4.5South Dakota Air and Space Museum(941 reviews) - Great museum with great history Saturday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Military Museums • Speciality Museums • History Museums
Aircraft that have been flown throughout the eras are on display at South Dakota's premiere free aviation museum! The museum has two major static display venues: First, a outdoor air park filled with WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, and present day aircraft lets you get close to & touch history. This includes the currently flown B-1B Lancer. Secondly, four historical hangars showcase military history & technology,space tech & EROS, SD aviation, and EAFB local military history in a fresh and immersive walk-through. Mid-May through Mid-September bus tours of nearby Ellsworth AFB and the Minuteman II missile training silo are offered at a nominal fee. You will be able to go inside the silo and on base for a 50 minute guided tour of the only MMII silo open to the public. Make sure you bring your ID or Passport (Non-US) to enjoy the tour!See more..
4.5Tatanka: Story of the Bison(449 reviews) - Amazing Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • Points of Interest & Landmarks • Monuments & Statues
We stopped at Tatanka, Story of the Bison and found it very impressive. We watched the short film and found it interesting. The fact that when the railroads came to the west, people shot them from the trains and almost made them extinct in a short period of time. Very sad , so I’m glad this story was told and how they have come back with the help of concerned Americans. They are truly majestic . There was a lady at the museum who talked about how the Indian used every part of the bison to live. The fee to get in is not much . They do have a senior fee. Kevin Costner receives no money and much of it goes for the upkeep of the museum and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation which is extremely poor. We could not get to the reservation due to COVID. Drive through Custer State Park and the Badlands and enjoy the beauty of these amazing animals. Also admire the awesome sculptures in the back. Well worth the money and trip.See more..
4.5The Journey Museum and Learning Center(402 reviews) - Don't miss The Journey Museum and Learning Center, Rapid City, SD Saturday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Speciality Museums
Open all year long! Your Black Hills Journey starts here. The Journey Museum and Learning Center brings together four major prehistoric and historic collections to tell the complete story of the Western Great Plains - from the perspective of the Lakotas and the pioneers who shaped its past to the scientists who now study it. Providing special programs and interactive learning experiences for all ages is our mission.See more..
Located only minutes from Mount Rushmore in the town of Keystone in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, the National Presidential Wax Museum is an exciting patriotic experience for the whole family. Meet over 100 lifelike wax figures, including all 46 U.S. presidents, all depicted in stunning visual recreations of iconic moments in U.S. presidential history. Explore the stories behind the faces with a self-guided audio tour narrating the context and history of each scene. Witness the intricacies of the wax sculpture process with a seven-minute theater video showcasing the museum’s ten artists as they create America’s leaders out of wax and bring a vision to reality. Play the part of the White House press secretary and give a speech from a teleprompter podium in a spot-on recreation of the White House press briefing room! The National Presidential Wax Museum also boasts a huge gift shop filled with unique and quirky gifts that can’t be found anywhere else in the Black Hills.See more..
4.5Museum of Geology(377 reviews) - Worth a stop Saturday: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums
We are a natural history museum featuring an excellent displays of South Dakota fossils, minerals from around the world and South Dakota Minerals.See more..
Established in 2001, the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame is home to an ever-growing variety of motorcycles dating back to 1907. On display are a huge selection of American and metric bikes along with a wide variety of exhibits, photographs, memorabilia and Sturgis Motorcycle Rally history. A gift shop offers a wide variety of items ranging from motorcycle patches to fine jewelry and books.See more..
4.5Pioneer Auto Museum(263 reviews)from $12.00 - Pioneer Auto Musem Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Speciality Museums
Established in 1954, and known as “The Big Variety Show,” the Pioneer Auto Show and Prairie Town in Murdo, South Dakota, provides families a trip through the history of 20th century America with its more than 250 classic cars, motorcycles, tractors and bicycles.Prairie Town continues the adventure; offering visitors a rendezvous with the past via self-guided tours through early renditions of a Midwestern, turn of the century town, complete with depot, bank, and school.See more..
4.0USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial(184 reviews) - A worthwhile historic visit. Saturday: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • Monuments & Statues
Honoring the most decorated battleship of World War II, this memorial is a full-size outline of the ship with artifacts from the ship with a museum containing crew artifacts. Open May 1 to Sept 30See more..
The Borglum Historical Center tells the best story about the man and his passion to carve these 4 men on granite. The experience at Mt. Rushmore is elevated to a new level when you feel like you knew this man and his commitment to honor history. This Center is a treasure just as much as Mt. Rushmore.See more..
4.5Black Hills Mining Museum(147 reviews) - Simulated Mine Tour and Museum Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • History Museums
We are open for the "Season!" The Mining Museum is currently open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Walk through time with the "miners" in timbered passages of a simulated underground gold mine, constructed by over 130 Homestake miners. View historic mining artifacts and local history exhibits. Pan your own gold and visit the gift shop.See more..
NOTE: The National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota, is preparing for extensive architectural expansion and renovation and is now CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. Reopening is slated for 2021. Stay tuned! "One of the largest and most important collections of historic instruments in the world." -- New York TimesSee more..
This was an amazing Trip! My family was passing by and we saw the Court House Museum so we decided to stop by. I was a little apprehensive as I had 2 little kids with me, but it was well worth it. The lady at the front gave my son a paper with a code that spelled something out. He needed to find fairy doors that had numbers corresponding to the Alphabet so he can be entertained & kept busy while my husband and I toured the court house. I was super impressed with everything I saw. They had the actual seving Custer County court room from the 1800's, an 1876 Centennial American Flag & many more historical artifacts. The most enjoyable part of this museum was the amount of historical objects that were able to be touched including military uniforms from world war 1 and many "wild west" items such as a real stagecoach. This is truly and underrated gem.See more..
4.5Tri-State Museum(103 reviews) - Surprise on Hwy 85 Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • History Museums
Explore our warm and friendly little museum, featuring the history of cowboys, rodeo, pioneers, mercantile, and military. Also learn about the area's dinosaurs, archaeology and geology. Pick up a great souvenir or gift at our gift shop. Bring the kids! They will love the western activity table, dress-up trunk and discovery boxes. Our Visitor Center is well stocked with maps, travel guides and travel information.See more..
3.5Dinosaur Museum(101 reviews) - Good stop if you are interested in dinosaurs Saturday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • Children's Museums
Dinosaur Museum is located at 8973 S Hwy 16, next to Reptile Gardens, on the way to Mt. Rushmore. The museum is open every day in the summer. Hours are 9 am - 8 pm, 7 Days a week. Hours may vary in the spring, fall, and late season. Usually hours are 10 am - 5 pm Thurs - Mon in these seasons with slower traffic. Mini Golf, Mirror Maze, & Theater are all free with Admission. Come see the most realistic, life-like dinosaur replicas in the world. We have dinosaurs of all sizes, from tiny micro-raptors to a full size T-Rex. Inside the Dinosaur Museum, you will see over 98 ancient reptiles from more than 65 species, learn more in our educational Movies Theater, while little ones play in the adjacent Fossil Dig. have the opportunity to make your way through our famous Mirror Maze, and even try your putting skills at our Mini Golf Course! Please be aware that Dinosaur Museum will temporarily close for three months each winter, typically closed for the season from Dec. 15th - March 15.See more..
4.5Pioneer Museum(51 reviews) - Surprised, very awesome museum Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums
This museum is in an old school and has many rooms with many interesting exhibits. We were warned to go in the morn as it is not air conditioned. The temperature was quite comfortable and it does have an elevator. Allow at least 90 minutes.See more..
This business is closed permanently. We appreciate all of the wonderful visitors we have serve over the last 65 years. Thank you !!! We are in the process of selling the displays. If interested google badlandspetrifiedgardensforsale.com and then click on West River Realty.See more..
4.5Ellsworth Air Force Base(44 reviews) - Great piece of History Saturday: Spent 2-3 hours Speciality Museums
Educational for the family. Flight simulator was fun for the kids with a great instructor. Planes and exhibits range from pre WW1 to Desert Storm.See more..
4.0Keystone Historical Museum(42 reviews) - Local History on Display Saturday: Spent 2-3 hours Speciality Museums • Points of Interest & Landmarks
*Closing for 2022 season on October 1st.* The museum is located in the old Keystone School. The school was built in 1899. Keystone is home to Carrie Ingalls Swazney. Carrie is Laura Ingalls Wilder's little sister. The museum has many artifacts from the Ingalls family. The museum also has local, mining, and Mount Rushmore history. Upstairs there are two classrooms for the children as well as adults to experience what school was like many, many years ago. The museum is free, but we do take "milk money" donations.See more..
4.5Grand River Museum(29 reviews) - Road Less Traveled Spent 1-2 hours Speciality Museums • History Museums
Due to a road closure in the Cheyenne River reservation, I was told about my options at the gas station in Faith SD. Having all day, we chose to go north under a 'gotta see the museum in Lemon' advise of a local. I did not expect the comparisons of faith vs science, but was not overwhelmed by experiencing a point of view I had only heard about. I enjoyed the displays they had of the origins of the town, the general displays of life for the settlers and was impressed with the dinosaur displays. The movie The Revenant has new meaning for me. The couple tending the museum turned out to be true insiders, with the gentleman being the discoverer of the partial triceratops skull on display. A very good experience!See more..
4.5The Brothel Deadwood(26 reviews) - Fun & interesting! Saturday: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM Spent < 1 hour Speciality Museums
A Deadwood experience you’ll never forget. Walk through one of Deadwood’s houses of prostitution, an industry that operated illegally in the city from 1876 until 1980, when a raid by federal agents finally closed them for good. Visitors will be transported through the 104-year story with a guided tour of the rooms at 610 Main Street, the original site of the Shasta Rooms brothel.See more..
4.5Motion Unlimited Museum(23 reviews) - Nice Car Museum Saturday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Speciality Museums
Motion Unlimited Museum and Antique/Classic Car Lot. Same Location Since 1973. 6180 South Highway 79, Rapid City, South Dakota Come visit our genuine Old Car Lot, With Nearly 100 Vehicles For Sale. Come Inside to See Our Beautiful Museum 17,000 sq. feet of cars, trucks, motorcycles, toys, pedal cars, memorabilia, oil & gas signs, and much more. All beautifully displayed. Hours: 9am-5pm- Monday-Friday Saturday: 9am-4pm Closed On Sundays, and Some Holidays.See more..
4.5George and Eleanor McGovern Library(21 reviews) - He cared so much Spent 1-2 hours Military Museums • Speciality Museums • History Museums
How could America not elect this man President. Then again, how could in 2016... He was so giving and caring about others. I was 12 years old when he ran for president. I was living in Miami Beach and that's where the Democratic convention was that year. All the candidates had offices that I visited. I remember some of the candidates like Scoop Jackson, George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey, and most of all Shirley Chisholm. I collected all the bumper stickers and buttons for the candidates that year. This guy was special though. I think people thought he was going to bring the country back to the Kennedy years. I spent a good 45 minutes in this small well curated museum and learned a lot about George McGovern. I didn't know about his commitment to ending world hunger - that he teamed up with Senator Bob Dole on a worldwide campaign to feed the poor. Man I wish we had leaders like that now. This was a great catch!See more..
Exhibits were placed very well which afforded a good over view of the Rodeo riders life. We had met Casey many years before and particularly enjoyed his part in the museum.See more..
Our family absolutely loved our visit to this small museum. Ardeth - one of the lovely volunteers- took us on a tour of the whole museum and told great stories of her work as a nurse and the history of different devices in the museum! What a lovely lady.See more..
5.0World Fossil Finder Museum(15 reviews) - Surprisingly great fossil museum Saturday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Speciality Museums • Natural History Museums • Science Museums • Children's Museums • History Museums
The World Fossil Finder Museum is not your typical fossil museum but a museum with several world wide first fossil discoveries. We are a family friendly museum that wants to inspire and educate children and adults of all ages to enjoy learning about the natural wonders of the world.See more..
This is a great museum even if you are not into tractors. The area of antiques is very interesting, also. It is volunteer run & well worth leaving a donation. So glad we took the time to stop. I enjoyed it as much as my husband!See more..
5.0Shrine to Music Museum(12 reviews) - Shrine to Music Museum is now the National Music Museum Speciality Museums
A must see for any visit to South Dakota and well worth the time. It is now called the National Music Museum.See more..
The museum is a privately owned facility displaying the privately owned militaria collection of the Rancour family. The growing collection is comprised of foreign and domestic militaria including weapons, uniforms, photos and equipment. CALL AHEAD! We will be closed several days in 2018 for work abroad.See more..
5.0Mellette House(9 reviews) - A must-stop! Spent < 1 hour Speciality Museums • Architectural Buildings • History Museums
A great way to experience South Dakota history. We toured on a Sunday afternoon & we’re impressed by the restored home of South Dakota’s first Governor. The spiral staircase is an incredible masterpiece!See more..
3.0Buffalo Interpretive Center(8 reviews) - Small place on past Native American life with very nice arts and crafts shop Speciality Museums This museum basically consits of one large room with the history of Lakota life on display - centered around the bison and how Lakota used almost any part of this animal. We were guided by a native Lakota. This center is located in the Lower Brule indian reservation. Luckily, outside we saw one of the Lower Brule bison herds close by. There is a small shop with beautiful silver arts and crafts.See more..
This museum was a great find. Stumbled upon it during a multi-state road trip. Having owned Saabs, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Basically had a private tour by the 2 people who greeted us. They were extremely knowledgeable about each Saab in the museum and glady shared that knowledge. It was an amazing collection with several historic vehicles. Highly recommend you stop to visit.See more..
5.0Cramer-Kenyon Home(6 reviews) - A Well Preserved Victorian Era House Spent < 1 hour Speciality Museums
Run by a non-profit group, donations are gratefully accepted. House tours are given by people knowledgeable about the home's history.See more..
Terrific museum. Well worth the time to go through.. Allow at least a half day to see the whole museum. See more..
4.5W.H. Over Museum(4 reviews) - a treasure for history museum buffs Saturday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Speciality Museums • Science Museums • History Museums
I was surprised that this museum was not listed. It is a must see place when you are in the area. The museum was set up by W.H. Over, a self educated archeologist / scientist. It shows a large variety items collected by Dr. Over end 19th/early 20th century (including minerals, fossils, archaeological and biological items). It is a unique collection you will not find anywhere else. The displays are authentic. They invite you to view them in detail. The other exhibitions in the museum deal with a variety of subjects: e.g. native Americans in the area, Lewis & Clark (Spirit Mound), life in and development of this part of South Dakota. There was even a special exhibition showing the history of Kodak photography cameras. The staff was very friendly and available to answer any question I had.See more..
We visited this museum in our out of the way attractions in South Dakota this June and found this museum to be very interesting and informative. Very friendly host gave us a tour of all the different vinegar's from around the world, how they are made and then encouraged us to sample 4 different vinegar's. A very well spent hour and a half. We did purchase some vinegar which we have never had before. Very enjoyable.See more..
5.0Hitchcock Museum(3 reviews) - A great authentic museum Spent More than 3 hours Speciality Museums If you like old things displayed in a well-designed place you will like this museum. Ray was very helpful and clearly enjoyed sharing his collection.See more..
