LifeScienceHistory.com - Check us out on Instagram
Take Your Next Career Step with Lundback
Recreation & Entertainment
Industry
Snapshot | Economy/Cost of
Living
Education
| Transportation
| Geography & Climate
History | Suggested Reading List
South Dakota offers many recreational and entertainment opportunities throughout the state. From
exploring natural wonders, hiking, and enjoying performing arts, South Dakota offers diversions to suit
almost anyone.
South Dakota hosts a number of museums showcasing a wide variety of subjects. The South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings showcases permanent galleries, changing
exhibitions of contemporary and traditional works of art, publications, lectures, workshops, and more
to the public, artists, students, and faculty. The Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls offers several features,
including the Visual
Arts Center, with six galleries of changing exhibits and including Native American artwork in
addition to contemporary art; the Kirby Science Discovery Center, providing family-friendly, hands-on science
experiences; and the CineDome Theater, among other attractions. The Journey Museum in Rapid City preserves and explores the cultural heritage of the
Black Hills and Western Great Plains with four major prehistoric and historic collections. The
Dacotah Prairie Museum contains long
and short-term exhibits depicting the settlement and development of the Dakota prairie. The Center for Western Studies, at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, preserves and
interprets the history and cultures of the Northern Plains and serves as a repository for over 200
archival collections, in addition to a library of over 35,000 volumes on the American West. The
Agricultural Heritage Museum in Brookings
specializes in the agricultural history of South Dakota from 1860 to 1950, and features a technology
and photo archive. A tragic chapter in South Dakota history is interpreted and preserved at the
Wounded Knee Museum in Wall;
visitors can learn about the Wounded Knee Massacre via graphics, photographs, and first hand accounts.
The Old Court House Museum in Vicksburg
features thousands of artifacts reflecting the heritage of the region from prehistory to modern
times. Music lovers will enjoy the National Music
Museum in Vermilion, home to a fantastic collection of over 13,500 instruments from many global
cultures and different eras. Natural history buffs should not miss the Museum of Geology at the School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, home to a
collection of over 250,000 vertebrate fossils and 6,000 minerals, emphasizing the fossils and minerals
of the Black Hills region.
The Mount Rushmore State offers several opportunities for enjoying the performing arts. Orchestral
music aficionados will enjoy the South Dakota
Symphony of Sioux Falls, performing for over 80 years. Its 90 members and several guest conductors
perform a season of 10 full orchestra concerts, five chamber concerts, and two special event
performances. Jazz music fans can revel in the South
Dakota Jazz Orchestra, a non-profit jazz orchestra based out of Sioux Falls. Fans of the theatre
will enjoy performances throughout the state, such as the Black Hills Playhouse in Rapid City, founded in 1946; the Augustana Theatre Company at Augustana College in Sioux Falls; and the Aberdeen Community Theatre in Aberdeen.
With its fascinating historical pedigree, South Dakota is home to many historic sites and memorials.
The Mount Rushmore State is famed for its Mount
Rushmore National Memorial, where four presidents are carved in stone to represent the first 150
years of American history. The Crazy Horse
Memorial, a work in progress located in the Black Hills, is the world’s largest mountain sculpture,
a memorial built to honor the spirit of Lakota leader Crazy Horse and the culture, tradition, and
living heritage of North American Indians. Mitchell
Prehistoric Indian Village in Mitchell is home to a prehistoric Native American village
archaeological site which educates visitors about life in the former 1,000 year-old plains village.
The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs is the
world’s largest mammoth research facility, and offers a tour of an active paleontological dig for Ice
Age fossils to promote understanding of the natural history of the Black Hills in the late Pleistocene
era. Laura Ingalls Wilder, beloved author of the pioneer "Little House on the Prairie" books,
is memorialized by the Laura Ingalls Wilder
Memorial Society in De Smet, where visitors can explore two of Wilder’s former homes; and by the
Ingalls Homestead, where Wilder’s father
claimed land in the 1880’s. The Lewis & Clark
National Historic Trail passes through eleven states, including South Dakota, and commemorates the
journey from 1804 to 1806 of the famed Corps of Discovery that searched for a water route to the
Pacific Ocean and opened the West to settlement. In Pierre, visitors can learn about the thousands of
South Dakota men and women who contributed to victory in World War II at the South Dakota World War II Memorial. Remnants of the Cold War remain at the
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, where
visitors can explore an underground launch control and a missile silo, ominous reminders of the threat
of nuclear war.
South Dakota offers family friendly attractions throughout the state. The Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown houses over 500 mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles,
fish, and invertebrates representing 130 varieties from South Dakota and around the world. The Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural
History in Sioux Falls is home to over 500 animals from around the world, housed in simulated
natural habitats throughout the 45-acre (0.182 square kilometer or 18.2 hectare) park. Reptile Gardens in Rapid City houses more species of reptiles than any other zoo or
park in the world, and seeks to educate the public about environmental issues to promote species
survival, in addition to giving visitors an up-close experience with the exotic creatures. Bear Country USA in Rapid City is home to many North American mammals, including
black bear, elk, reindeer, deer, cougars, bobcats, rocky mountain goats, dall sheep, and buffalo, which
visitors can view on 250 acres (1.01 square kilometers or 101 hectares) of land; a Wildlife Center
houses younger and smaller animals.
South Dakota boasts fascinating natural and geological features, in addition to trails, rivers, and
lakes, providing spectacular opportunities for outdoor recreation and wildlife viewing. Badlands National Park, in the southwest part of the state, contains the world’s
richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, in addition to interesting land formations such as buttes,
pinnacles, and spires intermixed with some of the largest, protected mixed-grass prairie in the
nation. Jewel Cave National Monument in Custer
is home to the second longest cave in the world, at 139 miles (224 kilometers) in length; it is so
named for its calcite crystals, strands of gypsum, and other formations. Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs contains one of the world’s longest and most
complex caves as well as 28,295 acres (114.5 square kilometers or 11,451 hectares) of mixed-grass
prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and wildlife inhabitants. The Missouri National Recreational River preserves the natural beauty of 100 miles (161
kilometers) of the Missouri River, which has figured through American history for Native Americans, fur
trappers, Lewis and Clark, and others. Outdoor recreation opportunities also abound in several other
protected lands, such as the Black Hills
National Forest, the Dakota Prairie
Grasslands, and the Nebraska National
Forest, among others.
South Dakota hosts many enjoyable events throughout the year. Among these are the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo, Czech
Days, the Corn Palace Festival,
the Spirit of the West Festival,
and many more.
Sports fans will appreciate the professional teams of South Dakota. Baseballs fans can cheer the
minor league team, the Sioux Falls
Canaries, and hockey fans can enjoy the Sioux
Falls Stampede. Ski buffs will enjoy the ski resorts of the Mount Rushmore State, including
Deer Mountain Ski Area, Terry Peak Ski Area, and Great
Bear Recreation Park.
Related Resources: