Go on safari with your family at Custer State Park, where the prairies are roamed by American Bison, pronghorn antelope, and bighorn sheep. Wild turkeys scuttle out of sight, and elk and burros dart in the grasses at this 70,000 acre sweep of South Dakota's landscape. The park's namesake may have fallen from grace, but the park and its wildlife are as stunning as ever, remaining one of the state's top attractions. Mount Rushmore is just around the corner too.
Children are thrilled by the stories surrounding this leafy State Park. According to the legends perpetuated by local tribes, the red-colored water that flows through its forests is in fact ancestral blood. Others will spin you a story about a Bigfoot that inhabits the woods, but the rich color of the trees in fall time is too exquisite to be unsettling.
Every June, this State Park plunges into the past during the Fort Sisseton Historic Festival. Muskets, saddle bags, and costumed cavalrymen return the park to its state as a frontier base back in 1864. In the wintertime, snowshoeing and skiing make for a more serene way to experience the park.