RV Hometown

South Dakota on a Shoestring

by Stephanie Bernhagen

We spent nearly a month in South Dakota this summer (2000). What follows are some of the wonderful and inexpensive sites we saw. The article is long, so I am flagging the towns we visited so you can easily jump to the ones of interest to you. (See 2007 update below)

Mitchell

Pierre

Wall and The Badlands

Rapid City

Sioux Falls was named after the falls on the Big Sioux River. Back when the pioneers were heading west the falls on the Big Sioux River attracted many. In 1879 ground was broken next to the falls to build a seven-story mill known as the Queen Bee Mill. It took two and a half years to build and half a million dollars. In less than three years the mill was declared unprofitable and shut down, remaining closed for 30 years. I am not a history buff, but I believe it was January 30, 1969 that the mill burned. Today all that remains is a story and a half of the exterior wall, showing what went into building the mill. It’s hard to imagine this building being built without power tools back in 1879!

Falls Park in Sioux Falls is a must visit if you get to this area. The river tumbles over several tiers of Sioux quartzite. The river is broad and drops quicker in some crevasses of the Sioux quartzite than others. There is a walking trail on both sides of the river with several viewpoints. There is also a visitor center with a five-story observation tower. Behind the visitors center is "The Barn" where various crafts are displayed and sold. You can even learn how to paint or carve wood here.

On summer evenings there is a laser light show at Falls Park. We were not impressed with the laser portion of the show, which was out of focus, but the narration with local history was well worth our time.

Mitchell is known for the Corn Palace. There have been three Corn Palaces dating back to the first one in 1892. The Palace is redecorated almost every year. Exceptions to this include drought, war and redoing the inside corn walls, which are done every ten years. Today it costs $125,000 and takes 25 acres of corn and grains to decorate the exterior of the building.

From I-90 we turned north on highway 50, then west on highway 34. These roads travel along the Missouri River and the Lewis and Clark trail. The scenery took us by surprise as we found ourselves in hills the size of foothills, dipping in and out of the river valley. We drove by meadows of amber, purple and white wildflowers, fields growing hay, and piles of large rocks and small boulders cleared from the fields. The foothills were many shades of green in some places and barren rock and dirt where grass would not grow in other places. Based on the number of cows we saw along this road I have to wonder if there aren’t more cows then people in South Dakota.

Arriving in Pierre we pulled into Griffin Park on the river behind the hospital. You can camp free for three days with 30-amp service here. No kidding! Water and a dump are located at the west-end of the camping lot. "Lot" because it is one big gravel parking lot. There is also a city park at the west-end of town, but you can not camp there. From Griffin Park you can walk west on the trail along the river to the other park.

Taking the bikes off our trailer for the first time in months, we rode down the trail and across the causeway to an island of hiking and biking trails. The island had three different environments: woods, meadow and low land.

On another day we toured the Oahe Dam to the west of town. A college student gave us a very comprehensive one-hour free tour of the power plant.

That afternoon we toured the state capitol. While there is a self-guided walking tour brochure you can pickup, I recommend going on the hourly guided tour (no charge). We learned about the modernization of the capitol building, which made it a very dull building. Now the capitol has been restored to it’s original splendor

Two of the things I found most interesting had to do with the inlaid Italian terrazzo tile floor. Each tile was laid by one of 66 Italian artists. Since artists sign their work each laid a single blue signature tile. In the mid-1980’s contractors were hired to repair hundreds of cracks in the terrazzo tile flooring caused during the 1930 drought years. These workmen laid heart shaped tiles upon completion of their repairs. You could spend half a day looking for the blue and heart shaped tiles, as they are no larger than a thumbnail.

There were two possible boondocking places near Pierre as well. One is a roadside park 13 miles east of Pierre on Hwy. 34. There is a very steep grade about a block long to get into the park, but once you are at the top of the hill the view of the river and surrounding area is magnificent.

Another roadside park is located on the east side of Hayes on Hwy. 14. This park overlooked a beautiful pond full of cattails.

The last time we drove across South Dakota we were so tired of the billboards advertising Wall Drug that we did not stop to check it out. This time Paul decided we were going to stop.

People thought Ted and Dorothy Hustead were crazy in 1931 when they bought the drug store in Wall. It wasn’t until July of 1936 when Dorothy had a brainstorm business took off. She realized people driving across the hot prairie would enjoy ice cold water, so they decided to put up Burma Shave type signs offering the tourists ice cold water. By the time Ted returned from putting up the first signs Dorothy already had a line of people wanting ice cold water.

Wall Drug is a one of a kind place that everyone should visit once. It has a soda fountain, back yard, restaurant, mall with various types of stores (you will find Take Back Your Life in the bookstore), and all sorts of crazy displays. If you like donuts you will find Wall Drug’s scrumptious. And don’t miss the dinosaur in the back yard mall.

You can boondock in the parking lot. In fact we dropped our trailer and drove through the Badlands from here. The Badlands offer beautiful rugged scenery that changes with the time of day and season. The prairies, turning to buttes, peaks and gullies leave an eerie yet awesome impression. Be sure to drive through the park both ways as the view is totally different. A seven-day pass is currently ten dollars.

Rapid City is where my cover designer, Paul Jones and his wife Cheryl lived before hitting the road. Prior to our arrival Paul busted his you know what and had arranged extensive media coverage and a book signing for us, so we were kept busy with that while in Rapid City. (That is Paul Jones in the photo’s with me.)

We did manage to work an evening at the Flying T Chuckwagon Supper and Show in. Coleen Sykora and her husband Bob Nilles, the owners of the Workers on Wheels web site, made the arrangements. The food was good and the entertainment fun.

We also had a Boomerang (gathering of full-timing Boomers) at the fire tower in Custer State Park. John, one of these Boomers works the tower during the summer. Larry, another Boomer, arriving early noticed a fire and pointed it out to John. By the time we arrived John was already directing the fire crews to the location of the fire. Quite a feat since there were no roads I the area and the tower was several miles away. The timing worked out well as they found the small fire just about the time the clouds swallowed the fire tower. So much for watching the sunset from the top of Custer State Park.

Custer State Park has a wonderful driving loop with wild animals all over. There are lots to see and do here. A vehicle day pass is ten dollars.

Paul and I also went to the fourth of July fireworks at Mount Rushmore. Arriving at 4:15 p.m. we had to lug our chairs and warm clothes up the mountain to obtain seating right in front of the monument. The wonderful fireworks lasted about 20 minutes when it came to an abrupt end. On the front side we could see several fires burning on the mountainside. We were to learn later that the back side of the mountain had even more fires set by the fireworks, so they stopped the show to put out the fires.

On a normal day you can park in one of the two parking lots at Mount Rushmore. The top and closest lot charges you for parking. The lower lot does not charge, but you will have a short, uphill walk to reach the monument.

One other place we visited was the Chapel in the Hills. It is an exact replica of the famous 840-year-old Borgund Church in Norway. Built with pegged construction it has intricate woodcarvings and much more to see.

Our last stop before leaving South Dakota was Spearfish. While we did not stay at the city park campground we found it offered a beautiful setting, with a small river running through it. Across from the campground kids were floating in inter-tubes down the river. There was also a fish hatchery and some historic buildings to visit (all free). Whether you stay at the City Park or not be sure to stop for a visit.

Traveling south out of Spearfish towards Lead you drive through Spearfish Canyon. I would have sworn we were driving through the Rocky Mountains! I couldn’t believe there were mountains in South Dakota, but there really are! Be sure to visit the waterfalls at the south end of the canyon, behind the lodge. Take along your water socks and a towel so you can get up close and personal with the waterfall. Oh, and be warned the water is really cold!

We made a loop drive out of Spearfish that not only included Spearfish canyon, but also Deadwood. Deadwood is a cute historic town with lots of casinos, which we found rather dead on the afternoon we visited. While we didn’t see it we heard there are western style gun shootouts periodically.

South Dakota is a state well worth visiting. And I bet you thought there was nothing there!

July 2000