South Dakota National Parks, National Monuments and More in South Dakota

National Park Service

Badlands National Park
Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States.

Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave is recognized as the third longest cave in the world. Tours provide opportunities for viewing this pristine cave system and its wide variety of speleothems. The cave is an important hibernaculum for several species of bats.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Although the tangible resources protected at this site relate directly to the Minuteman Missile program, the site's story will include the larger issues of the Cold War era.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the 60-foot busts of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The memorial is home to many animals and plants representative of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The geologic formations of the heart of the Black Hills region are also evident at Mount Rushmore.

Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park preserves one of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife.