Keystone is Truly an ‘Old Soul’ Town
A town that hosts 2 million-plus visitors a year is going to look snazzy at first glance, but Keystone has an old soul. Mining began in the 1870s, and the town was created in 1891. [...]
Keystone Chefs Satisfy All Appetites
There’s something for any guest in Keystone, and there are some things you won’t find just anywhere — such as rattlesnake sausage (at the Big Thunder Gold Mine). Keystone’s chefs have embraced wild game. You’ll [...]
Our ‘Fifth Face’ is Sasquatch
Even before carving was completed on Mount Rushmore, many politicians have imagined themselves as the Fifth Face. Another figure was carved in the winter of 2020 but it represents a man who never won an [...]
A Cemetery With a Presidential View
Travelers drawn to cemeteries are welcome at Keystone’s Mountain View Cemetery, a nicely-tended resting place on the west side of town. Just follow Cemetery Road. This is the only cemetery with a view of Mount [...]
A University Town of Youth, Culture & Cattle
Young people are everywhere in Brookings. The average South Dakotan is 37. The average resident of Brookings is 24. Youth happens when you’re a modest-sized city (pop. 22,000) with a big university, and it has [...]
Shopping Mecca for a Vast Territory
Climb Black Elk Peak, South Dakota’s tallest mountain, and look in all four directions. You’ll see that there are not any big cities on the surrounding prairies. Consequently, Rapid City has become a shopping mecca [...]
Head for the Square!
Once upon a time, in an age before urban sprawl and six-lane highways, visionary cities were organized around a town square. Rapid Citians embraced that age-old concept in recent years by cooperating to create Main [...]
Sea Turtles & Sharks in South Dakota?
You won’t need hooks or spear guns to snag a shark in South Dakota. All our sharks have been dead for about 65 million years. But the Museum of Geology on the SDSMT campus (501 [...]
The Journey Museum
Ok, be honest: we’ve all been to museums that seem like dusty collections of forgettable old stuff. The Journey Museum is altogether different. It skillfully illustrates the Black Hills region’s 2.5 billion years of geographic [...]
A River That Connects Us
Some rivers divide people. The “Mighty” Missouri River does just the opposite in South Dakota. It brings together all sorts of people who share a love for its wild nature, its rich history and the [...]
Lake Oahe: Wide, Wild and Winding
Lake Oahe’s nickname is “The Big Water” because it is so impressive, even in a state rich with rivers and lakes. The 230-mile waterway lies between the state capital cities of the two Dakotas, Pierre [...]
Lake Sharpe: The Land with the Big Bend
Lake Sharpe flows for 80 miles from Oahe Dam at Pierre to Big Bend Dam at Fort Thompson. One of South Dakota’s many intriguing geological features is a loop in the river called Big Bend. [...]
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