A lot of the people I’ve talked to who have visited South Dakota have gone there specifically for Mt. Rushmore and there’s nothing wrong with that! We loved it and the several other attractions in the area (click here for our 4-day SD itinerary including Mt. Rushmore).
If you haven’t been to southeastern South Dakota it might be because you don’t have a mentor who lives there…but I do! Our schedule didn’t allow us to get that far into the state in 2020 so we took the opportunity in 2021 to head out to Brookings SD to visit my dear friend and the guy who most shaped my career, the one, the only, Bruce Haggar!
As we worked our way through Wyoming and Montana we made some family visits first. We:
- Camped outside Cody, WY
- Drove the Beartooth Pass again to MT
- Went to a Blues Festival in Billings MT
Then we started the South Dakota portion of the trip. We:
- Drove through Wall SD and its Badlands again
- Toured Brookings
- Stopped in Sioux Falls
- Visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD
- Went to the capital in Pierre
FAMILY VISITS AHEAD OF BROOKINGS
We visited family in Cody, WY before revisiting Hunter Peak CG, on the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, a favorite stop from the previous year. On the way to the campsite we were slowed by cowboys trying to get livestock off the highway. Modern day ranching!
Miller Family 
Wyoming
Following a little fly fishing (side note: not sure why our dog moves as far from us as possible once outside the RV), the weather turned and we made the normally scenic drive over one of the most beautiful mountain passes we’ve seen on the journey, Beartooth Pass (more info here). Below is typically what this pass looks like and then what we were dealing with in late August.
Beartooth Fall 2020
Beartooth Fall 2021
My grandmother turned 95 so we spent some time with the family, my Uncle Harry (and dog Griz), and my brother. Billings had closed down main street for the Magic City Blues festival – the bands were outstanding and my brother, as usual, was the life of the party in his “tight pants”!
95 years young!
Griz 
Tight Pants
WALL SD
We’d been to Wall, South Dakota and the Badlands National Park in 2020 (more info here). Loved it just as much the second time around despite the cloudier weather.
BROOKINGS, SD
Brookings is the home to South Dakota State University and yes, Bruce is an active Jackrabbit alum! #GoJacks
Brookings is just over 13 sq. miles, had a population just over 22K, and a third of the city’s population is between 20-34 years of age. This 12,000 student university town has low crime, a nearby international airport in Sioux Falls, a quaint downtown, and lots of ways to enjoy the university’s athletic and cultural events. Actually, it checks a lot of our retirement boxes, but I digress.
The real draw was our visit with Bruce, which was great! We toured the university campus, which included learning of their “hobo days” tradition dating back to a prank played in the early 1900s where students dressed up as hobos met the opposing football team at the rail station. Weary Willie and Dirty Lil (she was added in the 70s) are in the photo heading up this post. We also rode our bikes around the Dakota Nature Park and enjoyed the Koi fish feeding every morning at Bruce’s house.
Campus Tour
Dakota Nature Park
Since we were headed back to Montana after the visit we made two more stops to tour South Dakota – one in Sioux Falls and then Mitchell SD to visit the Corn Palace.
SIOUX FALLS, SD
The main attraction at Sioux Falls? You guessed it, the falls!
The big Sioux River spills over a series of rock faces in Falls Park which includes an observation tower and the ruins of the 19th century Queen Bee Mill, which was a pie-in-the-sky dream. The flour mill was built between 1878 and 1881 by politician and businessman Richard F. Pettigrew, who supposedly swindled investors out of by building a dam upriver then knocking it down just before investors arrived to convince them that the river had enough flow to support his venture. On 40 acres of land adjacent to the river he built a dramatic seven story quartzite stone structure with 5 railroad lines that met at the massive mill for ready distribution.
Sadly, the Sioux River didn’t have enough capacity to mill the grain needed, wheat production in the area was too small, and within 2 years the business was bankrupt and closed.
Sioux Falls
Queen Bee Mill
Sioux Falls has the largest population of any city in South Dakota (just over 200,000), accounting for more than 30% of the state’s population. That’s right California followers…there’s no typo there. SD has 30% of its population in Sioux Falls which has a population just over 200,000 people.
It has an international airport, is the county seat, has a low tax rate, has a violent crime rate roughly half the US average, is sunny an average of 211 days per year, and historic Sioux Falls is lovely with Queen Anne style homes and tree lined streets. It also gets over 37 inches of annual snowfall and from late November to early March the average daily high temperature is below 38F!
MITCHELL SD AND THE CORN PALACE
When I was a teenager the Presbyterian youth group in my town took a summer canoe trip to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and along the way we stopped at none other than the World’s Only Corn Palace! I knew I wanted to share this special place with Doug and yup, it was just as great as I remembered.
OK sure, it’s essentially a gymnasium decorated in corn cob murals, but did I mention it’s the only gymnasium decorated in corn cob murals?! In the world?!
It was established in 1892 to prove that South Dakota had a healthy agricultural climate and strangely, there were other towns that featured palaces of their own but with other crops. This is the only one that has survived over 100 years and it draws in over 500,000 tourists annually.
The exterior murals are changed annually, but they note that the interior ones are changed every 15-20 years. (I appreciate their honesty.)
If you go on their website (https://www.cornpalace.com/157/Corn-Cam), be sure to check out their “Corn Cam” for endless hours of live entertainment – but perhaps I’m overselling it.
PIERRE SD
Technically, I guess Pierre is more towards the middle of the state, but as we were looping back to Montana it was basically on our way. Capitol buildings are great fun to tour for their architecture and finishes!
South Dakota doesn’t stop at the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore. If you find yourself in southeastern South Dakota, I hope you’ll make these stops…and Bruce, thanks for a wonderful visit!
