South Dakota National Parks

South Dakota national parks preserve significant natural and paleontogolical resources and wilderness. You can also take the opportunity to explore two of the longest caves in the world, massive stone memorials, and enjoy recreational adventures along its scenic trails and rivers. The unique history and remnants of the Cold War can also be found here.

Visit These South Dakota National Parks:

Badlands National Park: Containing the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, the stories of mammals such as the horse and rhinoceros arise from the 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires. Bison, bighorn sheep, endangered black-footed ferrets, and swift fox roam one of the largest, protected mixed-grass prairies in the United States.

Badlands Weather

Jewel Cave National Monument: At 141 miles, Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world. It is filled with calcite crystals and other wonders that make up the "jewels" of Jewel Cave National Monument. The current length of Jewel Cave is: 141.63 miles. On January 5, 2008 explorers spent 10 hours underground and discovered 476 feet of cave passages.

Jewel Cave Weather

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail: Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window onto the west for the young United States.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site: Here you will find remnants of the Cold War, including an underground launch control center and a missile silo. Minuteman missiles held the destructive power to destroy civilization as we know it. Yet the same destructive force acted as a deterrent which kept the peace for three decades. Minuteman Missile makes it possible to revisit a time when the threat of nuclear war haunted the world.

Minuteman Missile Weather

Missouri National Recreational River: The Missouri has a history like no other river. Explore the great waterway of American Indians, fur trappers, Lewis and Clark, and many others.  Experience the dynamic character of the river's ever-changing nature. View the natural beauty of the "rec river" along 100 miles of the Nebraska-South Dakota border. Listen for the eerie screech of the majestic bald eagle or the splash of a trophy fish. 

Missouri River Weather

Mount Rushmore National Memorial: "A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated. We are not here trying to carve an epic, portray a moonlight scene, or write a sonnet; neither are we dealing with mystery or tragedy, but rather the constructive and dramatic moments or crises in our amazing history." Gutzon Borglum

Mount Rushmore Weather

Wind Cave National Park: One of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park. The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs.

Wind Cave Weather