South Dakota is exploding with endless dog-friendly adventures. After our rejuvenating hiking day in Sioux Falls, we headed out to Rapid City, South Dakota. We had a few stops to make on the way, starting with one of Mom and Dad’s favorite quirky roadside attractions in America: the Corn Palace.
The locals in Mitchell, South Dakota, are extremely proud of their palace of corns, and boast that it is the “world’s only corn palace.” It was built in the 1800s to show the abundance of corn present in South Dakota and to attract new residents to the area. Every spring, this building is completely adorned with thousands of bushels of corn from South Dakota, and the art is changed annually. To be honest, staring at the corns just made me super hungry.
We stopped at another quirky roadside attraction, Wall Drug, after being on the road all day. Wall, South Dakota, is a massive tourist trap town, with tons of little shops to get local souvenirs and delicacies such as chokecherry jelly. Mom took some hilariously weird pictures of me in their backyard area.
We drove 10 minutes from Wall, and we stopped at one of our new favorite national parks in America: the Badlands.
I could not keep my head inside the car! My jowls were blowing in the wind, but I didn’t care. The Badlands were like nothing I’d ever seen before. Mom said the geology of the Badlands is made up of intricate pinnacles, spires, buttes, and grassy prairies. The park is home to buttloads of prairie dogs, white-tailed deer, bison, and more. I wanted to play with the prairie dogs, but they kept chirping angrily at me, so Mom and Dad vetoed my plan. Plus, dogs have to stay on a leash and aren’t allowed to hike through the park because of the dangerous wildlife.
We went off the beaten path and met a bison. He smelled delicious!
After a long day of nature-watching, we drove a bit out of the way to get to Bobkat’s Purple Pie Place near Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore doesn’t allow pups, but Mom and Dad had already visited. Mom and Dad think the Purple Pie Place has the yummiest raspberry rhubarb jalapeno pie, and I even got to indulge in some vanilla ice cream. I always cry when I eat ice cream; it’s just that amazing. We met a purple pig, and Mom was a little overexcited to make me pose with it.
We finally ended our long, quirky day at the Best Western Ramkota hotel in Rapid City. The hotel had a rustic lodge-style theme, buttery beds, and, the best part, no pet fees or breed restrictions. We had a lovely, cozy night before our last long drive out to Portland, Oregon.
We will definitely make a point to visit South Dakota again in the future for its raw and rugged beauty and dog-friendly, fun activities.
Ratings for South Dakota:
The Corn Palace:
The Corn Palace is a silly and quirky destination for people, but pups will be bored and confused by the stop. If you decide to go with your pet, I recommend making it a quick pee and picture stop.
Wall Drug:
Wall Drug is another quirky roadside attraction with some interesting local delicacies. The backyard area is pet friendly and you can take silly pictures with your pup.
Badlands National Park:
As stunning and gorgeous as the park was, unfortunately it was not as dog-friendly as we hoped. There are no hiking trails for dogs due to the dangerous wildlife and enormous prairie dog population. However, taking a drive through with your pup and having a picnic lunch would be well worth the trip.
Purple Pie Place:
The Purple Pie Place had remarkably delicious food, and the owners are so sweet, they will bring pups out their own water bowls.
Best Western Ramkota Hotel:
Best Westerns are a great dog-friendly hotel chain. Not every Best Western allows pups, so make sure to call in advance, see if they have dog-friendly room availability, and check that they don’t have expensive pet-cleaning fees. I gave this particular location two paws up because it had a fun theme, the beds were great, and there were no pet fees or breed restrictions.
Stay tuned for my next blog post, where we finally move to Portland, Oregon!
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Big Dog Travel Blog 
Scarlett, Your travel blog is so precious. I love your advice and focus to detail on your visit to Walls Drugs, the hotel destination, The Badlands and most important, stopping at the great food restaurants in the Sioux Falls area, in the great State of South Dakota. I give the visit, two hands up!♡
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Woof Grammy!!!
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I sometimes cry when I eat ice-cream too, Scarlett, but I bet I wouldn’t with a piece of raspberry, rhubarb, jalapeno pie! Yum!
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It was crazy delicious Shona, and a definite must-try 🙂
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Love this and great shots!
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Thank you, it was a beautiful day 🙂
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What a great trip! That ice cream would make me cry too!! Amazing! One day I would like to follow in your paw prints 🐶
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You should, you would have a wonderful time with your pup 🙂 I want to follow in your footsteps too!
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My jowls would also be blowing in the wind if I were heading towards Badlands! It looks absolutely stunning and reminds me a little of The Olgas in Australia. I love the wildlife, especially the bison, they just look so cuddly! The Purple Pie Place looks awesome, but I just love food! So glad you gave plenty of paws up to South Dakota 😀 #feetdotravel
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Hahaha your jowls, that cracked me up. The bison do look cuddly but apparently they’re ferocious! We will have to check out The Olgas one day. 🙂
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Scarlett, your adventures are just too good to follow. Ice cream is so good that people cry sometimes too. I loved the purple pie place and the wildlife at Badlands!
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It was awesome, you should definitely check it out one day 🙂
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Great post – I have been lucky to visit most of the places here in 2015 and South Dakota is one of my favourite states. Loved the Corn Palace and Wall Drug Store and of course hiking in the stunning Badlands! That ice cream must have been delicious too!
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The Corn Palace and Wall Drug are hilarious, and I’m so glad you had a chance to visit the Badlands. They were beautiful, we can’t wait to go back 🙂
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Loved our trip through South Dakota especially the Purple Pie Shop. Did you get a chance to visit the Crazy Horse memorial? Loved that too. Just a great state a must see Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park.
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We did see Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park but the Crazy horse memorial is still on our list. We will have to go back now 🙂 Thanks Lisa.
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Love you hanging your head out the window with your jowls blowing in the wind! Your posts always make me smile. Thanks for sharing! #feetdotravel
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Thanks 🙂 we had a blast!
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Thanks Scarlett on the Paws Up on Roadside Attractions in South Dakota. The bison and the badlands look real cool. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thanks for reading girl, it was great 🙂
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Ha ha – what a great post – ‘Picture of Dad lookin fly’. I have a dog – Bingo; he’s a Jack Russell Terrier, but he’s half human and doesn’t like dog food. South Dakota looks lovely. I’d like to visit the ‘Badlands’ – sounds like a great place!
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Awwwww say hi to Bingo for us! The Badlands are truly spectacular, you should definitely add South Dakota to your list 🙂
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Im surprised the corn didn’t make you scared this time haha! The national park looks stunning! No wonder you couldn’t keep your head in the car. Beautiful photography as always!
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Thanks Kreete, that means a lot 🙂
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Epic! Love the dear and Bison. Your dog is cute too!
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Thanks Barry, you are woofin wonderful 🙂
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Ice cream pie! That sounds delicious. Beautiful shots especially the panaroma.
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It was the best, thanks for reading 🙂
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South Dakota looks really beautiful. The corn palace looks stunning. You may be interested to note that there is a corn village in India, where all the houses are adorned with corn.
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That is so cool, we will look it up! You should visit South Dakota one day, it’s a fascinating state.
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