|
At least once in your lifetime you should stand at the foot of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. This granite mountain masterpiece is our nation's Shrine of Democracy and a testament to the American dream. It features the faces of four exalted American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. South Dakota's Black Hills provide the backdrop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest mountain carving. Stare America's history in the face when you visit the four famous faces of Mount Rushmore.
Towering pines, granite peaks and 1.2 million acres of unbelievable scenery make up the Black Hills National Forest. The area has a truly unique ecosystem of plants, granite peaks and rock outcroppings that provide novel outdoor recreational activities and breathtaking scenic drives. Tucked beneath the jagged spires and colorful buttes of Badlands National Park lay thousands of years of history. This unique, lunar-like landscape reveals rich fossil beds that offer visitors outdoor adventures and stunning scenery.
"What gorgeousness, what blazonry, what pomp of colors bursts upon the ravished sight," wrote poet and journalist William Davis Gallagher in "Autumn in the West." The summer's earthy shades of green are passively making room for autumn's carnival of color as South Dakota soon bursts with vivid brilliance; fiery crimson, golden mandarin, burgundy, and deep forest green. One of the greatest shows in the natural world occurs during the annual autumn spectacle of color-drenched landscapes when the air turns crisp and the days get shorter. Whether it's a spectacular walk under an umbrella of aspen trees in the Black Hills, or viewing brilliant oak, elm and ash at Sica Hollow, South Dakota offers landscapes alive with color.
|
|
The second smallest capital in the US, Pierre lies in the Missouri River Valley, and forms a leafy oasis in the shortgrass, largely treeless plains of central South Dakota. Here you can take a step back in time at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. Learn the history behind the people who made South Dakota the diverse state it is today. Hear recordings of American Indians speaking Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. Touch the different types of fur traded by trappers in the state's early days. A train car serves as a theater for a video about the railroad, and guests learn about the Missouri River while standing at the helm of a steamboat. Hand-milk a model cow and learn about life in the 1900s in "Changing Times."
|