Rapid City South Dakota Attractions

Visiting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Home of the Oglala Sioux Tribe
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the home of the Oglala Lakota or Sioux tribe, a band of the Oceti Sakowin (the Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation). The word Oglala means "they scatter their own" in the Lakota language. Then as now, the Oglala live further west than any of the other Lakota bands. In past times, the Oglala were generally the band that camped at the outer perimeter during gatherings of the Nation, serving as the protectors. Some famous Oglala leaders from the ...

Scenic, South Dakota: Badlands Frontier Town
An Old West Town On The Edge Of The Badlands
Scenic, South Dakota is the real deal - an old west town on the western edge of Badlands National Park. In the early 1900s, Scenic was a siding - a railroad stop on the way to Rapid City and the Black Hills. Adjacent to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the town grew up as a watering hole and meeting place for cowboys and Indians alike. In its heyday, Scenic was a thriving frontier town with a church, bank, post office, grocery stores, hotel and even a high school. The town began to decline...

Devils Bathtub: A Spearfish Hike Way Off the Beaten Path
A Local Secret
The Devil's Bathtub is one of those special places we locals like to keep to ourselves. Thousands of travelers, tourists and day hikers pass this little known spot each year without even realizing it's there. It's so stunning though, I feel that this is one secret I have to share. Please keep in mind that the Devil's Bathtub is on private land. The owners allow day hikers, but will only continue to do so if hikers are respectful - so please tread lightly here!

Visiting Mato Tipila (Devils Tower): Tips for Travelers
A Sacred Site
Science fiction fans may recognize this site from the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" . To the Lakota and other tribes that make the northern plains their home, this is a sacred site; the site where the Seven Sisters became the Pleiades. You may know it as Devils Tower, but to the Lakota, this place is the Bear's Lodge, as a giant bear plays a big part in the story of the Seven Sisters. If you are traveling to Mato Tipila, keep in mind that it is the equivalent of a church, mosqu...

Sandstone Buildings of Hot Springs
A Town Built of Sandstone
Originally called Mni Kahta (warm water) by the Lakota who used the spring-fed waters here as a healing tool, the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota became famous by sharing its mineral waters with the world. Hot Springs, founded in 1879, was widely promoted as a resort destination beginning in the 1890s. With the building of an enormous mineral pool at Evan's Plunge and a railroad line through the center of town, Hot Springs was on its way to prosperity. The health spa business was booming,...

He Sapa Wacipi: The Black Hills Powwow
There is No Columbus Day in South Dakota
South Dakota doesn't celebrate Columbus Day - instead, we celebrate Native American Day! While the rest of the country commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his three ships, people all over South Dakota honor the indigenous peoples that were here long before Columbus and his ships left port. The Black Hills Powwow, or He Sapa Wacipi (pronounced heh sah-pah wah-chee-pee) as it is known in the Lakota language, is one of the biggest celebrations, coinciding each year with the wee...

Our Favorite Things to See and Do at Reptile Gardens
Cheyenne the Bald Eagle
Reptile Gardens in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota has many interesting and exotic residents. It was hard to narrow the list down to our favorite things to see and do at this unique park, but here are my family's choices. Cheyenne is a rescue bird. She was found with a mangled and broken wing. The bird specialists at Reptile Gardens rehabilitated her, but it was determined that she was too disabled to return to the world. Cheyenne now makes her home at Reptile Gardens with her own...

Visiting Badlands National Park: Tips for Travelers
Majestic and Inspiring
Of all the places we get to visit in our western South Dakota "backyard", Badlands National Park is one of our favorites. There is so much to see and do, from the majestic buttes and eroded spires, to the big horn sheep nimbly making their way up impossible looking cliff faces. This site was once the location of a warm inland sea. Limestone and sandstone formed during that time, which over the eons has eroded into the fantastic buttes and spires we know as the South Dakota Badlands. The Con...

Visiting Mato Paha (Bear Butte): Tips for Travelers
A Sacred Site
Mato Paha is perhaps the most well known sacred site in South Dakota. It is a prayer site for over 30 American Indian tribes, many of whom perform yearly ceremonies here. By walking just a few feet along the trail to Mato Paha, you'll begin seeing colorful swatches of fabric tied here, there and everywhere on tree branches, bushes and even stumps. These are tobacco ties, and they represent the prayers of the faithful pilgrims to this beautiful mountain. Mato Paha is designated as a National H...

Visiting Crazy Horse Memorial: Tips for Travelers
The Largest Mountain Sculpture in the World
While Mount Rushmore National Memorial is impressive, it's not the largest carved mountain in the world. That honor belongs to the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills, just down the road from Mount Rushmore. Korczak Ziolkowski started out as a sculptor at Mount Rushmore; his work there began in 1939, after winning a prize for his sculpture "PADEREWSKI, Study of an Immortal," at the 1939 New York World's Fair. A fateful encounter with Chief Standing Bear caused Ziolkowski to change gears...