Places
Top Places to Visit in South Dakota
Places
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot (... Wikipedia
 
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park (Lakota: Makȟóšiča) is an American national park located in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects 242,756 acres (379.3 sq mi; 982.4 km2) of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The National Park Service manages the park, with the South Unit being co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe.The Ba... Wikipedia
 
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills, United States. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The park covers an area of over 71,000 acres (287 km2) of varied terrain including rolling prairie grasslands and rugged mountains.The park is home to a herd of 1,500 bison. Elk, coyotes, mul... Wikipedia
 
Crazy Horse Memorial
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Hors... Wikipedia
 
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is an American national park located 10 miles (16 km) north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established on January 3rd, 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh national park and the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is notable for its calcite formations known as boxwork, as well as its frostwork.... Wikipedia
 
The Mammoth Site
The Mammoth Site is a museum and paleontological site near Hot Springs, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. It is an active paleontological excavation site at which research and excavations are continuing. The facility encloses a prehistoric sinkhole that formed and was slowly filled with sediments during the Pleistocene era. The sedimentary fill of the sinkhole contains the remains of Pleistocene f... Wikipedia
 
Deadwood
Deadwood (Lakota: Owáyasuta; "To approve or confirm things") is a city in and county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its heyday from 1876 to 1879, after gold deposits had been discovered there, leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush. At its height, the city had a population of 25,000, attractin... Wikipedia
 
Spearfish Canyon
Spearfish Canyon is a deep but narrow gorge carved by Spearfish Creek located in Lawrence County, South Dakota, U.S., just south of Spearfish. The canyon is located within the Black Hills, located on the northern edge of the Black Hills National Forest. The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway travels through the Canyon from Spearfish to Cheyenne Crossing along U.S. Route 14A. The highway follows an old... Wikipedia
 
National Music Museum
The National Music Museum: America's Shrine to Music & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments (NMM) is a musical instrument museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1973 on the campus of the University of South Dakota. The NMM is recognized as "A Landmark of American Music" by the National Music Council.

The NMM's renowned collections, which inc... Wikipedia
 
Good Earth State Park
Good Earth State Park is a South Dakota State Park in Lincoln County, South Dakota in the United States along the Big Sioux River. The park is open for year-round recreation including hiking. The park includes the Blood Run Site, a National Historic Landmark significant for its history as a settlement for thousands of Native Americans. A visitor center includes displays about the site's significa... Wikipedia
 
 
 
Wall
Wall (Lakota: Makȟóšiča Aglágla Otȟuŋwahe, "Town alongside the Badlands") is a town in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 766 at the 2010 census. Wikipedia
 
Mitchell
Mitchell is a city in, and the county seat of, Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,254 at the 2010 census making it the sixth most populous city in South Dakota.

Mitchell is the principal city of the Mitchell Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Davison and Hanson counties. Wikipedia
 
Black Hills National Forest
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km²) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota. There are local ranger district offices in Custer, Rapid City, and Spearfish in South Dakota, and in Sundance, Wyoming.Predominantly p... Wikipedia
 
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls (; Lakota: Íŋyaŋ Okábleča Otȟúŋwahe; "Stone Shatter City") is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 131st-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, proximate with the Iowa state line. As of 2020, Sioux Falls had a population of 192,517. The Sioux Falls metro area accou... Wikipedia
 
Rapid City
Rapid City (Lakota: Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western South Dakota, on the Black Hills' eastern slope. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census.Known as the "Gateway to the Black Hills" and the "City of Presidents" beca... Wikipedia
 
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (Lakota: Ablíla) is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately 125 miles (201 km) northeast of Pierre. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census, making it the third most populous city in the state after Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Aberdeen is the principal city of the Aberdeen Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all... Wikipedia
 
Pierre
Pierre ( PEER; Lakota: čhúŋkaške, lit. 'fort') is the capital city of South Dakota and the seat of Hughes County. The population was 14,091 at the 2020 census, making it the second-least populous state capital in the United States, following Montpelier, Vermont. It is the eighth-most populous city in South Dakota. Founded in 1880, it was selected as the state capital when the territory was admitte... Wikipedia
 
Yankton
Yankton is a city in and the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota, United States.

Yankton had a population of 14,454 at the 2010 census and it is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Yankton County and which had an estimated population of 22,662 as of July 1, 2017. Yankton was the first capital of Dakota Territory. It is na... Wikipedia
 
Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake is a lake located in Custer State Park, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, United States. It was created in 1891 when Theodore Reder built a dam (the Sylvan Lake Water Dam) across Sunday Gulch Creek. The lake area offers picnic places, rock climbing, small rental boats, swimming, and hiking trails. It is also popular as a starting point for excursions to Black Elk Peak and The Needles... Wikipedia
 
Falls Park
Falls Park is a public park located in north central Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surrounding the city's falls. Through it runs the Big Sioux River, and it includes a café, observation tower, and the remains of an old mill. Wikipedia
 
Iron Mountain Road
U.S. Route 16A (US 16A or U.S. Route 16-Alternate) is a 36.971-mile-long (59.499 km) scenic United States highway. It is an alternate route for US 16. It splits from US 16 in the Black Hills of the southwestern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The highway's western terminus is an intersection with US 16, US 385, and South Dakota Highway 89 (SD 89) in Custer, South Dakota. The eastern termin... Wikipedia
 
 
Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the third longest cave in the world, with 200.3 miles (322.4 kilometers) of mapped passageways. It is located approximately 13 miles (21 km) west of the town of Custer in Black Hills of South Dakota. It became a national monument in 1908. Wikipedia
 
Black Elk Peak
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in South Dakota, United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies 3.7 mi (6.0 km) west-southwest of Mount Rushmore. At 7,244 feet (2,208 m), it has been described by the Board on Geographical Names as the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountain... Wikipedia
 
Fort Pierre National Grassland
Fort Pierre National Grassland is a United States National Grassland in central South Dakota, south of the capital city Pierre and its neighbor Fort Pierre. The national grassland is primarily a mixed-grass prairie and has a land area of 115,890 acres (46,900 ha). In descending order of area it lies in parts of Lyman, Stanley, and Jones counties. Part of the movie Dances with Wolves was filmed the... Wikipedia
 
 
 
Roy Lake State Park
Roy Lake State Park is a South Dakota state park in Marshall County, South Dakota in the United States. The park is divided in two sections on Roy Lake, and is open for year-round recreation including camping, beaches, swimming, fishing, hiking and boating. The Roy Lake Resort & Lodge is located in the park. Boat ramps are available and visitors can rent boats from the resort.

There are... Wikipedia
 
 
 
Reptile Gardens
Reptile Gardens is an animal park located south of Rapid City, South Dakota, on the road to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Reptile Gardens was cited in the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest reptile zoo. It was recertified in the 2018 edition. Wikipedia
 
Adams House
The Adams Museum in Deadwood is considered the Black Hills' oldest history museum. Artifacts on display reflect the legends of Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, Deadwood Dick, and the Black Hills Gold Rush. The museum is open year-round and features changing exhibits and special programs. It was founded by Deadwood businessman and former mayor W.E. Adams in 1930. The museum was a gift to the city of Deadw... Wikipedia
 
 
Mount Moriah Cemetery
Mount Moriah Cemetery on Mount Moriah in Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota is the burial place of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock and other notable figures of the Wild West. By tradition, the American flag flies over the cemetery 24 hours a day, rather than merely from sunrise to sunset.In the early years of Deadwood, there were two graveyards: The Ingelside Cemetery, which was... Wikipedia
 
 
Adams Museum
The Adams Museum in Deadwood is considered the Black Hills' oldest history museum. Artifacts on display reflect the legends of Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, Deadwood Dick, and the Black Hills Gold Rush. The museum is open year-round and features changing exhibits and special programs. It was founded by Deadwood businessman and former mayor W.E. Adams in 1930. The museum was a gift to the city of Deadw... Wikipedia
 
Sturgis
Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,627 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after Civil War general Samuel D. Sturgis.

Sturgis is notable as the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world: the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which lasts for 10 days beginning on the first Friday of Au... Wikipedia