48,519,040 acres
Statehood 1889 (40th)
Capital: Pierre
Population: 886,667 (46th)
High Point: Black Elk Peak (7,242 feet)
Best time of year: Summer
Last year we published our guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America, so we decided to start a new type of blog post where we create a travel itinerary for all 50 states, in addition to our usual National Forest and National Park entries. After starting by jumping around to Kansas, Georgia, Idaho, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Hawai’i, Arizona, and Louisiana, we chose one of our favorite states to visit. Just in time for summer (and the Custer State Park chip flip), we made an ambitious seven-day plan starting in the east near Sioux Falls and following Interstate 90 west, with plenty of options to extend the trip. See for yourself why South Dakota made it on our Top 10 States for State Parks and Top 10 States for National Park Service Sites list.
Day 1
Start your trip near Sioux Falls, where pink formations of quartzite rock rise above muddy Split Rock Creek below. It is a great spot for a picnic, and you might get to watch rock climbers across the creek repelling down the steep cliffs.
Optional stop at Falls Park
Not only is Sioux Falls the largest city in the state, it is also home to Falls Park where the Big Sioux River tumbles down 100 feet of rosy quartzite in a series of photogenic cascades.
Day 2
Not far off Interstate 90 in Mitchell is a great wonder of human creativity dating back to 1892. Each year a new theme is chosen by artists who design images to decorate the outside of the building completely with organic materials. By the end of the summer, the face of this unique building is covered with 275,000 ears of corn in a variety of colors. Be sure to go inside the building to see pictures of past palaces, turn a millstone to grind our own cornmeal, and learn fun facts.
Dignity sculpture
Also on Interstate 90, there is a new 50-foot sculpture of a Native American woman wearing a traditional star quilt entitled Dignity of Earth and Sky.
Visit inside the capitol to learn why the tiny town of Pierre (pronounced “peer”) was chosen as the state’s capital city in 1889 and how the building was constructed starting in 1905.
Optional stop at Fort Pierre National Grassland (click here for our complete blog post)
Look online for the publication South Dakota Fishing Guide to the National Grasslands, which provides information on 41 fishing ponds in the National Grassland. Originally built in 1934, Richland Dam was renovated in 2014 and now features handicapped-accessible fishing and a concrete boat ramp. Fishing ponds are generally open December 1 to August 31 to avoid overlap with hunting season.
Day 3
Badlands National Park (click here for our complete blog post)
Beyond the geologic formations and hiking trails, this is a good place to camp at the developed Cedar Pass Campground, free Sage Creek Primitive Campground (which can be crowded in the summer), or backpacking out with the bison. Bighorn sheep are also common, and porcupines, surprising for as treeless as it is. Prairie dog towns make for an endless variety of entertainment and provide habitat for burrowing owls, prairie rattlesnakes, and endangered black-footed ferrets that have been reintroduced throughout South Dakota.
Optional stop at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (click here for our complete blog post)
Outside Badlands National Park on Interstate 90, a small museum and ranger-guided tours of the Delta-01 launch control facility. Tours have very limited space and a nominal fee, but are no longer solely first-come-first served thanks to an online reservation system.
Day 4
Perhaps the greatest roadside attraction in the entire world, famous since 1936 for its “Free Ice Water” road signs. Today Interstate 90 is inundated with Wall Drug billboards for miles in each direction. Ice water is still free and the café still offers a cup of coffee for only five cents, as well as the best soft-serve ice cream we have ever tasted. In the Wall Drug Backyard, you can even ride atop a ten-foot-tall jackalope; and do not leave without a free bumper sticker.
Optional stop at the National Grasslands Visitor Center
This serves as the main interpretive site for all 20 National Grasslands (plus Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie). The exhibit hall is still under reconstruction following a flood that forced a relocation into a temporary trailer for years, but the theater is reopened showing a short film.
Optional stop at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum
Admission is free to this museum (currently closed for construction) seven miles east of Rapid City on Interstate 90. It sits next to Ellsworth Air Force Base, but you do not have to pass through military security to enter. An impressive B-1B Lancer sits out front alongside other historic aircraft, with many more located inside the hangars.
Day 6
Mount Rushmore National Memorial (click here for our complete blog post)
This icon of South Dakota is inspiring to see during the day, but for the full patriotic effect do not miss the night lighting ceremony offered May to September.
Needles Highway
The 14-mile-long Needles Highway was completed in 1922 and is known for its narrow, one-lane tunnels that run straight through mountainsides and the natural arch aptly named the Needle’s Eye (Custer State Park admission required). Trails leave from along its length to access the Cathedral Spires, Black Elk Peak, Sylvan Lake, and Little Devil’s Tower. To the northeast, the Highway 16A section of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway utilizes more one-lane tunnels and fascinating corkscrew turns called “pigtail bridges” to connect Custer State Park with Mount Rushmore National Memorial (no admission fee required when simply driving through).
Optional stop at Crazy Horse Memorial
Under construction since 1948, this privately-funded monument continues to be carved and blasted to this day. In addition to the 563-foot-tall memorial to the legendary fighter and leader of the Oglala Lakota, the site also has the Indian Museum of North America full of outstanding artwork and artifacts. Special tours can be booked up to the 87-foot-tall head of Crazy Horse, plus, a laser-light show runs nightly in the summer. There is a pretty good view from the highway if you do not want to pay the admission fee.
Day 5
World famous for its Buffalo Roundup every September, this park has so much more than bison (see Needles Highway above). Visitors can see bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, coyotes, turkeys, golden eagles, and you might even get nose-to-nose with one of the feral burros that roam free and love handouts. You may find yourself stuck waiting out a “bison jam” as the large ungulates cross a road.
Wind Cave National Park (click here for our complete blog post)
The interior of Wind Cave is a constant 53°F, so bring a jacket if you sign up for the Natural Entrance Tour, which involves entering a vapor lock revolving door and descending stairs. On the Candlelight Tour you carry lightweight metal candle-lanterns, just like 19th-century tourists. It is only offered in the summer and explores an unlit section of the cave. There are several good trails that traverse the prairie and canyons and we enjoy backpacking (free permit required) on Highland Creek Trail where we always see bison.
Optional stop at Black Hills National Forest (click here for our complete blog post)
Surrounding Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore and spilling into the state of Wyoming, it is home to a fun hike to the state’s high point at 7,242-foot tall Black Elk (formerly Harney) Peak rising in the center of the beautiful Black Elk Wilderness. We also recommend Old Baldy Trail and Buzzards Roost Trail.
Day 7
Jewel Cave National Monument (click here for our complete blog post)
Currently, Jewel Cave ranks third worldwide with over 160 miles in mapped passages, and based on air flow estimates the cave is less than 10% mapped. The namesake jewels are actually boxy calcite formations, which crystalized out of water in a manner similar to the way a bathtub ring forms. The Wild Caving Tour and Lantern Tour are our favorite ranger-guided tour options.
Optional stop at Buffalo Gap National Grassland (click here for our complete blog post)
The only developed site of this sprawling area is located at French Creek Agate Beds, where there is a campground and rockhounding is legal for Fairburn agate (the official State Gem of South Dakota), rose quartz, and banded jasper.
Day 8+
This flat trail runs 109 miles from Deadwood to Edgemont along the former Burlington Northern rail line, but you can choose to hike as far as you like (day-use fee). Like many rails-to-trails projects, this route is wide enough to accommodate bikes and includes many bridges and tunnels, like those near the Mystic Trailhead.
A scenic byway follows Highway 14A south of Interstate 90 past roadside Bridal Veil Falls and Spearfish Falls. The limestone cliffs of the canyon are sprinkled with ponderosa pine trees and the creek is lined by deciduous trees that add to the beauty when changing colors in late-September (around Buffalo Roundup weekend). It is free to park at 30-foot-tall Roughlock Falls (pictured below), but this small park can get congested.
Geographic Center of the Nation
Belle Fourche is home to a 21-foot-wide monument with a visitor center and museum at the site designated by the National Geodetic Survey as the center of the 50 states after Alaska and Hawai‘i were added in 1959.
A free park filled with locally gathered petrified wood and other geological specimens. The “world’s largest collection” also has a free museum constructed out of petrified wood that is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Missouri National Recreational River (click here for our complete blog post)
In southeast South Dakota, the river’s lower segment runs 59 miles from the Gavins Point Dam to Ponca State Park, plus a 39-mile stretch was added from the Fort Randall Dam to Niobrara State Park, and includes 20 miles of the Lower Niobrara River (which is itself designated a National Scenic River upstream in Nebraska).
Learn more about South Dakota’s Most Scenic Drive, Top State Park, and other categories in our travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America.
