A couple miles east of Bottineau, North Dakota, on the curve of Highway 5, there’s a sign in the ditch that says “quicksand.” It has been there for decades. I assume it’s a warning not to put your car in the ditch there. But if you do, particularly if you have been watching some old westerns on TV, don’t wait for the Lone Ranger to save you from quickly sinking into eternity. Actually, you probably wouldn’t need him anyway.
Turtle Mountain lies about 600-800 feet above the surrounding plain. Some amount of water from precipitation in Turtle Mountain can filter downward through the soil. As it does, it may eventually hit a restrictive layer causing the water to flow laterally downhill for some distance onto the plains below and end up close to the soil surface.
That is the case here. This area may look dry, but that can be deceiving. Depending on the precipitation, seasonality, and other factors, you may not be able to drive through this area. Walking on it could even result in one being mired in muck. Anecdotal stories about this area tell of fence posts popping up out of the ground, and a soil classifier getting mired in the muck.
I checked the Bottineau County Soil Survey (1982) for information on the site. The soils in that area are largely silty loams that formed on lacustrine material (i.e., lake deposits) and are somewhat poorly drained. They would not be described as sandy. Salts have accumulated on the soil surface which is evidence that water, at least occasionally, can wick up to the soil surface and evaporate, leaving the dissolved salts behind. There is also evidence (e.g., mottles) that the water table may, at times, be two feet or so below the soil surface.
Former state geologist and director of the North Dakota Geological Survey John Bluemle’s 2016 book “North Dakota’s Geological Legacy” contains a section on aquifers and artesian flows. He notes that there is a narrow band of quicksand that runs along the south side of Turtle Mountain from Bottineau eastward to Belcourt.
I am not so sure the term ‘quicksand’ is accurate for this particular site. At any rate, if you are traveling Highway 5 and get the urge to veer out into it, pass it up!
