I’m excited to finally share a full recap of Mikey and my road trip through South Dakota. I’m beyond grateful to have been given the opportunity to travel around the beautiful state of South Dakota. Before this road trip,  I had no idea how beautiful the “State of Great Adventure” truly is. Not only is South Dakota stunning, full of adventure, but the people of there are so incredibly kind. Every place we went – from Custer State Park, to the gas stations, to restaurants – every single person we interacted with was so nice and welcoming.

Day 1

Mikey and I started our road trip in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is located on the eastern side of the state. We arrived in Sioux Falls in the afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we met up with the rest of our fellow “road trippers” at Remedy Brewing in downtown Sioux Falls where we grabbed drinks, small bites, while listening to live music. After dinner, we checked out Falls Park in Sioux Falls, which is WAY bigger than I imagined and a must see.

*Local Tip: When visiting Falls Park, make sure to check out the views of the falls from the viewing tower!

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Day 2

Day two in South Dakota, we started our morning with breakfast at Philips Avenue Diner to fuel up for our long day of driving!

Our next stop was the Dignity: of Earth & Sky sculpture near Chamberlain. “She casts her peaceful gaze across the waters of the Missouri River. During the day, the South Dakota wind brushes the diamonds in her star quilt, causing blue shades to twinkle in the sunlight. At night, she stands illuminated and strong. She is Dignity.”

We stretched our legs by walking down the trail by the Dignity sculpture to look out over the Missouri River.

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After stopping at the Dignity statue, we kept driving to our final destination for the evening – Spearfish, South Dakota. Spearfish is a little mountain town on the west side of the state that reminds me a lot of Jackson, WY. We took a drive through Spearfish Canyon and stopped to view the Bridal Veil Falls. After our little adventure through the canyon we grabbed dinner at Killian’s Food & Drink. I have a lot of food allergies and I was so thankful to have a such a great meal with dairy and gluten free options. Our waiter was super knowledgable about the menu and which items were safe for me to eat.

Day 3

We grabbed coffee and breakfast at the Green Bean Coffee Shop in Spearfish before we headed on down the road. We drove through Spearfish Canyon once more (the scenery never gets old).

Our next stop on day three of the road trip was Mount Rushmore! This was my first time seeing Mount Rushmore and I’m happy we stopped – it’s an incredible site to see in person. Mikey grabbed a root beer float made from Thomas Jefferson’s original ice cream recipe!

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Last stop of the day – Custer State Park. We unpacked our bags in our little cabin at State Game Lodge and then headed for a drive on the Wildlife Loop. We saw a ton of wildlife on the drive – deer, pronghorn, turkey, and bison (baby calves).

Day 4

On our fourth morning in South Dakota, we went rock climbing with Sylvan Rocks  at Slyvan Lake in Custer State Park. For the full blog post about our experience rock climbing in South Dakota check out the post HERE!

Hiked to Little Devil’s Tower. Full post HERE!

On our final night in Custer State Park, we had dinner at the State Game Lodge with a couple of our fellow “road trippers.”

Day 5

On our final day in South Dakota, we woke up early to drive to Rapid City to meet our fishing guide Dave from Dakota Angler & Outfitter Fly Shop of the Black Hills. I had a blast fishing Rapid Creek, a small creek that runs through Rapid City. If there was a stream that ran through Jackson like Rapid Creek does, you’d find me fishing there everyday after work. We only had  a few hours to fish but I was able to catch a few rainbow and brown trout. Thank you Dakota Angler & Outfitters for a fun morning of fishing. It was the best way to spend our last morning in South Dakota!

After fly fishing, we hopped in the car to drive to the Badlands. It was the last spot on our list of places to visit in South Dakota. We didn’t have much time to spend in the Badlands because we had a flight to catch. For the little time we were able to spend in the Badlands, it was incredible. It’s crazy how a place like this exists in South Dakota – the desert terrain is so different from the rest of the state. Next time I got back to South Dakota, I’ll be spending more time in the Badlands, and hopefully going on some hikes in the park.

Planning a trip to South Dakota? Check out Travel South Dakota for things to do and places to stay!

This post is sponsored by South Dakota Tourism. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.