Dala Horse (Scandinavian Heritage Park)

Minot, North Dakota, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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The Dala Horse at Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, North Dakota, is a Swedish Dala horse dedicated on October 10, 2000. Sources give its height as 25 to 30 feet; plans announced in 2025 include building a larger horse.

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Dala Horse (Scandinavian Heritage Park)

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Site-level location · 48.2261° N, 101.2974° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The Dala horse at Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot is a Swedish-heritage landmark that KFYR called one of the state's most iconic in 2025. It is the Swedish contribution to Scandinavian Heritage Park, a 14-acre park that Visit Minot describes as the only outdoor museum honoring all five Nordic countries. The association's own page says the horse was dedicated by the Swedish Heritage Association on October 10, 2000.

Dala horses take their name from the province of Dalarna in Sweden. The association says they have been a popular form of domestic art there since the 1840s. The first were plain wooden toys for children; a hundred years later they took on the bright colours and flower-patterned (kurbit) saddle and harness designs that define the type.

How big it is depends on who is asked. The association's own page gives 30 feet and calls it the tallest Dala horse in the U.S. Visit Minot gives 27 feet and calls it the largest in North America. In October 2025 an association officer told KFYR the statue was 25 feet plus.

The horse is about a quarter-century old and showing its age, KFYR reported that month. The North Dakota Department of Commerce had just awarded the park a $250,000 Destination Development Grant, which Minot Daily News said was for landmark preservation, restorative safety upgrades and some new elements. The association told KFYR it hopes to build the biggest Dala horse in North America and to start work in 2026, and that it still had to decide what to do with the current one.

Around the horse the park holds the Gol Stave Church, a replica of a medieval Norwegian church, and statues of Leif Erickson, Casper Oimoen and Sondre Norheim. Visit Minot says the grounds are free to walk all year, with the church and Heritage House Museum open for guided tours from May 17 to September 30.

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PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

Walk under the horse on the park's grounds, among the Gol Stave Church, Heritage House Museum, Visitor Center and Nordic statues. Visit Minot says the park is free to walk year-round and the Gol Stave Church and Heritage House Museum offer guided tours from May 17 to September 30, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM, weather permitting.

ACCESS

Outdoors in Scandinavian Heritage Park, Minot. Visit Minot says the park is free to walk year-round; KFYR reported in 2025 it is open every day and public. The horse may be replaced or altered under a planned upgrade.

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