabula's Mel Reiman Recreation Area

Pulling over the small rise you could see the camping area off to the side and a tall brown building that turns out to be the Visitor and Interpretive Center. The camps are nice, well groomed and surrounded by trees and bushes. A rare site in some areas of North Dakota.

I'm just kidding, about the trees. The camp is nestled at the lower end of Lake Ashtabula. It is adjacent to the Baldhill Dam, that was built in the late 1940's and completed in 1951 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The dam was built to help with flooding and water conservation with the added benefit of recreation and wildlife refuges. Over the years the area has seen more recreational areas being built due to the increased demand for camping and fishing.

The camp is located north of Valley City, travel north from Valley City along county road 19 and you can't miss the signs. Getting there is also part of the fun, a very nice view of the railroad bridge that is a great site in the Valley City area can be seen as you pass under it on the way to the camp.

The Highline bridge is one of the longest and highest single track railroad bridges in the nation. It is 3,860 feet long and 162 feet above the Sheyenne River bed.

The Mel Reiman Recreation area has in the past few years seen a makeover as has many of the North Dakota parks and recreation areas. The state has been putting a great deal of funding into the parks system and we get to benefit from that.

The park has camping at 21 sites with 10 of these having electrical hookups. The camp is open from May to September and costs $12-$14 a night. You should reserve your site two days in advance. There are of course facilities such as showers, toilets, shelters and a very nice swimming beach.

At a website where you can reserve the sites for camping they say this about the camp, "The Day Use Area which is located in a close proximity to the campground offers a visitor center with flush toilets, showers, swimming beach, volleyball, horseshoe and playground areas, picnic shelter, concessionaire, fish cleaning station, and a boat ramp and courtesy dock."