Landing at Devils Lake Regional Airport in Devils Lake puts you right in the middle of things, with the biggest natural lake in North Dakota and the Lake Region's small towns within easy reach. Devils Lake is a fishing town first, famous for walleye, perch, and pike in a lake that has grown so much over the past decades it has swallowed roads and farms. The town is friendly and unpretentious, and nearly everyone owns a boat or an ice house.

Standout things to do around Devils Lake: - Fish for walleye and jumbo perch from a boat in summer or an ice house in winter - Camp, bike, and birdwatch at Grahams Island State Park - Spot bison, elk, and prairie dogs at White Horse Hill National Game Preserve - Tour Fort Totten State Historic Site, one of the best-preserved frontier forts on the plains - Try your luck or catch a concert at Spirit Lake Casino on the south shore - Drive the shoreline and see where rising water has turned farm roads into causeways - Order a walleye dinner and knoephla soup at a local supper club

Devils Lake makes a good base for the north-central prairie. Rugby, which marks the geographic center of North America with a stone obelisk, is about an hour west, Grand Forks and the University of North Dakota are an hour and a half east, and Jamestown and its giant buffalo statue are roughly an hour and 45 minutes south. Spirit Lake Nation hosts powwows that welcome visitors in summer, and the fall waterfowl migration fills the sky. Come for the fishing, stay for the quiet, and let Devils Lake surprise you.