South Dakota

The 60-acre Founders Park sits on the site where the original “founders” of Rapid City camped in 1876. Most of the land, which serves as a trailhead for paths along Rapid Creek, was acquired following the 1972 Flood.

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site includes three sites along a fifteen-mile stretch of Interstate 90 in Western South Dakota. Congress authorized the park in 1999 to preserve components of the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile system. The site includes the Delta-01 Launch Control Facility, the missile silo at Delta-09 and the visitors center. “The Delta-01 Launch Control Facility provides a remarkable opportunity to view the front line of the Cold War,” Superintendent Eric Leonard said in a 2020 news release.

The Mount Theodore Roosevelt Monument, also known as the Roosevelt Friendship Monument or Friendship Tower, is a 31-foot-tall stone tower in the Black Hills National Forest near Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota. The monument is a tribute to Theodore Roosevelt, a deputy sheriff in Medora, North Dakota, in 1884. He became lifelong friends with Seth Bullock, who was the Sheriff of Deadwood at the time, and when Roosevelt passed away, Bullock wanted to erect a monument in his honor. The Society of the Black Hills Pioneers helped build the tower, which was dedicated on July 4, 1919. It donated the tower to the United States Forest Service in 1966. In 2010, a restoration project included foundation stabilization and stone repair. Stairs were added to the monument leading up to the platform, and handrails were installed on the stairs and the platform. The Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, the Black Hills Parks and Forest Association, and the Black Hills National Forest helped restore the monument.