South Dakota Travel Guide

The Homestake Visitor Center is located at 160 West Main Street in the nearby town of Lead, South Dakota and is open Monday through Saturday. This is a good place to learn about the history of gold mining in the area. The Black Hills was the location of the last great gold rush in the continental United States. The wealthy George Hearst purchased...

A bus, designed to look like an old fashioned trolley runs year round. This trolley runs between the hotels, motels, three of the nearby campgrounds, and the key tourist attractions through out Deadwood. When we were there the cost was only 50 cents per person. The trolley runs to midnight in the winter and 1:30 A.M. Sunday through Thursday...

Here you can see interesting formations called "pinnacles" that are made up of volcanic ash. A little off the beaten path but worth a look. I really enjoy Badlands.

While there are a variety of designated hiking trails, ranging from flat stretches through the prairie landscape to uphill climbs through the Badlands formations you should first consult with rangers at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. They can provide advice about trails, as well as recommendations for different fitness and experience levels.We...

If you're planning to enter the park through Red Shirt, going through the Stronghold section, make sure you have a 4 wheel drive. The road is really bad, and even impassible when wet. It's marked as 2, on the map. The road isn't even dirt, it's gravel. Not the sort of place you should take a compact car, like a Toyota Corolla. The road is only 20...

Often times at night they have fireworks at the amphitheater on the site. Talk about...

This is a very didactic museum inside the Mount Rushmore, and it is free of charge. You should not miss it.

Wind Cave National Park is close by near Hot Springs, which is worth seeing if you have some extra time. It is one of the longest caves in the world. The cave is notable for its boxwork features. Be sure to wear the right shoes and a jacket (it is always cold inside the cave) during the cave tour, and watch your head!

As a kid, I remember often visiting the Sertoma Butterfly House, which is very close to the Outdoor Campus, where on weekends we went to the outdoors programs for kids. Recently they added on the Purdy Marine Cove as well, so there is even more to do there. The price did go up a little with the addition of the marine cove, but it's a fun way to...

Pretty much anyone who lives in Sioux Falls or the surrounding area has visited Park Falls. Sioux Falls was named for these waterfalls, and this is a really nice park, especially on a sunny day. Obviously, since it's a park it's free to visit, and there are a few other things there besides the falls to see--some statues and the ruins of an Old...

One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was see a Grizzly went to Canada, Glacier, Yellow Stone ... all without a Grizzly sighting but there were several at this park. Unfortunately the heat wave made them look hot and miserable. The babies were fun to watch and the highlight of the visit.

One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was see a Grizzly went to Canada, Glacier, Yellow Stone ... all without a Grizzly sighting but there were several at this park. Unfortunately the heat wave made them look hot and miserable. The babies were fun to watch and the highlight of the visit.

If you're into dolls, this would be a great place to visit. (they have star wars too) June through September: Daily: 8am - 8pm March - May and October -November: Monday - Friday: 9am to 5pm Winter months: By appointment only More info later...

Mitchell's Corn Palace is a unique building that holds artwork made of strictly corn! These murals are all over the walls of the Corn Palace, both inside and outside. The corn art ranges from simple images to complex works of art. Hours of work are put into making each of these corn images, and they make new ones each year! Originally established...

You get to try 3 different kinds of wine per person who goes in for free. If you get 6 bottles, there is a discount. We enjoyed tasting the wines and they were quite good. I did manage to get at least 6 bottles... not saying how many more than 6 bottles.

This is a Christmas shop and fabric store. The fabric side is for quilters. They have this thing about going to places and getting designs from different places for quilts. It is a society that I skirt around, so I understand it, but don't have the time for it. :) The main part of the store is Christmas collectibles and ornaments. They are of a...

There is abundant wildlife in the park including bison, mountain goats, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, elk and many others. Pictured here are some Wild Burros, Bison, Mountain Goats, Pronghorn Antelope and a Chipmunk.

Twice we came around a corner to find traffic at a dead stop because one form of wildlife or another was spotted along the road. Don't simply try to blow quickly through the park - take it slow so that you don't collide with your fellow park visitors.

Do not miss driving the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park! As a native of South Dakota, I've spent plenty of time in the beautiful Black Hills area, and this is by far the best place to see wildlife there. Everyone does the Needles Highway drive, but many people miss the treasure that is the Wildlife Loop Scenic Byway (because of this, there are...

We had to do this one twice. The first time we road the chairlift to the top. Ate buffalo burgers at the top in view of Mount Rushmore. (They only take cash for the food and the burgers were small for the amount asked.) Then road the slide down. Fun!!!! One side is the slow lane. The other side is the fast lane. I took the fast...

The Big Thunder Gold Mine is also in Keystone and is interesting if you have time to take the tour. I would suggest taking a sweatshirt or sweater because the mine is around 50 degrees. The tour guides are informative and point out many interesting features of the mine and discuss how history has affected the mine. They also are very knowledgeable...

This is a picture of the interesting Depot Museum, which is in the former train station. A 2nd photo of the main back room can be seen by clicking on the link under the photo. The museum can either be seen in 5 minutes or the full 2 hours that it is open each day, depending if one wants to see all the exhibits. There are exhibits on the service...

This is the Kadoka School located at the end of the downtown area. Jackson County used to have dozens of schools but now has only 4 (or is it 5)? The school graduates between 15 and 30 high school graduates a year. It is the only school with high school grades in the entire county. There are newer additions to the school that are to the right of...

As always, you should obey all warning signs. They are there to for your safety and to protect the park, its wildlife, and its plants. Every year people get hurt not following the guidelines in the warning signs.

I am not aware of any food services inside the park; the best options are in nearby towns, like Wall or Rapid City both of which have some fine options and both of which I have pages for. There are some places, however, where you can bring your own food and have a family picnic.

This formation is called a popcorn formation because it resembles that popular snack, but is much harder so do not touch it or be tempted to eat it

The 'badlands'! They claim that until these badlands became known around the world, there was no consistent name for this type of landscape. Now, there are badlands in North Dakota and Alberta (Canada), as well as Turkey.Go to my Badlands National Park%l page

The ICBM program was one of three programs to counter a Soviet threat during the Cold War Years of (1946-1995). All three programs continue, but the START Treaty of 1995 (?) called for the elimination of many delivery vehicles. As a part of the treaty, each nation was allows to keep one launch facility and one command facility for historic...

all the night clubs in aberdeen are absalutley filthy,they need a proper clean and i would not advise anyone to go there.if you go there you are mad and i think that it should be shut down and also i think that night clubs should,nt even exist at all .please agree with me because i would,nt like you to go there without people giving you a...

all the night clubs in aberdeen are absalutley filthy,they need a proper clean and i would not advise anyone to go there.if you go there you are mad and i think that it should be shut down and also i think that night clubs should,nt even exist at all .please agree with me because i would,nt like you to go there without people giving you a...

Faulkton has many places to hunt ring neck pheasants. Hunting is a big deal in South Dakota. There are also many deer hunters that come here to hunt. Many farmers allow hunting with permission. There are several pheasant hunting preserves in the area.

This is a view of the new Lakeside Country club house built in 1998. It is part of the golf course. Memberships and green fee golfing is available. Cart rentals available.

$22 as of August 2013. This restaurant looks very nice inside and out. Fancy looking but still fairly casual in demeanor. They have a small full service bar too. The service was very good as was the food. A bit pricey but worth it. Hours are 11 AM to 12 AM Monday through Saturday and 11 AM to 9 PM on Sunday. Seafood Diablo. Nice and spicy!

My father like to take pictures of the state capitol buildings. So when we visited the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, we took a side trip so he could take a picture of the capitol. In fact the second photo has our car in it.Currently the Capitol Tour Office is located in the Capitol Lake Visitor Center, just east of the Capitol next to Capitol Lake....