There are not too many things to do in New England, North Dakota, but I will begin with a few things to do within walking distance in town.

In the morning or early afternoon, you can eat at New England’s only restaurant, Dollyn’s Cafe, which is open until 2:00 p.m. This restaurant serves normal breakfast items in the morning, eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, hash browns. And at lunch time the items you can order are hamburgers, BLTs, grilled cheese sandwich, served with French-fries or tater-tots.

From downtown New England, it is about a 1/2-mile walk on Main Street southward to the small bridge over the Cannonball River. It is possible to walk off the road, and down the embankment to stand beside the river, but the most user-friendly side to do this, is on the southeast side after entering through the public park. There are a few different kinds of fish to catch in the Cannonball River, and turtles to look at.

The public park beside the Cannonball River in New England is about three-acres in size, with one corner serving as the rodeo-grounds/outdoor-arena. This is a suitable place to walk a dog, but I would caution visitors to be wary of naer-do-well meth addicts who occasionally loiter in places like this.

Back towards town, just north of the Cannonball River on Main Street, on the west side of the street is a large, red-color, three-story building which used to be the hotel that was built in 1900. Across the street to the east, are several large brick buildings which used to be the St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School, but now it is being used as a Women’s Prison. I recommend staying to the west side of the street when walking in this area.

The small Community Cooperative Grocery store in New England, at the mid-point of downtown on Main Street, has drinks, snacks, fresh fruits & vegetables, meats, and other grocery store items.

There is not much that would be very interesting to adults in downtown New England. There is a small public park on Main Street that has some playground equipment for children. A few city-blocks to the east there is a small public swimming pool that is open June, July, August that is suitable for moms and children, but probably not for adults without children.

The only other walk that I can recommend in New England, is heading northward, there is a lightly-travelled dirt-road that passes between the Slope Electric Cooperative building and the New England Emergency Services building, that leads to the New England Cemetery on a hill overlooking the town. This cemetery is divided into three separate graveyards, one for the Catholics, one for the Lutherans, and one for dead people in general.

About three miles to the northwest of New England, not within easy walking distance, is an out-of-service Public Golf Course that is in the process of being re-established. Beside this golf course is another section of the Cannonball River with a dam and spillway, that is open to the public. This is a good place to fish, walk, or walk a dog, however I once again warn visitors to watch out for parked and loitering meth addicts.

Most of the interesting and entertaining things to do for adults in southwest North Dakota require an automobile, motorcycle, ATV, or snowmobile that can travel long distances. I will describe several places of interest close to New England in my next blog post.