the corn palace and a six ton prairie dog
đź“ŤMitchell, SD | The Corn Palace
The “World’s Only Corn Palace” is a perfect road trip attraction because it seems incredibly unserious, but its existence is full of history—and its purpose is artistic. The exterior and interior murals are made of corn and are replaced yearly.
Note: Admission is free. We visited on a Monday morning, so it wasn’t busy, and were in and out in 45 minutes
I figured it was entirely a corn exhibit, but it’s an event center made to host performers and events. You can browse and buy merchandise on the center floor, then look at a few walls of corn-related figurines, photos, and drawings.
There’s a wall of photos of the exterior throughout the years! The original corn palace was built in 1892!
This wall documents mockups of murals from years past!
đź“ŤPhilip, SD (Badlands) | Badlands Ranch Store | 6 ton prairie dog
The Badlands Ranch Store allows you to feed the town of prairie dogs situated next to the parking lot! We didn’t go inside the store—I just wanted to see the 6-ton prairie dog statue that was made in 1959.
South Dakota has a ton of roadside attractions—you can’t miss the hundreds of billboards on the sides of the road advertising them. These were quick stops we could do from Sioux Falls to Rapid City!