Fields of cows filled the horizon as far as the eye could see. This seemed par for the course as I had been driving through North Dakota. I had been enjoying these fields bursting with life. A dairy farm here, a pasture ripe for grazing there… The canola was in full bloom which gave a burst of yellow to every other field. I was on my way to a different cow though. The worlds biggest holstein cow to be exact. As I had learned, the mid west had a penchant for giant statues of animals and North Dakota seemed to be falling right in line. Soon enough, I saw Salem Sue come into view on top of a distant hill.
If there is anything that New Salem is proud about, it’s holstein cows. Their high school mascot is holstein. The legend of their cities origin involves finding out the land is better for grazing than planting and to top it off, there is Sue the giant cow, a 40 ft tall cow sitting on top of a hill. Sue was built by the local lions club as a token of appreciation for the counties dairy farmers, epitomizing just how important they believe the industry to be.
The cow is huge. You can see it from miles away while driving down 94. Seeing it gradually become bigger is somewhat weird as it’s a giant cow. I don’t know how else to describe the feeling. Once you pull off the exit and drive up the winding dirt road, all sense of scale disappears. Miles and miles of farmland are viewable, providing a calming ambiance to the statue and a short hike up a hill behind the statue gives 360 views well worth the walk. The strangest thing though is the statues attempt to have the udders be close to realistic, with huge veins protruding from the underside. Quite quirky.  A steady stream of cars drives up to see what all the fuss is about. Theres not much to it, but its a welcome reprieve from driving and if nothing else, it will bring a chuckle to your heart.
Closest Supercharger Bismarck ND 30 mi
1207 W Century Ave, Bismarck, ND 58503
Salem Sue
