Recreation & Entertainment

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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.

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