The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) has awarded a grant to help build a camping area at Garrison Dam Recreational Airport (37N) in North Dakota.
RAF North Dakota Liaison Brian Rau and Ambassador Jeff Faught have been working with the Army Corps of Engineers and North Dakota Aeronautics Commission to develop the underwing camping area at the backcountry airstrip.
Rau presented a plan to convert an adjacent day-use park with flush toilets, a picnic area, and horseshoe and basketball facilities for the camping area. He gained approval from the Corps of Engineers and ND Aeronautics. The grant will help fund the project.
“Garrison Dam Recreational Airpark is an excellent existing recreational airstrip. There is fishing, hunting, and hiking available adjacent to the proposed underwing camping area,” Rau said.
The ND Aeronautics Commission will develop an existing road into a taxiway to connect the 3,200-foot turf runway to the new camping area, according to RAF officials. The commission has finalized its plans and already awarded the work to a contractor.
Rau and Faught will organize volunteers to install signage, remove trees, grind stumps, prepare the camping and tie-down surface areas, install drain tile, and plant 75 new trees. Rau said he expects the contractors to begin work in June 2026.
For more information: TheRAF.org
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