When hubby suggested a cross country trip to California, traveling through South Dakota to see the sights, I thought to myself And what sights might THOSE be?
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I mean let's face it...South Dakota is about as illustrious in Americans' minds as Wisconsin is.
When people picture Wisconsinites, they picture hick farmers with a bunch of pet cows, who just discovered indoor plumbing and whose state has town/city names no one but we can pronounce.
How America envisions Wisconsin Cheeseheads
My apologies to South Dakotans, your state is DOPE! Loved every minute I spent in it. Like it even better than I do my own state.
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Hubby and I decided we weren't going to make out any itinerary, we were just going to go where the wind blew us and play it moment by moment.
SIOUX FALLS
BUFFALO RIDGE 1880 COWBOY TOWN
Buffalo Ridge is one of those attractions you don't know exists unless you see a highway billboard advertising it - SEE SINGING SAM THE GORILLA MAN!
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Well, that was too good to pass up!
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Seen from the interstate, the attraction looks abandoned. Yellow caution tape is strung around rusty hay rakes and corn planters parked in the Town's main street. Paint is peeling from the buildings, windows are broken. It's what an 1880 cowboy town probably really looked like, minus the caution tape.
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Built as a little attraction in the ‘60s, it’s a single street of buildings, filled with robots.
There’s a saloon, a Chinese laundry, a fort, a haunted mine, etc.
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The robots are dressed as period men and women (and there’s even a version of Abraham Lincoln), but most are in serious disrepair and are falling apart in a very eerie but almost comical way.
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You can take a self-guided tour of the town, no problem, and explore all of the creepy, nearly abandoned weirdness for yourself.
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Don't miss Singing Sam the Gorilla Man in the entrance building next to the elaborate animated saloon scene.
The only explanation we could conjure for this monstrosity is that it was made by the same wandering robot craftsman who created Wall Drug's old Singing Sam the Gorilla Man. Both are coin-operated animations with a badly stitched gorilla pawing out "Pop Goes the Weasel" on a piano.
Address: 46614 W. Hwy 38, Buffalo Ridge, SD
Directions: Out behind the Buffalo Ridge Country Store. I-90 exit 390, then drive east a quarter-mile on Hwy 38. Admission is $8
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Update: Dean Songstad, the creator of the ghost town passed away December 23, 2016; 1880 Cowboy Town has since been renamed Buffalo Ridge Ghost Town and continues to operate.
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We also made a stop at the Sertoma Butterfly House & Aquarium located at 4320 S Oxbow Ave, Sioux Falls.
The Butterfly House is a balmy 80 degrees with 800 butterflies floating around the 3,600 square feet of space. These aren't just butterflies native to SD, there are species from all around the world, including Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australia.
Yes, they'll land on you.
In September 2022, the board of directors for the Butterfly House & Aquarium and Great Plains Zoo voted unanimously to merge the two organizations so there's now a combination butterfly house, zoo and aquarium where you can touch bamboo sharks and stingrays.
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BHA Admission Pricing
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Infant (Under age 2): Free
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Youth (Ages 2-17): $11 + Tax
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Adult (Ages 18-59): $15 + Tax
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Senior (Ages 60+): $13 + Tax
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Open year-round from 10 am - 4 pm (final admission at 3:30 pm)
You can purchase tickets online here
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FALLS PARK
ocated within Falls Park, the Big Sioux River tumbles over beautiful rock formations.
They may not be the biggest, or widest, falls in the world, but they hold their own appeal.
At Falls Park, which stretches to 123 acres, you can also find the walking (or biking) trail that can take you all around the city.
While you’re there, see if you can spot the remains of the Queen Bee Mill, a 19th-century structure on the east side of the river.
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OUTDOOR CAMPUS
The Outdoor Campus is run by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks department, and it’s a great spot to pick up a new skill, such as fishing, gardening or even skiing. The campus also gives you lots of fun events, where you can do many outdoor activities totally for free, like kayaking and fishing.
Classes are for both adults and kids.
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TERRACE PARK
Japanese Garden at Terrace Park
There are lots of fun amenities, ball courts, baseball fields, tennis courts and water features.
You can fish, canoe, kayak and splash around in the water as much as you please.
There’s even a swimming pool with water slides! Parents, while your kids are enjoying the water, maybe check out the sculpture, formal and Japanese gardens for a quick photo op.
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WILD WATER WEST
Wild Water West is the largest water park in the entire state, and has a ton of fun activities, whether you like to just float around a lazy river, or you want all the thrills of a huge water slide.
There are plenty of waterslides to go around at this park, and there’s even a wave pool with six-foot-high waves! Additionally, you can take advantage of the swim-up bar, something you won’t see in most water parks.
They do have options for those who’d rather stay nice and dry, including mini golf, sand volleyball and paintball.
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MITCHELL
CORN PALACE
The Corn Palace is located at 604 North Main Street in Mitchell. We literally stumbled upon it driving through town. It's the only Corn Palace in the world and you have to see the corn murals to believe them! Absolutely incredible.
During the summer months the Corn Palace offers free guided tours led by friendly guides full of "a-maize-ing" facts, like how many nails and staples are used in the decoration process. The tour also features an outstanding video explaining the Corn Palace Story. After the tour you can view displays about the Corn Palace, how the murals are created, souvenirs and entertainment from the past, and how the corn is grown.
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DAKOTA DISCOVERY MUSEUM
We were just passing through Mitchell but we did make a stop at the Discovery Museum.
Dakota Discovery Museum tells the story of people (Native American and immigrant people of the Middle Border states, primarily for the the period 1600 - 1939), who came to the northern Plains by uniquely combining art and artifact to tell the story of the region.
Admission was only $7 per adult and both hubby and I were/are of Native American descent so we figured what the heck, let's take a look. The museum isn't that large, you can get through it in about an hour.
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KEYSTONE
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MOUNT RUSHMORE
We were at Mount Rushmore for 2 days - the 3rd and 4th of July.
On July 3rd we were at the monument early to avoid the crowds, so had breakfast at Carver's Cafe that overlooks the monument - the only reason to eat at Carver's Cafe. Everyone must have slept in that morning as we were the only ones there.
View of Mt. Rushmore from Carver's Cafe
It was cool watching the sun rise on the monument. We noticed that Rushmore changes appearances depending on the light shining on it. After spending a good portion of the morning there, we drove into Keystone to look around - and this is where we got ourselves in trouble.
There was this military veteran chopper pilot... Now mind you, my husband was a military helicopter pilot and I've flown in everything from hang gliders to hot air balloons to plenty of choppers...so no fear of flying on our parts.
This guy was offering helicopter rides up to Rushmore. (This was pre-911). Wouldn't that be novel to fly up to Rushmore? Yeah! Let's go for it!
This chopper was a medevac style helicopter like on the TV show M*A*S*H so there's no doors on it and one seat belt that goes across all three of our laps. Which normally wouldn't have been any problem as far as hubby or I was concerned.
Until we discovered (too late) that our pilot likely got out of the military on a Section 8.
That lunatic nearly flew us right up George Washington's nostril! And .I'm surprised the rotor didn't give Roosevelt a moustache trim! Then he'd stand the chopper completely vertical, then roll it on its side - so I'm hanging onto my husband for dear life, hoping we don't have to recover his body parts from Lincoln's face.
The rotor wash in those older choppers is deafening. I'm shouting at this lunatic pilot "GET...US...DOWN...NOW!" but of course, he can't hear me with the rotor wash. Or maybe he could and was just pretending he couldn't hear me.
Moral of the story: Pass on any helicopter rides to Rushmore.
The following evening was the 4th of July and we decided we'd brave the crowds to see Rushmore's 4th of July show that features presidential re-enactors, Native performers, musical performances and a traditional evening lighting ceremony.
This is all performed in the amphitheater above left and the monument is in total darkness. You can't see any of it until they light it up, which takes your breath away. The monument is far more beautiful at night than it is in daylight. By the time the fireworks were being shot off accompanied by the national anthem being blasted, I don't think there was a dry eye in that amphitheater.
If you ever want to see Rushmore at its finest, go for the evening 4th of July ceremony. You'll be glad you did because it is memorable to say the very least.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial does not charge an entrance fee. However, a parking fee is required to park in the concession-operated parking facility. Parking fees may be paid with cash or most credit cards.
Parking is readily available in the memorial's parking complex. A parking ticket entitles a non-commercial vehicle unlimited entry to the memorial for one year from the date of purchase. Designated handicapped parking areas are located in both parking garages in the upper and middle levels.
You don't need to pay for a guided tour to Rushmore, just explore on your own.
The Mount Rushmore Audio Tour: A Living Memorial is a recorded audio guide at Mount Rushmore National Memorial incorporating narration, music, interviews, sound effects and recordings of Gutzon Borglum, Lincoln Borglum, American Indians and workers. It's one of the better audio guides I've heard.
The audio tour is available to rent by visiting the bookstore located inside the Information Center. Rental fee is $6.
The tour is also translated in Spanish, German, French and Lakota. For additional information on the audio tour: Contact | Mount Rushmore Society
We decided Kaystone was pretty interesting so spent an additional couple of days there exploring.
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BIG THUNDER GOLD MINE
Our next stop in Keystone was at the Big Thunder Gold Mine. If you want to experience what gold mining was like, this is the place to do it.
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Located just off the hustling and bustling Keystone strip, Big Thunder Gold Mine invites visitors of all ages and abilities to join us as you explore the mining history of the Black Hills as told throughout an immersive tour of this authentic 1890’s gold mine.
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After you’re done exploring the mine, head over to the Mining Museum where you’ll find the largest collection of equipment and artifacts from the Black Hills Gold Rush. Stop by their on-site gold panning beds afterwards and try your hand at panning gold. There is a Big Thunder Bar & Grill on site as well as the Big Thunder Coffee Cabin.
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Mine tour rates are separate from panning rates and are:
Adults: $16.95
Children, Ages 6 – 12: $13.95
Children, Ages 5 and Younger: Free
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Check the website for panning rates and also for current hours.
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The mine is located at 604 Blair St. Keystone.
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HOLY TERROR ANTIQUES
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We were actually looking for a place to stop and have lunch when we stumbled upon a pretty unique shop called Holy Terror Antiques.
The store opened in May 2005, after Pam Brodine, Dennis Kling, and Westly Parker custom designed the building in which the store is located, to replicate an old mine building.
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They did a great job! The interior does indeed resemble an old mine building and products are uniquely displayed.
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They have an eclectic array of furniture, pottery, glass, country store items, advertising, and much more. With over 40 years in the trade, this has allowed them to put together a collection rarely seen in one place.
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The Holy Terror Antique Store is located at
1201 Old Hill City Rd. Keystone, just 2 miles west of town.
They're open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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CRUIZZERS
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We always ask the locals the best places to eat and the good folks at Holy Terror Antiques steered us to Cruizzers. 110B Winter St. Keystone.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out it resembled a 1950's diner...took me back to my younger days.
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​Cruizzers serves mainly pizza and sub sandwiches but the pizza was delicious and they sure didn't skimp on the toppings!
DEADWOOD
Stuffed full of pizza, we headed off for Deadwood, an Old West town where Wild Bill Hickock was shot during a poker game and buried, Calamity Jane being buried right next to him.
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Today Deadwood is a mix of modern and Old West. We decided to forgo camping and checked into the Historic Town Hall Inn in nearby Leeds. The Town Hall Inn is a boutique B&B that once housed all of the old west government offices so we had the Municipal Judge's Chamber as our suite.
The inn owners are kind and welcoming, the rooms are both spacious and spotless, and the building has an interesting history as the center of town operations starting in 1912. The rooms are also named for their former purpose, so you could be staying in a former courtroom.
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Our accommodations were very nice and included a kitchenette as well as continental
breakfast. I don't remember the exact price we paid but it was under $75 - a far cry from the current $186.
​​The Inn is located at 215 West Main St. Lead, SD​
There is a self guided walking tour of Deadwood Smart Phone app available for $7.75 if you're interested. Once we figured out the WalkNTours app it was easy to use. However, Deadwood is a rather noisy place so don't do this tour without earbuds. Also, there are some references to brothel activity and some violent killings of the day, so parents should be aware.
We took a stroll down Deadwood's main street where Saloon #10 still stands. This was where Wild Bill Hickok met his demise.
It's a recreation of the Nuttal & Mann's Saloon, the original having burned down. The current No. 10 Saloon is not at the same location as the original Nuttal & Mann's. However, it is a working saloon serving drinks.
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During the summer on Mondays through Fridays there's a free re-enactment of the shooting of Wild Bill that takes place in the No.10 Saloon.
Just a couple of doors down was a building with a big sign advertising BROTHEL. I tried the door but it was locked so my guess would be it's not a brothel anymore.
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Wild Bill's Trading Post is still a functioning saloon and the real location where Wild Bill was shot. (Downstairs from the bar) Back then you could go down there for free but now I guess they nick you $10 to $20 to go downstairs and look around as long as you want.
Deadwood's interesting but it is a tourist trap now, which kind of ruins the ambiance.We did hike up to Mt. Moriah Cemetery just to get a photo of Wild Bill's and Calamity Jane's graves. I found it kind of odd though in that the cemetery is right smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood of houses. There's a very long set of steps to climb to get to the cemetery.
DEADWOOD MODEL TRAIN
Being both hubby and I were railroad brats and had our own HO model train layout, we hit the brakes for this one! Look for the building with the red awning that says DEADWOOD BAD LANDS, go into the building and down into the basement to see the train layout. The building is across from Mineral Palace in the “Deadwood Badlands” district.
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No admission fee, it's free but if you want to watch the trains run it costs $1 for 10 minutes.
It's a large diorama so it'll take about 20 minutes to really see the whole thing and all the little details that went into building it.
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DEADWOOD ALIVE
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Another freebie! Witness the infamous trial of the man who killed Wild Bill Hickok. Six nights a week (no shows on Sundays). The capture of Jack McCall takes place in front of the Old Style Saloon No. 10 At 7:35 PM.
The Trial of Jack McCall takes place at the Wild Bill Theatre on Main Street at 8:00 PM. Website
The play follows the shooting of Wild Bill and capture of Crooked Nose Jack in front of the Saloon No. 10. This family-friendly show utilizes members of the audience to participate in the performance serving as extras in the Trial. This show is one of the longest running stage plays in the nation having been performed in Deadwood since 1924.
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BEEF JERKY EXPERIENCE
My favorite place to shop in Deadwood. I love beef jerky and Beef Jerky Experience has more flavors than you can imagine - bison, alligator, turtle, kangaroo, elk, python, camel, ostrich, venison and more. I love the "try before you buy" option and the odd items they have like fried in the shell peanuts. Their selection of products is amazing!
Spoiler alert: Be prepared for sticker shock.
SPEARFISH
We'd seen all of Deadwood we wanted to see so decided to drive 14 miles over to Spearfish just to see the scenery. Again we stumbled on one of those oddities whose billboard screams at you from the roadside - FISH CAR NO. 3
What in tarnation was a fish car??? Our curiosity got the better of us.
On the site of the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery & Archives in Spearfish, South Dakota, visitors can marvel at how thousands of fish traveled in style, aboard a replica of “Fish Car No. 3.” Over the span of 66 years, from 1881 to 1947, the United States government made use of 10 custom rail cars to shepherd billions of fish across millions of miles at the behest of the United States Fish Commission (a predecessor to today’s Fish and Wildlife Service).
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Before the custom-built trains’ debut, fish had had to roll through the prairies however they could—with mixed results. In 1873, a repurposed fruit car tried to deliver a hodgepodge of trout, catfish, and lobsters from New Hampshire to California; six days later, a bridge collapse in Nebraska released dozens of confused shellfish into the middle of the Cornhusker State.
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Each new car came with more bells and whistles than the last: When the original Fish Car No. 3 rolled into service in 1884, it came not only with specialized ice compartments to keep its underwater passengers chill en route, but also with the capacity to hatch fish eggs while on the move. In 1886, No. 3 left the Susquehanna River in Maryland with more han half a million shad eggs, which would become thriving fish fry by the time they reached their new home in Oregon’s Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
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Unfortunately, by World War II, both trucks and airplanes would prove the fish cars’ undoing. Each of the fish cars soon found themselves disassembled, and their equipment parted out to the hatcheries they once served. But in so many of the lakes and rivers throughout the country, countless descendants of those road tripping rainbow trout and perch are still swimming today.
DINING IN DEADWOOD
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DEADWOOD LEGENDS STEAKHOUSE
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Deadwood Legends Steakhouse is appropriately named as it is rather notorious, being housed in the Franklin Hotel on Main Street and operating since the Gold Rush days of 1876. It has hosted such notables as Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, Preacher Smith, Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Babe Ruth, John Wayne and Kevin Costner.
The Franklin Hotel
Legends is open for breakfast and dinner.
Although it specializes in steaks, it also offers chicken, seafood, pasta and chops.
All steaks are 21 day minimum age, hand-cut certified Angus beef.
I ordered the Steak Oscar and can honestly say I never tasted a steak as good as Legend's steak was. Out of this world. Hubby had that buffalo ribeye and said his steak was phenomenal as well. $$-$$$
JACOB'S BREWHOUSE & GROCER
Jacob's Brewhouse & Cafe is a unique kind of place, having a Restaurant, Bakery, Cafe AND Brewery. The staff is super friendly and offers exceptional service. Menu
I liked the presentation of their food with the stamped buns and fries in mini fry baskets - clever. The food was excellent. $$-$$$
79 Sherman Street, Deadwood
PADDY O'NEILL'S IRISH PUB & GRILL
Being Irish I had to scope out Paddy O'Neill's Irish Pub at 555 Main Street at Deadwood, adjacent to the Tin Lizzie casino. $$-$$$
Typical bar food but solid bar food. We both had Reuben sandwiches with waffle fries.
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For the first time ever, we had a little robot delivering our food to our table which was pretty entertaining and unexpected. Although it wasn't an authentic Irish pub, it was okay for a lunch stop.
ROSEBUD NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION
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I'm part Native American (Sioux) so I wanted to stop at the Rosebud Reservation, home of the Sicangu Sioux Nation.
I'd always been drawn to anything Native American, especially Sioux but never understood why until I discovered I was Sioux myself.
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I'd worked at the Ojibwe reservation in Lac du Flambeau near my home. An elder was teaching me the Ojibwe language, I'd danced in their powwows, etc. so was familiar with Ojibwe culture but not Sioux.
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I wanted to learn more about the Sioux.
Sicangu Sioux Nation dancers