Wall Drug is the consummate tourist trap. If you have come within 100 miles of this massive commercial compound, you have likely seen one of their signature signs advertising their homemade pie, dinosaurs, coffee, donuts, buffet, and the general need to stop in Wall, South Dakota.
When most mines are shut down, they are sealed up and abandoned. When the second largest gold mine in the world shuts down, it is converted into a cutting edge research facility for studying dark matter.
The 2.8 mile dirt around Devils Tower National Monument trail has moderate dips and rises and wanders outside of tree cover, making it a more difficult hike than Tower Trail but only an moderate overall challenge.
Tower Trail is the de facto hike in Devils Tower National Monument. This easy 1.3 mile paved trail closely circles the base of Devil's Tower with frequent interpretive panels explaining different aspects of the tower's geology, history, and cultural significance.
The Belle Fourche Campground is the only campground inside of the Devils Tower National Monument. While it only sports 50 campsites, we had no trouble acquiring our own site that evening. Each site is well spaced from the others and very level. RVers as well as tent campers can find convenient shady spots with hints of Devils tower through the trees. Best of all: the bathrooms have running water.
The drive to Devils Tower is composed of rolling farmland. Perhaps that is what makes the massive stone outcropping all the more magnificent: it towers over the golden prairie.
Adams Museum in the gem in the crown of Deadwood, South Dakota. Most every other part of this tourist town is missable but the Adams Museum justifies a detour. This extensive cabinet of curiosities encompasses gold nuggets, taxidermy oddities, antique counterfeiting tools, a plesiosaur, and a nudist colony. Never forget the nudist colony.
Fortunes were made here. Celebrities died here. The legend endures but the experience of Deadwood, South Dakota is...mixed.
Next to the Geographic Center of the Nation (or, at least, its monument) is the Tri-State Museum. This one-room collection of community artifacts in Belle Fourche, South Dakota includes memorabilia and oddities from prehistoric fossils, cattle ranching, WWII, and modern industries.
I had always thought the center of the nation was was Kansas. Yet, there is a contender for the title. In driving through Belle Fourche, South Dakota, we encountered a large sign announcing a monument for the geographic center of the nation. We had to stop.