25 Places to Go in 2025 Spotlight: South Dakota

These milestones will bring many festivals, activations, and events to towns across the state. South Dakota is where you’ll find the perfect great American road trip any year, but it’s clear 2025 will be a banner year to visit.

Outside of the anniversaries, there are events like the 2025 Lakota Music Project on tour in October that features symphony musicians, a drumming group, and flutists for concerts that bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups. The Badlands Astronomy Festival celebrates the night sky in June, while food lovers should mark their calendars for the following month when the South Dakota Chislic Festival takes place to celebrate South Dakota’s official state “nosh”: skewered grilled meats served with a variety of dips called chislic. You don’t need to live and die by the calendar to explore the outdoors in South Dakota, but outdoor lovers should mark the dates of the Crazy Horse Memorial Biannual Volksmarch (a June and September hiking event on a 6.2-mile trail to Crazy Horse Memorial for cultural demonstrations and music) and Mickelson Trail Trek (a September cycling event along a former miner’s railroad).

Recent hotel openings means expanded options for travelers of all kinds and ages. Shortgrass Resort (open May through September) is a seasonal, adults-only option on a 52-acre property with luxurious custom-built Danish tents, farm-to-table dining, nightly bonfires, wellness services, and complimentary fishing gear. Lakota Youth Development blends accommodations with historical learning through sleeping arrangements in tipis, tent sites, and a bunkhouse and activities like traditional Lakota games, dance performances, art projects, and sports.

Amidst all of this, South Dakota is raising its profile on the food front, too. Center a spring trip around sustainable agriculture at The Good Earth Farm in Lennox to take a farm tour or workshop, forage, and make wood-fired pizza. The Pheasant Restaurant & Lounge won the Midwest Region 2024 James Beard Foundation American’s Classics Awards on the back of local favorites like pheasant, bison, duck, and lamb.