I am working on visiting all 50 states in the U.S. and recently spent some time in South Dakota. My mom and I went on a bit of a crazy and spontaneous road trip to visit Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa. These states are not the most popular destinations. For South Dakota, Mount Rushmore brings in plenty of tourists, but I wasn’t sure that we would see much more when checking off the state of South Dakota. We ended up being surprised by South Dakota and found some gems that I had not heard of during my research while planning the trip prior. If a trip to South Dakota is in your future, keep reading for recommendations on what to do in South Dakota!

Mount Rushmore

Of course, as mentioned above, Mount Rushmore brings tourists to the state of South Dakota. Although I have seen pictures of Mount Rushmore in textbooks and in movies, it really was a sight to see in person! The amount of work that went into this sculpture high up in the rocky mountain is nothing short of spectacular. The history behind the purpose of sculpting Mount Rushmore, the process of the creation, and what Mount Rushmore has done for the state of South Dakota was interesting to learn about. When visiting Mount Rushmore, you can watch short videos about the history in their movie theatre rooms, or you can attend short presentations on the creation and evolution of Mount Rushmore. I recommend attending at least one of the presentations or short films!

There are a couple of short hikes you can embark on when visiting this national park. I recommend taking the trail with steps to The Sculptor’s Studio. Here, they have the original replica and museum artifacts from when Mount Rushmore was originally created. The Sculptor’s Studio is where I listened to a short presentation about the park’s history. The Presidential Trail is another hike. This hike will take you closer to Mount Rushmore where you can get a different view of the sculpture from below.

Be sure to visit the gift shop and the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center while you are here. To enter the park, there is no entrance fee, but you do need to pay for parking. There were several parking garages that were charging $10 per vehicle at the nearby kiosks. Check their website for their park hours.

The Badlands

Badlands National Park also brings tourists to South Dakota. The Badlands consists of a dry climate, canyons, and prairies. Although there are various hikes here, the landscape doesn’t change too much throughout the park. The overlooks seemed to show the scenery from the best view, and the hikes don’t take you to some rewarding unseen destination. For that reason, we stuck with the scenic drive when going through the Badlands and stopped off at all the outlooks. Badlands Loop Road is the 39-mile scenic drive that is the popular route for exploring this national park.

Wall Drug

Although I did not read about Wall Drug in my research about South Dakota, most people that I had told about my trip and who had been to South Dakota previously said that Wall Drug was a must. Wall Drug was originally a small pharmacy opened by a couple in Wall, South Dakota. During the Great Depression, the business was struggling, and the wife thought of something that may bring locals in – free ice water. After putting up signs along the highway stating that free ice water could be found at Wall Drug, business started to pick up.

Now, Wall Drug has expanded and has turned into quite the tourist attraction. They sell almost anything and everything here – classic pharmacy items, coffee and donuts, shoes and boots, clothes, foods and desserts, souvenir trinkets, etc. And yes, you can still get free ice water here. Signs along the highway still bring travelers in to Wall Drug. I don’t know how many Wall Drug signs we saw while on the highway, but I would guess that there were at least 40 decorated signs. Reading all the signs was a form of entertainment for the drive through South Dakota.

Spearfish, South Dakota

Spearfish, South Dakota is a quaint town we literally stumbled upon that I really want to highlight. I had not read about Spearfish when researching South Dakota, and we had not originally planned on stopping here on our trip. As we were travelling on our road trip, we spontaneously decided to head toward South Dakota a tiny bit earlier than we originally planned. We figured we would move toward Mount Rushmore on our route to be closer for the following morning’s plans. With that decision change, we ended up in lovely Spearfish, South Dakota. This town was the most wonderful surprise that added so much to our trip, so I have several recommendations when it comes to visiting Spearfish.

Go camping

Spearfish, South Dakota is a great spot for camping. We stayed one night at Spearfish City Campground. This was one of the nicest campgrounds I have stayed at. It was located in a peaceful area with a stream going through the campground. The staff was friendly, and the facilities were clean. There were paved trails departing from the campground, and there were several great spots within walking distance from our site.

fish Hatchery

One of the places that was a very short walk from the campground was the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery & Archives. Various fish species are bred and raised here and are later used to help support other ecosystems in need. There is a museum and gift shop here, and entry is always free. It is an interesting spot to stop while you are in the area.

When we were staying at the nearby campground, we saw a free car show being hosted at the fish hatchery. It was a fun surprise that Saturday morning, so we walked through and learned about the fish hatchery and saw all the unique and antique cars.

Main Street

Spearfish has a cute downtown area on Main Street. The Friday night we stayed at the campground, we saw a live music event taking place downtown. A local band was performing on stage, food trucks were serving all kinds of food, and numerous locals gathered. There was corn hole and pickleball and other games set up in the street. It was clearly the place to be that beautiful night!

favorite coffee shop

We went to an amazing coffee shop called Blackbird Espresso. It is located in the downtown area which was a short distance from our campground. The coffee shop had a great ambience, the coffee was delicious, and their pastries were phenomenal. My mom and I split a chocolate croissant and a raspberry and lemon pastry. We also bought an earl grey cookie to eat later. I had never heard of an earl grey cookie before, but it was tasty! They had various breakfast sandwich options and acai bowls as well. This place is definitely worth the stop!

noteworthy restaurant

We went out for dinner the one night we stayed in Spearfish, and we ate at The Farmhouse Bistro & Bar. I highly recommend this restaurant! It is classy but can also be casual. Think of a farm to table type restaurant. They had indoor seating and a cute peaceful back patio where we ate dinner around sunset. Check out their website for the menu.

farmer’s market

On a Saturday morning, we visited their Neighbor2Neighbor Farmer’s Market at Lions Park. It was in a cute location and had plenty of business owners. You could buy art, fresh bread, homemade jam, desserts, produce, and woven crafts to name a couple things. Check it out during your stay and support local!

Spearfish city park

Spearfish City Park was a nice park located near our campground as well. Beside the playground, they had a stand for sharing play equipment such as basketballs, baseballs and bats, etc. I often see little stands for taking and leaving books, but I haven’t seen a stand for sharing park equipment or toys, so I thought that was a cute touch. There are also bikes near the park that you can rent if you so choose!

Corn Palace

One other spot we stopped at near the end of our time driving through South Dakota was The World’s Only Corn Palace. This stop is slightly strange, but it is a unique spot to stretch your legs during your drive if you so choose. The Corn Palace is made out of corn, and the art on the side of the building is constructed from different parts of corn. It is random but impressive. The Corn Palace is a venue that hosts concerts and different events throughout the year. We were able to walk inside without there being an event to attend.

Conclusion

There is more to South Dakota than just Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore and Spearfish were easily my favorite stops in South Dakota! Add Spearfish to your itinerary if you haven’t already. We visited in the summer, and it was certainly worth the visit! If you have been to South Dakota and have additional suggestions, leave a comment below!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers to working towards having visited all 50 states and making connections around the world! To read my other blog posts, check out the destinations tab on my website.