7 Inexplicably Huge Animals in South Dakota: 50 States of Wonder - Atlas Obscura

50 States of Wonder
7 Inexplicably Huge Animals in South Dakota

One of the great resources of the Mount Rushmore State is millions and millions of years old: fossils. The state has long had pride of place in the paleontology world for the dinosaurs and mammoths that have been excavated there. And that history seems to have provided inspiration for the state's menagerie of massive megafauna. Here are some of our favorite places that celebrate dinosaurs, huge animal art installations, mammoths, and ... a prairie dog?

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The dinosaur is just one of Wall Drug's offbeat attractions. lendog666 (Atlas Obscura User)
Roadside Attraction

1. Wall Drug

Among roadside attractions, Wall Drug is an icon: It's the granddaddy of tourist traps. The stop is impossible to miss, thanks to countless billboards along the highway, advertising its ice water, which it has given away since the 1930s. Over the years, the store has turned into an attraction in its own right, with all sorts of bizarre things, from taxidermied jackalopes to giant fiberglass dinosaurs. They still give out ice water, too—some 20,000 cups of it on a busy day. (Read more.)

510 Main St, Wall, SD 57790

The artwork is made from found objects. JohnLopezStudio (Atlas Obscura User)
Art Studio

2. Kokomo Gallery

This sculpture gallery is home to the mind-boggling work of the artist John Lopez, who collects materials from local farmers and ranchers. Most of the artwork is made from a blend of scrap metal, found objects, and little bronze figurines welded together to take the flowing, sinuous shapes of animals. They come in large and small sizes, and of particular interest are the sculpture of an octopus made from an old motorcycle gas tank and a steampunk owl made of saw blades. (Read more.)

304 Main Ave #1, Lemmon, SD 57638

That's a whole lot of prairie dog. breaingram (Altas Obscura User)
Roadside Attraction

3. Giant Prairie Dog

Outside the spectacular Badlands National Park, there is a prairie dog of a disturbing size. It stands at the Badlands Ranch Store gift shop—12 towering feet of concrete—surrounded by an actual colony of real, smaller, furrier versions. It's held court there for over 50 years, and while it's showing some age, it's not showing any signs of going anywhere. (Read more.)

 

21190 SD-240, Philip, SD 57567

The park has more than 50 massive sculptures. Butson (Atlas Obscura User)
Outdoor Art

4. Porter Sculpture Park

Cruising along I-90, there's a lot of flat ranch land, so a motorist might be surprised to come upon a massive, 60-foot bull’s head, rising out of the ground like some pagan effigy guarded by a pair of skeletal minotaurs. That's just the beginning of Porter Sculpture Park, a collection of more than 50 welded metal sculptures by artist and farmer Wayne Porter. The sculptures are comprised of old scrap metal and disused agricultural and railroad equipment, often painted in bright, cheery colors. But look a little closer and things can get dark: a jack-in-the-box crying blood, an oversized frog mid-dissection, a handful of roaring dragons. (Read more.)

45160 257th St, Montrose, SD 57048

Great photos can be taken just off I-90. Jeff Stamer (Used With Permission)
Roadside Art

5. Skeleton Man Walking Skeleton Dinosaur

Nothing to see here, just a skeletal man walking his skeleton dinosaur in the middle of the high prairie. It's hard not to crack a smile, but make sure you keep your eyes on the road. The pair appear to be headed to another nearby attraction made by the same family. That one is the Original 1880 Town, packed with old buildings, artifacts, relics, and photographs from South Dakota’s pioneer days. There, visitors can rent period costumes and stroll around town, waiting for the skeleton dinosaur to arrive. (Read more.)

On the westbound side of I-90, just before exit 170, I-90, Midland, SD 57552

An homage to South Dakota's place in paleontology. nlcrocker (Atlas Obscura User)
Theme Park

6. Depression Era Dinosaur Park

Dedicated in 1936, Dinosaur Park was one of the earlier thunder lizard–themed tourist attractions, with large dinosaur models depicting the creatures as they were thought to appear before decades of paleontology revised their appearance. The result is five large concrete-and-iron models, painted bright green, that are almost cartoonish in appearance. They now represent the progress science has made and sit in a public park, where they're a favorite among kids, who are free to climb all over them. (Read more.)

940 Skyline Dr, Rapid City, SD 57701

More than 60 mammoths in one place—all male. breaingram (Atlas Obscura User)
Museum

7. Mammoth Site

Initially discovered by a construction worker and his son while they were looking to build on the land, the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs yielded one of the largest deposits of prehistoric mammoth remains in the world.

The site holds remains from at least 60 separate Columbian mammoths and three wooly mammoths, and those remains help paleontologists learn about mammoth behavior. A museum and research center has been built around the dig, and many bones have been left in situ for visitors to see them just as they were found. (Read more.)

1800 US-18 BYP, Hot Springs, SD 57747

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All aboard for a plate of pancakes.

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At Glacier Gardens, the tree canopies are flowers in bloom.

11 Places Where Alaska Bursts Into Color

Picture Alaska. You might see in your mind's eye the granite and stark white snowcaps of Denali National Park, or the dark seas that surround 6,000-plus miles of coastline, or the muted olive of its tundra in the summer. But as anyone who's been there knows, the country's largest, most sparsely populated state can absolutely burst with color, from the luminous green of the Northern Lights, to the deep aqua of its glaciers, to the flourish of wildflowers fed by its long summer days. Here are some places to see the full spectrum of The Last Frontier.

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Workers assess the exterior of the Washington Monument after an earthquake in 2011.

9 Places in D.C. That You're Probably Never Allowed to Go

The District of Columbia is home to a number of places that you need to flash the right ID to access. From restricted rooftops to government storage facilities and underground tunnels, the city is filled with places that are off-limits to the average visitor. What’s more, many of them are hidden within popular tourist destinations and densely populated neighborhoods—so you might catch a glimpse of them, but never get any closer. These are a few of our favorite restricted spots in D.C., and the stories behind them.

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