By state

National parks in South Dakota

Every National Park Service unit in South Dakota, scored and ranked by our Experience Score.

Aerial view of the Missouri River and surrounding landscape.

National Recreational River · SD

Missouri National Recreational River

This is one of the most underrated free parks in the NPS system, protecting two genuinely wild, free-flowing stretches of the Missouri River across South Dakota and Nebraska.

100ESSENTIAL NPS Photo / Dan Roddy

National Park · SD

Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave earns its 100 score by delivering two genuinely distinct experiences for the price of one admission, which is free.

Layered badlands formations behind fields of green grass under cloudy and billowing clouds.

90ESSENTIAL NPS Photo

National Park · SD

Badlands National Park

Badlands earns its 90 experience score honestly.

Small waterfall with brown rocks and green moss

74EXCELLENT NPS Photo / Alex Wiles

National Historic Trail · IA

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail

At nearly 4,900 miles across 16 states, this is less a destination than a framework for road-tripping American history.

60WORTH IT NPS Staff Photo

National Monument · SD

Jewel Cave National Monument

Jewel Cave punches above its monument status by sitting atop one of the longest cave systems on earth, over 220 mapped miles of passages.

Photo of Mount Rushmore under a bright blue sky with puffy clouds floating over.

60WORTH IT NPS Photo

National Memorial · SD

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Mount Rushmore delivers exactly one thing, but it delivers it well: the sheer scale of four presidential faces carved into granite is genuinely arresting in person, more so than photos suggest.

Glass structure over the silo allows visitors to look down at the missile

49NICHE NPS Photo

National Historic Site · SD

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

This is one of the most quietly unsettling sites in the entire national park system.