If you are in Yankton you won’t be too far from Vermilion, home of the University of South Dakota and its National Music Museum. Definitely not to be missed if you’re at all musically inclined. Exhibits of instruments of various kinds dating back to the 17th century, and occasional concerts if you’re there at the right time.
If you go to Mount Rushmore, spend some time looking at it. After all, there are five faces on the mountain.
If you don’t know the secret you will never see the fifth face.
We went here and had a nice look-around. A whole lot of dinosaur fossils:
I don’t know how I forgot that Museum; I second the endorsement. Tom Brokaw graduated from the University in Vermilion, IIRC. He attended high school in Yankton and may have graduated there. I don’t remember. Yankton used to be home to Yankton College before it went belly up. It was the first college in the Dakota Territories and, for a while, I lived in the house built by the man who founded it. Lyle Alzado played his college football there and terrorized the locals; he was prone to mayhem or so I was told and it took every law enforcement guy in town to subdue him. People swore this was true. The college is now a Federal Prison, or it was when I left.
If there are any “car guys” (or “car gals”) in your party, check out the Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo. I’ve never actually been there, but I’ve wanted to visit it ever since the trip my family took to South Dakota when I was about twelve. The billboards (not as ubiquitous as Wall Drug’s, which did draw us in for a fun time) invited the curious to “See a Russian Car!”, which was an opportunity denied to most USA residents during the Cold War.
We did stop in Murdo for a meal, and I got a souvenir folder of detachable Pioneer Auto Museum* postcards from the gift shop. The pictures confirmed my suspicions that the collection was something to be savored. The linked site even has a page that lists all the autos on display. If you don’t like looking at classic Packards and Fords, you can tour the Prairie Town. Truly “something for everyone!”
- the name changed sometime between 1972 and now
I liked the Reptile Gardens, but I was a kid, so YMMV.
I also liked the Mt Rushmore museum in the town closest to Mt Rushmore. YOu carried a little wand around that talked at the various exhibits. The one that most impressed me was a concept scuplture of Mt Rushmore, showing the presidents carved as full bodies, not just heads. After seeing that, the real Mt Rushmore was a letdown.
Depending on which direction you are arriving and leaving from, you might be driving past one or more of the Laura Ingalls Wilder homesite museums.
Yep, in Hot Springs. That’s where the mammoth site is too–with the dig you can observe. Cool stuff.
I second the museum at South Dakota Tech.
Keystone is touristy but fun. Junky shops where you can buy souvenirs, not a bad place to stop for an hour.
Time for a quick update:
Wall Drug is on the list - I’m looking for a nice campsite around there - has anyone camped in the area? So far I’ve found the Sleepy Hollow & Arrow camp grounds - are either of them nice?
Bedrock is on the list - despite the mega cheese factor, the lure of the Slideasaurus is just too great. We’ll probably stay at the campsite attached - is it good? Bad? Ugly?
We’ll be touring all around the badlands and black hills - Mt. Rushmore should be about a half a day stop - we’re going to take the tour (as opposed to trying to navegate the 30’ trailer around hairpin turns).
Crazy Horse is in. Hot Springs are out. The Murdo Car thing is a yes if we can fit it in.
Ok, now as I know how much Dopers love a challenge - anyone want to help me make the itinerary? We’re going to be leaving Winnipeg, MB and heading south on the 10th of June. We’d probably like to be back to Canada by the 17th or 18th or 19th of June. We’ve done quite a bit of sight seeing in North Dakota and as far as I know the state fair isn’t on then, so we can probably just drive straight south getting to South Dakota early on the 12th. So…then what? Anyone knowledgeable about the state want to suggest a good route?
Thanks tonnes!
Ok Alice…you force me to elaborate…
At Bedrock…you board a train. The train curves around a hill. On this hill are plastic dinosaurs many 4-6" tall at most. Yes…inches…not feet. The announcer on the train then announcing something like 'Bob…the T-rex…fearsome predator is around here…THERE HE IS off to the left. You look over…can’t see it. Then you do… a plastic dinosaur 6" tall…like you can buy at Target for a buck. You get to see several of these plastic toys.
After the train ride is done, you get to go into ‘Bedrock’. It is a few small building that are too small to enter since you are taller than it (and are roped off so you have to stand outside) that say like ‘Fred and Wilma’s House’. It looks nothing like it…but there it is. You can peer in…but nothing is there.
That’s pretty much it. A crappy, smelly movie theater that sits maybe 8 and shows Flintstones cartoons.
It’s not ‘Cheesey’…it’s just bad.
But it is on the way to Jewel Cave…and you SHOULD see that. 
Sorry that Hot Springs is out–I thought the Mammoth site was pretty cool (Blinking Duck mentioned it earlier).
Anyway, my strong recommendation is to watch the “Modern Marvels” episode on Mt. Rushmore, or get a book about it. I thought it was much cooler when I knew the background about how it was built. There is a museum, of course, but I really liked knowing so much beforehand.
We did not go there, but near Deadwood there is some kind of “Presidents Park” which my sister tells me is actually kind of neat. Maybe not so fascinating for Canadians, of course.
Wind Cave is neat, but I’m not sure if it’s a good tour for someone who is ailing.
What amazed me about SD is how people were from all over. I assumed we’d mostly be seeing people from neighboring states, but there were loads of people from all over. Some were driving around the country; some were on their way to Yellowstone. I never realized how many people drive through, or made SD a destination.
There’s like 600,000 people in South Dakota, about 500,000 each in North Dakota and Wyoming. Not a lot of people nearby.
Thankfully, the age of the Interstate Freeway System makes such places easily accessible. It’s a 620 mile drive from my door in the Minneapolis area to the hotel I usually stay at in Hill City. Takes me about 10 hours with minimal stops. Gaining an hour due to changing time zones makes it an effective 9 hours. Breakfast at home, dinner in the Black Hills.
Humm - I went online and looked at the Website for the campground - it’s AAA & Good Sam approved which is usually a pretty good sign, and the pictures looked nice - I’m not sure we were planning on the theme park. Is the camp site rotten and nasty as well? I’m not sure the ‘Flintstone’ aspect is the most important - more like is it a nice campground. Any insights?
Yah - we have loads of hot springs around here and neither of the 'rents were all that interested in going again.
This looks like some excellent homework - I’ll see if I can pick up a book somewhere to pass around the motor home.
Two suggestions if you’re going to be in Rapid City for any time at all (these aren’t thrilling, but kind of interesting side stops):
Dinosaur hill is on the west side of town. Life-sized dinos are cast in cement and painted green. Cheesy, but an odd combination of science museum and roadside attraction.
Skyline Drive has a great view. It’s a winding trip up a hill, with places where you can pull off to the side to admire the scenery. It’s also the preferred makeout place in town.
We didn’t stay in the campground, so cannot comment on that. Just stopped by on way to Jewel cave.
I grew up in Nebraska, and we went to SD on vacation when I was a kid… but because it was close and we had a tight travel budget. So when I returned there as an adult, I naively assumed I’d see a lot of other Nebraskans there, plus other people from Plains states. Agreed, one can’t expect many from states where antelope outnumber people. Heh.
Maybe I had a jaded eye and low self-esteem about my region of birth, but I never considered that anyone would make the Great Plains a destination. I was pretty geeked when we had people from NY, Massachusetts, California, and Belgium on our cave tour.
Just thought I’d chime in and say have a nice trip, and watch out for bears! The truth about bears!
Huh. Well, South Dakota is not going to happen. My dad is going to be having urgent surgery next Thursday so I’ll be spending my vacation in a hospital in Winnipeg. Frankly, the motor home is sounding pretty apealing right now.
Thanks for everyone’s input and ideas - Mr. W. and I are keen to go to SD now - maybe next year.
I trust everyone can keep their snarky comments about karma to themselves. Cheers.
Oh no! I hope your dad’s going to be OK. Sorry to hear about that…and about your vacation.
Hopefully he’ll be better soon and ready to take on the Needles Highway in an RV next summer.
Sorry to hear that. Here’s wishing for a quick surgery and speedy recovery.