Tag Archive for: South Dakota

Top 3 movies that will bring South Dakota to you

  1. Dances With Wolves (1990)

Black Hills, Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism

Many well-known films have been shot in South Dakota, including epic western film Dances with Wolves which features Kevin Costner as an Army Lieutenant who is assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost. The movie was filmed in beautiful South Dakota locations near Pierre and Rapid City at Badlands National Park, the Black Hills, the Sage Creek Wilderness Area, and the Belle Fourche River Area. You can go on a free tour of the set and view original buildings used in the film at Fort Hays.

  1. Armageddon (1998)

Badlands National Park, Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism

Another film that featured the striking Badlands National Park was science fiction film Armageddon starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. It is about a group of oil drillers who are sent by NASA to prevent an asteroid from hitting earth and killing everyone.

  1. How the West Was Won (1962)

Custer State Park wildlife loop, Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism

Epic-western film How the West Was Won follows four generations of a family as they move from New York to the Pacific Ocean. The film showcases herds of buffalo in the picturesque Custer State Park. Today, you can drive Custer State Park’s 18-mile Wildlife Loop State Scenic Byway to see buffalo, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, and coyote up close!

More info at https://www.travelsouthdakota.com/ or https://greatamericanwest.com.au/

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Explore the spooky Jewel Cave National Monument

Jewel Cave National Monument is the perfect place for an exciting family adventure, with large chambers filled with boulders, tight crawlways, and narrow cracks which lead into the unknown. This is the third longest cave in the world, and it contains over 208 miles of mapped passages with a huge variety of geological features including nailhead spar, dogtooth spar, boxwork, cave popcorn, flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites, and draperies. A scenic walking tour is a lovely way to explore the cave and learn about the cave formations, its discovery and ongoing exploration.

Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism

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Check out an Australian saltwater crocodile at the Reptile Gardens

Rapid City’s Reptile Gardens is a zoo and botanical garden with the largest collection of reptiles in the world according to the 2018 Guinness Book of World Records. You can see giant tortoises, prairie dogs, bald eagles, snakes, and frogs. Stroll through the massive indoor three-level Sky Dome to view a tropical oasis with exotic birds, a Komodo dragon, Australian saltwater crocodile called Maniac, fossils, and a Safari Room filled with tropical plants including orchids, bromeliads, and caladiums. Kids will love gold panning and gemstone sluicing at the Rattlesnake Gulch exhibit, or seeing snake, alligator, and bird shows which run throughout the day.

Credit: South Dakota Tourism

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Pioneer experience of ‘Little House on the Prairie’

For a pioneer experience, head to Ingalls Homestead where famous author of ‘Little Town on the Prairie’ Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up. The whole family will enjoy the various activities here including demonstrations of twisting hay sticks and making a jump rope and a corn cob doll. Kids will love visiting the farm animals and many guests’ highlight of the trip is the chance to drive the team of horses when taking a covered wagon ride! There is also the opportunity for children to visit the schoolhouse and wear pinafores and bonnets or straw hats while a teacher explains interesting stories and example activities students would have performed. You can even camp here for the night in the covered wagons, bunkhouse, RV and tent sites.

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Mickelson Trail

Located in the heart of the Black Hills, the famous Mickelson Trail stretches from Deadwood to Edgemont is one of the best places to go for a bike ride, hike, or horse ride in North America. This 109-mile trail will take you past spruce and ponderosa pine forests and contains four rock tunnels and more than 100 converted railroad bridges. The trail has gentle slopes making it the ideal place for a family bike ride as children can ride this trail too. If you’re looking for accommodation nearby, stay at Quality Inn Hill City Mount Rushmore which is located directly in front of the Mickelson trail. This hotel even has a room dedicated for guests to store their bicycles in, in addition to an indoor heated pool, free Wi-Fi, and a free hot breakfast.

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Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center

The Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center at St. Joseph’s Indian School aims to honour and preserve the rich culture of the Lakota people. The museum has an intriguing collection of artefacts and displays that can be used to educate people about the unique history of the Lakota people and their fascinating culture today. There are four key parts of the museum tour including Camp Circle which focuses on the historical relationships between the tribes and Two Worlds Meet which looks at the arrival of the Euro-American explorers and traders in the early 1800s. Broken Promises details the U.S. government’s involvement in the loss of traditional lands and treaties, while Continuity and Change focuses on how Native Americans have adapted to their new way of life and successfully preserved their rich heritage and important traditions.

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