South Dakota Dept TourismWhat’s New
• Children’s Museum of South Dakota: Inside: hands-on exhibits that let kids build, climb, dance, imagine and create. Outside, exhibits allow interaction with nature. Brookings.
• Roundhouse Restoration Project: Includes the historic narrow gauge railroad interpretive centre, the living Map Theater, railroad-themed Roundhouse Restaurant and two gift shops. Lead.
• Celebrating the Century: An exhibit on the South Dakota State Capitol’s 100th anniversary. Interactive stations let visitors attempt constructing a capitol. South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center. Pierre.
Attractions
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial: World-famous, carved granite likenesses of four presidents. On the President’s Alpine Slide Chairlift, ride up for Mt. Rushmore view; return down alpine slide tracks. Keystone.
• Crazy Horse Memorial: The world’s largest mountain carving in progress, this memorial is a tribute to the leader who defeated Custer at Little Big Horn. Near Custer.
• Fort Sisseton State Park: Well-preserved fort; 14 original buildings, many dating to 1864. Guided tours, camping, annual festivals. Northeastern South Dakota.
• Black Hills Reptile Gardens: World’s largest reptile collection in a setting of fossils, minerals and sculptures. Rapid City.
• Cultural Heritage Center: Hear recordings of American Indians speaking Dakota, Lakota and Nakota; Touch the different types of furs; and learn about life in the 1900s. Pierre.
• Museum of Geology: View fossils of saber tooth cats, small camels, giant pigs and a mother oreodont. Rapid City.
• The Journey Museum: Exhibits cover rock formations, dinosaurs, American Indian cultures, pioneers and modern history. Rapid City.
• The Black Hills Museum of Natural History: Home to 65-million-year-old Stan, one of the two most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever found. Hill City.
• Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science: Home to more than 80 hands-on science exhibits and a full-size replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex found in western South Dakota. Sioux Falls.
Events
• Wild Bill Hickok Days (June), Deadwood.
• Fort Sisseton Historical Festival (June), Fort Sisseton State Park.
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant (July), De Smet.
• Sturgis Rally and Races (August), Sturgis.
• Riverboat Days & Summer Arts Festival (August), Yankton.
• South Dakota State Fair (late August to early September), Huron.
• Buffalo Roundup (last Monday in September), Custer State Park.
Places
• Deadwood: Historic Black Hills gold-mining town features more than 80 casinos and the graves of the town’s notorious citizens. Main Street is a registered National Landmark.
• De Smet: Site of the Ingalls homestead site in the TV series, Little Town on the Prairie, made famous by author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
• Custer State Park: 29,490 hectares of mountain meadows, foothills, peaks and spires, plus a herd of 1,500 bison.
• Sioux Falls: South Dakota’s largest city offers excellent shopping, an historic downtown, theatre, symphony, museums, water parks, sporting events and festivals.
South Dakota Dept Tourism• Black Hills Caves: Eight Black Hills caves are open to the public. Jewel Cave National Monument, west of Custer, is the second-longest cave in the world with more than 216 kilometres of passages surveyed. With over 176 kilometres of mapped passages, Wind Cave National Park is the fourth-longest cave in the world and contains the world’s largest display of a rare formation called boxwork. Hidden Gems
• Triple U Buffalo Ranch: One of the largest buffalo herds in the world at the 24,240-hectare ranch made famous by the film, Dances With Wolves. Ft. Pierre.
• Captain’s Inn Bed & Breakfast: B&B in the home built in 1878 by Sanford B. Coulson of the Missouri River Transportation Company, complete with a watch tower. Yankton.
Did You Know?
State Motto: Under God the People Rule
State Flower: Pasque
State Bird: Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant
Fast Facts
Region: MOUNTAIN WEST
America’s Byways: Native American Scenic Byway, Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway
Connecting Flights Via: Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis
Sales Tools: South Dakota Vacation Guide, South Dakota Travelsmart e-newsletter, Travel Professionals e-newsletter (www.TourSDakota.com)
Info: South Dakota Department of Tourism
1-800-S-DAKOTA
www.travelsd.com