45 Reasons to Visit South Dakota
I love road trips. Planes may get you there faster, but then you miss out on all that is cool, beautiful, weird and unique about this country.
Take for instance South Dakota. If you’re like most Americans, you probably don’t think about it very much except to wonder why your Citibank statements come from there. Oh, and that mountain, with the faces. That’s in South Dakota, right?
Erm, yes. And so much more. In fact, take a drive along I-90 and it’s like a treasure trove of roadside attractions. In addition to all the truck stops, restaurants, hotels, and wineries vying for your attention, you’ve got places like the Corn Palace, Reptile Gardens, 1880 Town, and Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead throwing up billboards, begging you to stop. You could literally spend weeks visiting every tourist trap on this highway.

One of the most popular and well-known stops along the way – if only because they’ve purchased more than half the billboards within a 200-mile radius – is Wall Drug.
Believe it or not, the business thrived and grew because of free ice water. The Wall story is actually kind of cool; it’s the whole American Dream, rags to riches type of saga that they like to make movies about for the Hallmark Channel. It may have started out as just a drug store, but today it has grown into a mini-mall, complete with a bookstore, fudge shop, western art gallery, café, gold panning, arcade, souvenir shops, splash park, a jackalope, and an animatronic T-rex. Seriously. You almost need to see it to believe it.
Located just seven miles from the entrance to Badlands National Park, (76 miles to that monument with the faces, otherwise known as Mount Rushmore), Wall Drug sees millions of visitors pass through its walls (sorry!) every year.
Accessibility: Completely wheelchair accessible, with nice big bathrooms, too.
And since I know you were waiting for it, here are 45+ attractions found only in South Dakota, close to I-90:

- 1880 Town
- Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center
- Al’s Oasis – A South Dakota Tradition
- America’s Founding Fathers Exhibit
- Armed Forces Military Display
- Badlands Helicopter Tours (multiple operators)
- Badlands Petrified Gardens
- Badlands Prairie Homestead
- Badlands Ranch Store (feed the prairie dogs and free picnic area)
- Bear Country Wildlife Park
- Black Hills Caverns
- Buffalo Ridge
- Call of the Wild Wildlife Exhibit
- Capitol Lake War Memorial
- City of Presidents
- Crazy Horse Memorial
- Dances with Wolves filming sites
- Deadwood, South Dakota
- Fatima’s Family Shrine
- Falls Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- High Plains Western Heritage Museum
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead
- Minuteman Missle National Historic Site
- Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame
- Mount Rushmore
- National Museum of Woodcarving
- Old Fort Meade Cavalry Museum
- Old McDonald’s Petting Farm
- Old West Trading Post & Antique Mall
- Petrified Forest of the Black Hills
- Pioneer Auto Show
- Prehistoric Indian Village
- The Quilt Shop
- Reptile Gardens
- Rush Mountain Adventure Park
- Rushmore Borglum Museum
- Rushmore Cave
- Rushmore Tramway Adventures
- South Dakota Air and Space Museum
- South Dakota Hall of Fame
- South Dakota Tractor Museum
- Storybook Island
- The Corn Palace
- The Porter Sculpture Park
- Wall Drug
- Wonderland Cave
Lisa
I’ll be honest with you, I’d never thought of visiting South Dakota before reading your post. I’d like to see Badlands National Park, I’ve only ever seen photos. Falls Park in Sioux Falls sound picturesque, and yeah, I’d like to see the scene from Dances with Wolves too!
Sherrie
I totally understand! I always thought South Dakota was just a place I had to drive through to get to where I actually wanted to go 🙂 But there’s actually quite a lot to see in the state.
Jen Morrow
USA road trips are awesome! Every state and region has it’s own quirky attractions. The giant jackalope is fantastic. Such a massive list of things to do for my next road trip!
Sherrie
I love road trips, too. Hope this list offers some inspiration!
Raghav
That’s quite a detailed list and I’ll be honest, never have I ever thought about travelling to South Dakota (or North for that matter), but this is so very interesting. Road trips are always fun and the story about Wall Drug is reminiscent of many similar highway properties in India who have grown over the years from small shacks to big money making businesses. Thanks for the list and hope I get to use it soon some day.
Marcie
We drove from Seattle to Nebraska when I was in high school and I remember seeing the signs for Wall Drug, but my dad wouldn’t stop! Now I’m thinking I definitely need to bring my kids! What a fun road trip!
Sherrie
That’s so funny! My dad always hated pulling off the highway, too. I think that’s why I’m kind of the opposite. I love checking out roadside attractions.
Yukti
You have stated quite valid reasons which convinces me to visit South Dakota. I am interested in Falls Park at Sioux Falls. They are very beautiful. You have provided a very great list of all 45 places to see in South Dakota.
Mel Butler
Mount Rushmore is definitely a place that is on my bucketlist, ever since I seen as a kid in the movies. In regards to South Dakota I never knew that there was so much to do there, sounds like you can spend at least a good few days there exploring like the Bear Country Wildlife Park
Abhinav Singh
Wow, that’s quite an exhaustive list. Mount Rushmore is already on my wish list. I agree with you. I would rather take a road trip than sulk in the clinical and boring airplane. It takes longer on a road trip but who’s complaining?
Kim
I’m one of those people who thought there was nothing to do in South Dakota. But you’ve proven me wrong! So many interesting attractions to be found along just one road. Which one was your favorite?
Sherrie
Mount Rushmore for sure. But I really liked Wall Drug, too. It’s at the perfect spot where you’re ready to get out of the car, there’s a lot to eat and look at, and plenty of space to wander around. I’d also like to visit Deadwood and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead because I loved her books as a child.
Bhusha
Wow! That’s an extensive list. Esp., for someone like me who hasn’t been to the American continent yet, this is just soooo much… Mount Rushmore is perhaps the first tourist site in USA that I came to know of, decades ago from TV. Petrified forest? That’s intriguing…
Sherrie
I agree — the petrified forest sounds like an interesting one to visit.