2025's 8 Most Scenic South Dakota Towns
South Dakota, known as the "Mount Rushmore State," is a midwestern US state home to the noteworthy monument, an impressive sculpture of four former US presidents carved into the side of a mountain. Many tourists flock to South Dakota yearly to see it, but there is so much more to this place! There are also unique landscapes like the Badlands and Black Hills. South Dakota has six National Park Service sites, including two designated national parks (Badlands and Wind Cave), 63 state parks and recreation areas, and seemingly endless recreational outdoor space. All of this adds up to make South Dakota one of the most scenic states in the country.
Custer
Deep within the Black Hills, the small town of Custer, home to just under two thousand residents, is a perfect starter for this list, as the options for scenic attractions are practically endless. Located in the southwestern part of South Dakota, this town is within reasonable driving distance of national parks and several national monuments, including Mount Rushmore. However, Custer is even closer to an iconic monument that has not been mentioned yet, the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The Crazy Horse Memorial, only ten minutes from downtown Custer, is a carving into a mountain peak, like Mount Rushmore, depicting the well-known Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse. The difference is that Mount Rushmore took only fourteen years to be carved, while the Crazy Horse Memorial has been under construction since 1948. Despite not being finished, his face is complete, creating a striking image on the mountain's side and honoring the American West's Indigenous People. All admission fees and visitor donations go toward the monument's completion.
Another fantastic attraction in Custer, only five minutes outside of town, is Custer State Park, famously home to several scenic drives that attract tourists from all over the country. Wildlife Loop Road, Needles Highway, and Iron Mountain Road are the most well-known drives. These roads, which weave through the park and through tunnels, over mountain peaks, and across grassy plains, provide stunning views of the state's landscapes and diverse wildlife like bison and pronghorn. Custer State Park is also the home of Sylvan Lake, known as the "crown jewel of the park" for its beautiful still water and surrounding unique rock formations, making it very popular with swimmers, mountain climbers, and enthusiasts of kayaking or paddleboarding.
Interior
A tiny little town of only 65 people, Interior is known for being one of the oldest towns in South Dakota, with its origins traced back to the 1880s. It is also a popular spot for tourists visiting Badlands National Park because the interior is only five minutes from the main park entrance. The Badlands earned their name way before written history, with the Lakota calling them "mako sica," translated to "land bad," and European explorers echoed the same sentiment later on. While the terrain is rugged and challenging, the Badlands are also an imposing scenic sight, featuring dramatic canyons between steep hills and impossibly tall spires. The scenes there have been described as "otherworldly." The park draws hundreds of thousands of tourists annually.
Some of the best things to do inside Badlands National Park include camping under the awe-inspiring starscapes, viewing wildlife like bison, wild sheep and prairie dogs, and driving along the Badlands Loop Road, a forty-mile-long scenic byway that follows Highway 240 through a long stretch of the park, with multiple overlooks along the way that are well worth stopping for, including the famous Big Badlands Overlook, said to host the best sunsets in the state.
Hiking is another popular attraction here, and one of the best is said to be the Notch Trail. This moderately difficult trek infamously leads you up and across an intimidating but safe log ladder, up onto a ledge, and over a peak, offering a breathtaking view of the White River Valley. The trail is around a two-mile round trip, and while there are certainly other hiking trails in the park, this one gets you the most up-close and personal with the rock formations that make the Badlands so famous.
Hot Springs
A bigger town than its predecessors on this list, home to about four thousand residents, Hot Springs is also in the southern part of the state and the Black Hills. It is close to several scenic attractions, most notably Wind Cave National Park, which is a massive attraction due to its underground network of caves covered in unique calcite formations that look almost like honeycomb. On top of the caves are ancient pine forests and rolling prairies, abundant in wildlife and vibrant with plant diversity. The park spans over thirty thousand acres and has no shortage of gorgeous views and fun outdoor excursions.
If the name did not already give you a hint, this town also has hot springs, which are publicly accessible at several spots, some of them commercialized in town. However, if you want to experience the mineral-rich spring water in its beautiful natural form, you can do that too at Cascade Falls. About a ten-minute drive south of the town, the falls pour into a pool referred to by locals as the "old swimming hole," where the stunning turquoise water maintains a natural temperature of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit year-round for a truly once-in-a-lifetime swimming experience.
Keystone
Notable for being the closest town to Mount Rushmore, Keystone, a town home to only two hundred people, was once a mining town, but it is now a popular tourist stop due to being only three miles from the famed monument. If you like hiking and reaching scenic destinations up close, this is a perfect town to stop in. If you start at the most obvious place, Mount Rushmore, of course, there is an easy trail called the Presidential Trail, which is just over half a mile long, and offers the best viewing opportunity of the faces of the four presidents carved into the rock.
Keystone is also beside an entrance to Black Hills National Forest, an enormous stretch of protected wilderness covering well over a million acres. Needless to say, there are dozens of attractions within this space, but a few are close to the town of Keystone in particular. One of these is Pactola Lake, the largest and deepest reservoir in the Black Hills, a perfect place for fishing for trout, boating (including motor boats), and swimming. Two highly-rated trails lead from the Pactola Lake campgrounds, the Centennial Trail and the Deerfield Trail.
Pierre
Surprisingly, despite being the state capital of South Dakota, the city of Pierre has fewer than fifteen thousand residents. Still, it is in a beautiful scenic location on the banks of the Missouri River. Of course, the river offers stunning views and excellent fishing and boating opportunities, and right off the city's banks is LaFramboise Island Nature Area. The island was actually explored by famed explorers Lewis and Clark back in 1804, and it is still as beautiful today as they described it in their journals. The island, like the river that surrounds it, has several boat docks and is also ideal for fishing off the banks. Still, the nature area has the bonus of several hiking trails, which are wonderful for peaceful exploration and bird-watching.
Just north of Pierre is Lake Oahe, a vast reservoir that stretches over three hundred miles. The lake offers several campgrounds, all with boat docks, and is known for its excellent fishing, especially for walleye and northern pike. Pierre is often referred to as the gateway to this lake, since the dam that formed the reservoir, the Oahe Dam, is located in the town along the river. Along the shoreline of the lake, also located within Pierre city limits, is Cow Creek Recreation Area, one of the campgrounds offering both primitive camping sites and cabins, and incredible lake views as far as your eye can see. It is a very affordable and scenic place to stay outside the city.
Vermillion
Another mid-sized city, especially for South Dakota, which is widely rural, is Vermillion, home to around twelve thousand people. While most of its draw is arguably the University of South Dakota, it is also surrounded by breathtaking outdoor attractions. Like Pierre, this city sits along the Missouri River, but in the southeastern part of the state, surrounded by long stretches of wilderness.
Only ten minutes north of Vermillion is Spirit Mound State Historic Prairie, a unique state park not just in name. It has a fascinating history, known by the Sioux Indigenous Peoples as a dangerous place haunted by evil spirits. Later, it was explored by Lewis and Clark, and today, it is a beautiful attraction for tourists, while still being preserved as a notable place in Native American history. Visitors can hike to the top of the mound for breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding prairies, admiring its diverse animal and plant life.
Vermillion is also encircled by several other state parks, including Newton Hills State Park, which is well-known for its diverse landscapes. It has over a thousand acres of dense woodlands filled with various bird species, surrounded by vast open prairie. This unique landscape creates a truly picturesque place to hike, camp, or fish in Sargeant Creek. Another state park within a short drive of Vermillion is Good Earth State Park, which is noteworthy for being the home of some very incredible sights, including the remnants of a Oneota Native American village called the Blood Run site. You can find a visitor center near the original site with several educational exhibits. Afterward, you can reflect while you hike along some beautiful scenic trails, several of which follow the amazing rushing Big Sioux River.
Arlington
While lakes, this town, Arlington, surrounded our last town, is flanked on all sides by lakes. Arlington is a little town with only a thousand people living there, but its location between these lakes makes it a great stop, specifically for people who love the water. Nearby Oakwood Lakes State Park is one of the best tourist attractions for water sports in the entire state, for its incredible location between eight different glacial lakes. Whether your activity of choice is swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, or fishing, at least one of the lakes surrounding this park can offer the opportunity to do so.
Lake Thompson is actually the largest natural lake in South Dakota. It is an excellent place for fishing, specifically due to fluctuating water levels that are not ideal for motor boats. Its recreational area is also popular with campers for its scenic water views. It is even visited heavily in the winter for ice fishing. Another vast body, Lake Poinsett, boasts some absolutely gorgeous sunsets and is much better than Lake Thompson for motor boats, with its deep water and eight thousand acres of surface area. Arlington Beach on Lake Poinsett's shore is perfect for swimming, and even has a campground for overnight visitors or tourists with RVs.
Aberdeen
Another lake town, but bigger than Arlington, Aberdeen has a population of almost thirty thousand people, but it is rural enough to be still immersed in nature. Only fifteen minutes north of town is Richmond Lake, an 800-acre lake with an interesting shape, almost like a fishhook. This man-made lake is gorgeous on its own, but the trails surrounding it provide an even more stunning up-close look at the local scenery. Those trails, part of the Forest Drive Unit, are multi-use, meaning they are great for hiking in addition to biking, horse-riding, and even cross-country skiing, because these landscapes are certainly pretty in all seasons.
Another popular body of water near Aberdeen is Sand Lake within the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The wetlands surrounding the lake are certified as a Globally Important Bird Area, meaning the migrations of birds like snow geese, egrets, Franklin's gulls, and even bald eagles are a genuinely breathtaking sight. The lake is massive at eleven thousand acres, meaning it is great for birdwatching, fishing, and hiking. The hiking trails here are excellent, winding around the lake and through glorious fields of wildflowers.
This state truly has it all, from the towering mountain peaks near Custer to the one-of-a-kind Badlands of Interior, massive lakes around Arlington, or the natural mineral-rich waters of Hot Springs. It is also rich in cultural history, especially in places like Pierre and Vermillion, where Native American heritage sites can be viewed and appreciated. In South Dakota, no matter which town you choose, you will gift yourself unmatched scenic views, which you can see only once in your lifetime.
