ND 1 enters North Dakota as a continuation on South Dakota Highway 37 five miles south of ND 11. After a concurrency with this road that heads east for three miles, then north for seven miles, ND 1 continues north for two miles before entering the city of Oakes. Six miles north of Oakes, the route begins a concurrency of about 10½ miles with ND 13. This concurrency travels almost due north and ends in Verona. Six miles north of Verona, ND 1 intersects with the western terminus of ND 27. Thirteen miles farther north, the highway intersects ND 46. A little more than nineteen miles north of this intersection, west of Valley City, ND 1 begins a concurrency with Interstate 94 and US 52. The three highways travel west for about six miles before I-94 and US 52 continue west and ND 1 turns north.

Eleven miles north of the concurrency, ND 1 enters the western portion of Rogers. A mile north of Rogers, the route serves as the eastern terminus of ND 9. About six miles north of here, ND 1 enters Dazey and intersects ND 26. Eight miles north of the ND 26 intersection, ND 1 enters Hannaford. About ten miles north of Hannaford and two miles west of Cooperstown (which ND 1 never enters), the highways begins a concurrency with North Dakota's longest state highway, ND 200. Six miles farther west, ND 200 and ND 1 part. ND 1 heads north for four miles, west for a mile, and north for three miles before intersecting ND 65 just east of Binford. About sixteen miles north of here, ND 1 intersects ND 15 outside Pekin. About twenty miles north of here is an intersection with US 2 and the city of Lakota.

North of Lakota, ND 1 travels just northeast of Brocket. Six miles north of Brocket is the community of Lawton. About eight miles north of Lawton, ND 1 intersects ND 17. Twelve miles north of that intersection, the highway enters Nekoma. Just less than five miles north of Nekoma, ND 1 intersects ND 66. Nine miles farther north, ND 1 enters Langdon. In Langdon, ND 1 intersects ND 5. The remaining sixteen miles of this highway in North Dakota and the United States feature intersections with a couple of county roads before the Canadian border. ND 1 is continued into Manitoba, Canada, as Manitoba Highway 31.

North Dakota Highway 1 was assigned by 1926 as a highway from the Canada border north of Pembina to the South Dakota border.^[2] This highway became part of US 81 in 1927, and Highway 1 was reassigned as a renumbering of North Dakota Highway 12 from Langdon to South Dakota to avoid conflict with US 12. The highway was extended north to Canada by 1937.^[3] It remains in this alignment today.^[4]

• The North Dakota Highways Page by Chris Geelhart