DESTINATION AMERICA
SOUTH DAKOTA - THE GREAT PLACES STATE

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE GUIDE

South Dakota Discover a world of unusual landscapes, colourful history, American Indian culture, outdoor adventure and old-fashioned hospitality.

Desolate but beautiful Badlands National Park and the majestic Black Hills, where pine forests grow among mountain peaks over 7,000 ft high, fill the south-western corner of the State. This where you will find the famous giant presidential faces on Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park and the Jewel Cave National Monument.  The Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup offers a thrill of a lifetime as visitors can watch cowboys on horseback corral a herd of 1,500 buffalo.  The ground shakes and the dirt swirls as the awesome creatures go thundering by.

Just 17 miles from Mount Rushmore you can watch blasting in process on Crazy Horse Memorial, more than a lifetime's work of shaping a mountain the honour the famous Indian Chief.  When completed this carving will stand 563 feet high!

Adventurous drivers can get off the main highways and travel remote Forest Service backroads to the dozens of ghost towns and abandoned mines in the area. America's largest working gold mine, the Homestake, is in Lead, and offers surface tours.

Rapid City has a unique choice of visitor attractions ranging from Dinosaur Park and the Sioux Indian Museum to hot-air ballooning.