8 Most Eccentric Towns in South Dakota
South Dakota may be famous for Mount Rushmore, but there’s far more to the state than U.S. Presidents carved into the side of a mountain. These towns are places where you may see an animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex in a drug store, or an opulent palace dedicated entirely to corn murals. It’s where the road stretches out for miles amid rolling prairies, accented by concrete dinosaurs and giant prairie dogs. When you yearn for the unexpected, these towns are sure to surprise you. So pack a bag, and get ready to travel the weirder side of the Mount Rushmore state!
Montrose
You’ll find plenty of small towns in South Dakota with Old West roots, but the small town of Montrose celebrates its Irish heritage! You’ll find shamrocks on the welcome sign, and street signs down Main Street, and there’s always a friendly face at Web's Pub. There are small local farms where you can shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, like Warner's Produce, but the town's real claim to fame lies just south of central Montrose.
The Porter Sculpture Park is a local gem in Montrose, and something you won’t see anywhere else in South Dakota! The park takes advantage of Montrose’s wide open prairies with a park of unusual sculptures made from scrap metal, old farm equipment, and railroad parts. There’s a jack-in-the-box, giant horses, colorful dragons, and hands that look like they are reaching up out of the earth. It’s a lovely way to spend an afternoon roaming the unusual park, but make sure you get there before the weather turns cold! The park closes in the winter, and gives the artist time to dream up new sculptures to add for the upcoming season.
Lemmon
In northern South Dakota, on the border of North Dakota, is the peaceful yet quirky community of Lemmon. Situated in the Northern Great Plains region, it's a place where wide open prairies offer plenty of room for unusual landmarks. If you love all things dinosaurs, you have to check out the Grand River Museum. Located on 10th Street, it has a scrap metal cowboy riding a triceratops under the sign, so you can’t miss it! The quaint museum has real dinosaur fossils, as well as artifacts dating back to Lemmon's ranching days. From the museum, you can walk to the locally beloved Alaska Cafe for a casual meal.
In Lemmon, if you want to explore a strange petrified park, you don’t even have to leave the city limits. The Petrified Wood Park and Museum takes up an entire city block, composed of eerie towers and pyramids made from petrified wood, stone, and fossils. The open-air park is a state-wide legend, crafted by the former mayor of Lemmon in the 1930s. Before you leave, make sure to stop in its small gift shop for treasures to bring back home!
Hot Springs
Hot Springs is a treasure trove of attractions and a hidden gem in South Dakota that can’t quite land on a central theme. It’s part restorative resort town, part archaeological dig site, and part historical time capsule. Evans Plunge Mineral Springs opened in 1890, making it the oldest tourist attraction in the region. For 135 years, it has been drawing weary travelers to soak their bones in the natural warm mineral spring that maintains a year-round temperature of 87 degrees Fahrenheit.
A trip to the hot springs may be exactly what you need after visiting the Mammoth Site. It’s one of the most famous spots in South Dakota to observe an active dig site, dig for common fossils on the land, or explore the museum of rare fossils. Hot Springs is also where you’ll find the Pioneer Museum, an old 4-story schoolhouse packed with artifacts that tell the history of Hot Springs.
Deadwood
If you’ve ever wanted to know what it's like to walk the dusty road of a town in the Wild West, Deadwood is as close as you can get! Historic Downtown Deadwood has everything you’d expect in an old western town. The stretch of town along Main Street is lined with old-timey saloons and casinos along its brick walkways and leans into the western vibe with daily shootout reenactments. It's also where you’ll find the Adams Museum, an ornate museum dedicated to preserving the history of the region during the Black Hills Gold Rush era.
Many visitors come to Deadwood for the historical downtown district, but there’s so much more to discover in the area. The Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort is a great place to test your luck at the slot machines or get your fill at the buffet. When you need to walk off all that food, the Deadwood Trailhead George S. Mickelson Trail is a beautiful escape into the rugged terrain of the Black Hills.
Mitchell
The small community of Mitchell, situated in eastern South Dakota, takes its corn very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it constructed an entire palace dedicated to it! The World's Only Corn Palace looks like the home of a sultan or a king, but inside you’ll find a massive space dedicated to corn. There are entire murals made out of maize, and every season the theme changes. If you visit Mitchell in August, you can also catch the annual Corn Palace Festival with carnival rides, live music, and so much corn.
The corn palace may be Mitchell's most notorious attraction, but there is still more to see in this unique town. The Mitchell Prehistoric Indigenous Archaeological Site and Museum sits on a Native American village discovered in 1910. Today, it operates as a museum of Native American artifacts and a live archaeological dig site along the scenic banks of Lake Mitchell.
Wall
In the roadside oddities hall of fame, the small community of Wall is the MVP. It's a time capsule of a town, where not much has changed over the years. Its biggest attraction, and the heart of the community, is the Wall Drug Store. Visiting a drug store may not sound like something worth the drive to a remote town, but it's so much more than a drug store. It is a 76,000-square-foot shop where you can satisfy your sweet tooth, buy a 5-cent cup of coffee (you read that right, the coffee is 5 cents!), and admire the animatronic T. rex. It’s American kitsch at its finest, and more than just a pit stop on the way to Mount Rushmore.
Down the street from Wall Drug Store is the National Grasslands Visitor Center, where you can learn more about the Western High Plains of South Dakota through interactive exhibits and displays. Before leaving, be sure to pay a visit to the Wall Drug advertisement on the side of the road. The 80-foot dinosaur is a local legend, and taking a picture with it is a rite of passage on your great American road trip!
Keystone
In western South Dakota, on the edge of the Black Hills National Forest, is the charming retreat of Keystone. It’s only a few miles away from Mount Rushmore, making it a must-see if you’re planning on visiting one of America’s most iconic man-made wonders. Keystone really leans into its connection with the tourist attraction. It’s here you’ll find the National Presidential Wax Museum, where lifelike replicas of all the presidents are placed in historic scenes. There’s also a museum, the Borglum Story, dedicated solely to the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.
One of the best ways to explore Keystone is by train. The 1880 Train at Keystone Depot allows visitors to hop aboard a historic stagecoach that weaves through the Black Hills. With the sounds of the engine chugging through the untouched wilderness, it truly feels like traveling back in time.
Philip
Need to check off ‘see the largest concrete prairie dog in the world’ off your bucket list? Then you have to pay a visit to the tiny town of Philip in southwestern South Dakota. Far from crowds or interstates, it’s truly a hidden gem. The Giant Prairie Dog Statue is as adorable as it sounds, standing 12 feet tall and weighing about 12,000 pounds! While you can’t feed the concrete prairie dog, you can feed peanuts to the smaller (and real!) prairie dogs that live around the statue. If you don’t have peanuts on you, you can pop across the street to the Badlands Ranch Store to buy a bag, and maybe some road trip snacks.
Located in South Dakota's Badlands, there are plenty of opportunities to take in the scenery. One of the most popular places in the area is the Big Badlands Overlook. It is located right off the highway, so there is no hiking required to admire the stunning jagged cliffs and eroded spires of the Badlands. If you want to hike the trails, there is an entrance to the Badlands National Park 30 miles south of Philip.
Discover the South Dakota Towns that Dare to be Different
Whether you want to dig for dinosaurs in Hot Springs or feed prairie dogs peanuts in Philip, South Dakota proves that the best adventures often lie far off the interstate. These small communities make the best of the land in South Dakota, with quirky scrap metal sculpture parks, iconic landmarks, and old-timey Wild West towns. They are places where you can soak in a warm mineral spa, and then dig for dinosaur fossils all in one afternoon. When the open road calls, these delightful South Dakota towns offer American kitsch at its finest!
