SR 5 runs through Bottineau.

This town started out as a customs station and an overnight stagecoach stop around 1883 when it was called Oak Creek. One year later its named was changed to Bottineau and it was located North of its present location. When the Great Northern railroad laid track to the South around 1887; the town was moved next to the raillines. A bronze statue of Pierre Bottineau an enterprising Metis, of mixed French and Canadian aboriginal background, for whom the county and city was named stands next to the courthouse. The Bottineau County museum has on display memorabillia and artifacts which have been collected from descendants of pioneer families. One of the interesting sights in town is the giant Tommy Turtle who stands approximately 30 feet high and straddles the the Largest Snowmobile in the World. You can find him at the city's tennis courts.