Rapid City lies west of the Missouri River at the heart of a landscape of prairies, pine forests, and desolate, rocky outcroppings. South Dakota's second-largest city is a great place from which to explore the well-known Black Hills.   Founded only two years after the gold boom in the Black Hills, Rapid City is a boomtown that has truly made a name for itself... read more in our Rapid City Destination Guide.

Known to the Lakota Sioux as “Laughing Waters”, the Big Sioux River winds throughout the city of Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls takes its name from scenic cascades formed 14,000 years ago as Ice Age glaciers retreated. The shifting ice also exposed pinkish, quartzite bedrock, which was used to construct many of the city's older buildings.   Visitors can watch the river as it flows over the powerful falls from four viewing areas in Falls Park, one of which is a five-story observation tower. The Big Sioux River Recreation Trail and Greenway is a 16-mile-trail that begins at Falls Park and loops around the city providing walking, jogging, and biking trails as well as areas for in-line skating... read more in our Sioux Falls Destination Guide.