South Dakota
Visit Falls Park in downtown Sioux Falls at any time of year. Have a picnic in summer or enjoy the twinkling Christmas lights when the park becomes a winter wonderland. Get a map to find over 50 pieces of three-dimensional art installed outdoors across the city as part of SculptureWalk. Interact indoors with stingrays and over 800 butterflies at Sertoma Butterfly House & Marine Cove.
Rapid City has a form of sculpture walk too. Look for the life-size statues of all former U.S. presidents installed on street corners in a small section of the city. Be awed by ancient reptiles at the Dinosaur Museum, Dinosaur Park and the Museum of Geology.
Walk beneath the giant relief sculptures of four presidents at Mount Rushmore near Keystone. A short drive away, see the progress being made on the huge carved Crazy Horse Memorial honoring the leader of the Lakota Native American people.
In the Black Hills, visit Wind Cave National Park, a mixed-grass prairie with animals ranging aboveground. Underground, look for frostwork, which are unusual needle-shaped calcite growths. While in the area, see other Black Hills attractions of Custer State Park, Eye of the Needle rock formation and Sylvan Lake.
Drive through Badlands National Park, where you will see miles of desolate land shaped in buttes and spires, created by erosion of limestone rock. In this fossil-rich location, the National Park Service invites you to look for fossils and share photographs and locations with rangers for preservation.
Learn the stories of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane in the Wild West town of Deadwood, so named by gold miners who created the town practically overnight amid a stand of dead trees. Now the city is far from dead, offering spas, casinos, high-end dining and many historical points of interest.
For a memorable South Dakota experience, bring a pie tin to a shallow fast-moving stream and pan for gold. You probably won’t “strike it rich,” but you might find a colorful souvenir.