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It’s Spooky Season.

Explore strange places, curious stories, and eerie events around the world, online and in person.

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All the United States South Dakota

The Atlas Obscura Guide To South Dakota

64 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in South Dakota

Updated December 6, 2025
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Cities

State not visited
VISITED THIS STATE
Top Cities
Hotel Alex Johnson.
Rapid City
View of the ghost town
Sioux Falls
Lemmon
The chamber narrows as it goes into the mountain.
Keystone
Wall
Mitchell
All Cities
  1. Belle Fourche
  2. Deadwood
  3. Garretson
  4. Hot Springs
  5. Keystone
  6. Lemmon
  7. Mitchell
  8. Mobridge
  9. Philip
  10. Rapid City
  11. Sioux Falls
  12. Spearfish
  13. Vermillion
  14. Wall
Attractions
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Map
Leaderboards
Stories

Unusual Attractions in South Dakota

Custer, South Dakota

Crazy Horse Memorial

The world's largest mountain carving could fit all of Mount Rushmore inside it many times over.

Wall, South Dakota

Wall Drug

The granddaddy of all tourist traps, built on ice water, jackalopes, and a giant dinosaur.
Skeleton Man Walking Skeleton Dinosaur.

Midland, South Dakota

Skeleton Man Walking Skeleton Dinosaur

Just a man taking his prehistoric pet for a stroll.
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Hotel Alex Johnson.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Hotel Alex Johnson

One of America’s oldest and spookiest hotels, thanks to the residency of ghosts, dead presidents, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Hot Springs Mammoth Site

Hot Springs, South Dakota

Mammoth Site

This prehistoric sinkhole lured exclusively male mammoths to their death, much to the delight of science.
Nightmare fuel.

Montrose, South Dakota

Porter Sculpture Park

A roadside collection of over-sized iron creations that are a bit more macabre than most.
The chamber narrows as it goes into the mountain.

Keystone, South Dakota

Hall of Records in Mount Rushmore

Hidden behind Lincoln's head is a chamber containing enamel plates documenting American history, sealed in a teakwood box in a titanium vault.
See All 64 Things To Do in South Dakota

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in South Dakota

Rapid City, South Dakota

Firehouse Brewing Co.

South Dakota's oldest operating brewery is housed inside a historic firehouse.

Rapid City, South Dakota

McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Monument

Calidum et Deliciose Succosum!
The replica rail car.

Spearfish, South Dakota

Fish Car No. 3

This vintage train once gave new meaning to “swimming upstream.”

Discover your next hidden gem with the Gastro Obscura
Newsletter—your guide to extraordinary food and drink.

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See all 4 Places to Eat in South Dakota
In partnership with GetYourGuide

Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

A Feminist Road Trip Across the U.S.

Atlas Obscura has a tradition of exploring the stories of women who changed the world, from wildlife biologists and mountain climbers to Civil War spies and tattoo artists. To celebrate these daring women who struck out on their own, we’ve put together a cross-country road trip. Over 12 stops and more than 3,000 miles, this route will give you a front-row seat to women’s history in America.

View Itinerary

Explore South Dakota

Statues 9
Monuments 8
Museums 8
Roadside Attractions 6
Ghost Towns 6
Art 6
Abandoned 6
Dinosaurs 6
Wild West 5
Sculptures 5
History 5
Native Americans 4
Animals 4
Women's History 3
Ruins 3
Collections 3
Cold War 2
Universities 2
Mountains 2
Food 2

South Dakota Leaderboard

Places Added

  1. Kevin OKeeffe profile photo
    Kevin OKeeffe
    9
  2. Gregory T Janetka profile photo
    Gregory T Janetka
    2
  3. rbt45769 profile photo
    rbt45769
    2
  4. Sydney Rose profile photo
    Sydney Rose
    2
  5. S srh2767 profile photo
    srh2767
    2
Join the Ranks!
Add an unusual place to South Dakota.

Places Edited

  1. breaingram profile photo
    breaingram
    20
  2. Kevin OKeeffe profile photo
    Kevin OKeeffe
    14
  3. Collector of Experiences profile photo
    Collector of Experiences
    10
  4. lendog666 profile photo
    lendog666
    8
  5. wisemand profile photo
    wisemand
    7

Places Visited

  1. Kevin OKeeffe profile photo
    Kevin OKeeffe
    52
  2. L lunarassault profile photo
    lunarassault
    43
  3. C chip520 profile photo
    chip520
    39
  4. kevbot profile photo
    kevbot
    36
  5. C ChrzrdCharlie profile photo
    ChrzrdCharlie
    36

Recent South Dakota Activity

  • M mtcoh99 profile photo

    mtcoh99

    has been to Wall Drug

  • S s1sammons1 profile photo

    s1sammons1

    has been to The Corn Palace

  • S s1sammons1 profile photo

    s1sammons1

    has been to Minuteman Missile Visitor Center

  • E emilytalley5 profile photo

    emilytalley5

    wants to go to Okaton Ghost Town

  • K kimcollier63 profile photo

    kimcollier63

    has been to Crazy Horse Memorial

Stories About South Dakota

Podcast: Welcome To Wall Drug

In the South Dakota badlands, a small pharmacy employed an ingenious marketing gimmick.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
June 5, 2024

Podcast: The Corn Palace

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
August 29, 2022
The Cataract House Hotel, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the 1890s.

Podcast: The Divorce Colony

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
June 15, 2022
How many of you were there?

The Thorny Problem of Tallying Every T. rex to Ever Live

Here’s why it’s really, really hard to count how many of the apex predators once stalked Earth’s surface.
by Jessica Leigh Hester, Atlas Obscura
April 19, 2021
Stan sold for a thunderous sum.

The Fossils That Get Away (From Scientists)

A high-profile T. rex sale is a reminder that paleontologists get stressed when fossils vanish into private hands.
by Jessica Leigh Hester, Atlas Obscura
November 13, 2020
Bison help engineer the spring regrowth with their grazing patterns.

Understanding How Bison Might Help Shape the Future of the Badlands

New lessons from resurgent herds.
by Isaac Schultz, Atlas Obscura
November 18, 2019
Chuckwagons often carried heavy loads, including a water barrel.

The Company Building Chuck Wagons for Races and Cowboy Cookoffs

A South Dakota shop still builds the iconic wagons.
by Anne Ewbank, Atlas Obscura
April 15, 2019
Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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