The Midwest’s Best Winter Escape Isn’t Where You Think It Is

It was seemingly a setup for a horror movie: A tiny, empty coffee shop set on a frozen, abandoned street in a town designed for summer travelers visiting Mt. Rushmore, manned by a barista who was just a little too eager to chat me up, right next to a place that advertised “chainsaw art.” At best, I was going to end up running down an icy street from a maniac trying to make “art” out of me.

But what I initially mistook for eeriness, I later learned is just the beautiful calm that comes over South Dakota during the winter, when eager road trippers, bikers, and tourists go into hibernation. And no place captures the spirit of South Dakota winter quite like the Black Hills, which turn a stunning white each year. The mountains, monuments, and canyons that attract thousands in the warmer months are left for you to enjoy solo. And rather than a horror movie, South Dakota suddenly feels like the sweeping opening of an epic western set on a cold, vast landscape where anything can happen.

The Black Hills are dotted with cool small towns—Sturgis, Belle Fourche, Custer, and Keystone are true gems—but Rapid City is its veritable metropolis: and it has a regional airport and a Best Buy to prove it. After a day immersing yourself in a Daktoan winter, it feels like a lit-up house on a cold winter night. 

The historic streets of Rapid City are filled with friendly restaurants and breweries, where people who’ve spent the day doing much of the cold-weather adventuring you just read about strip off their winter coats and dive headlong into a piping-hot plate of chislic, South Dakota’s favorite skewered meat.

About 50 minutes through the hills you’ll roll into the Old West world of Deadwood (yes, that Deadwood), which feels a little more authentic in the winter since you’ll get a better idea of the brutal conditions the miners faced when they flocked here over 120 years ago. With that in mind, the normally rowdy saloons and casinos make a welcome respite from the cold. You won’t have summertime’s gunfight reenactments or live outdoor music, but you won’t care strolling the serenely snow-covered streets with nobody but the supposed ghosts of the Wild West heyday around.

From Deadwood, it’s about 20 minutes through stunning scenery to Spearfish, a seemingly small college town that’s home to some of the most expensive real estate in the state. That money has brought big city amenities like breweries (CrowPeak is never a bad idea) and top tier restaurants like Steerfish Steak & Smoke and Farmhouse Bistro. Why all this in the seeming middle of nowhere? It’s all about proximity to Spearfish Canyon.

With stunning canyon walls cascading down into tree-filled valleys, Spearfish Canyon is one of those places where a new stop-the-car view lies at literally every turn. The ATV trails that take you into the thick of the beauty during the summertime work just as well for snowmobiles in winter. You can rent one at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge and take it past Roughlock Falls into the vast wilderness of the Black Hills. 

Some places require things like “guides” and “training.” But this is South Dakota, friend. Here, personal responsibility is gospel, and what you do on your rented snowmobile is between you, the canyon, and your insurance company: You’ll speed past silver rocks and green trees blanketed in snow and vast, open prairies that glow white. Then ascend the hills and cross the border into Wyoming, where you can stop at the Cement Ridge Lookout for the best view of this spectacular region.

Even if you’re not a daredevil, the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is a stunner. You’ll find no shortage of canyon hikes and frozen waterfalls here, but perhaps the most unique is Eleventh Hour Gulch. There are no signs for this small side canyon off the main road, and you’ll need to find the small pullout just past the parking lot for the Devil’s Bathtub to park your car. Once you venture inside, you’ll hike through a canyon that looks like it was just touched by a pissed-off Princess Elsa. The waterfalls lining the narrow gulch look frozen in time, creating a crystalline wonderland. The hike isn’t too difficult with hiking boots on and shouldn’t take you much longer than half an hour round trip.

Though nobody’s confusing South Dakota with Aspen quite yet, the Black Hills do boast one full-service ski resort at Terry Peak, about 25 minutes outside of Deadwood. You won’t find any murderous backcountry skiing here, so while you’ll get a rush—slopes run from beginner to black diamond—nothing is going to terrify you. Plus, since people don’t generally think of South Dakota as a ski destination, you won’t find anything resembling a crowd on the mountain: you’ll be first in line for the chairlift when you hit the bottom.

Just outside Terry Peak is the town of Lead, home to one of only two neutrino reactors in the world (South Dakota: occasionally unnerving, but always cool!), as well as Lewie’s Saloon. It’s an old, wood-covered outpost where you can end your day sipping on local beers and stuffing yourself with the Black Hills’ best burger. The crowd is an intriguing mix of hardy South Dakotans and nuclear scientists, so whatever conversation you strike up at the bar, you’re bound to learn something.

Regardless of how you feel about Mt. Rushmore (and there are a lot of feelings about Mt. Rushmore), it’s kind of a must if you’re in South Dakota. And the best time to see it is during the winter when the usual throngs of tour buses and school groups don’t dare venture out. I’ve gone twice during the winter now, and both times I was literally the only person in the park. There is something very personal about spending quality time alone with four enormous, famous stone heads. 

Ditto goes for all the other monuments that people flock to see in the Black Hills in the summer. In nearby Custer State Park—weather permitting—you can cruise the narrow passages of the Needles Highway, without having to wait for 10 RVs to clear the road for your snow-filled photo-op at frozen Sylvan Lake. And if you’re feeling frisky, you can head an hour east to Badlands National Park about an hour east, whose Mars-like terrain is extra trippy dusted with snow and absent of bikers. 

South Dakota has long—as in, 10,000 years long—been home to the people of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota Native American tribes, meaning it's probably worth skipping the aforementioned stone heads and giving your attention instead to the land’s original inhabitants, whose culture spans the state from the major cities to the wide-open spaces.

In Rapid City, you’ll find a plethora of experiences: There’s the Prairie Edge Trading Co. & Galleries, a center for Indigenous artists; the Journey Museum’s expansive history of the Black Hills and rotating art exhibitions; and the Dakota Drum Company, which specializes in traditional buffalo hide drums and Pow Wow drums.

If you’re looking to keep the outdoor adventures going, visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. Soon to be the world’s largest mountain carving at 563 feet, it's an especially great stop in winter; with few other people around, the monument staff will have plenty of time to educate you. You can also don a solid jacket, grab a flashlight, and venture into the depths of Wind Cave National Park, also known as Maka Oniye or “breathing earth”; home to both amazing cave exploration as well as the site of the Lakota Emergence Story, winter is the easiest season for snagging guided tour reservations. 

There are also stops aplenty to be made along the Native American Attraction Trail: Road trip down the Native American National And State Scenic Byway, spot the 50-foot tall Dignity: Of Earth & Sky statue watching over Chamberlain, or visit the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, South Dakota’s only archeological site open to the public. And should you find yourself in South Dakota around early October, be sure to stop by one of many Indigenous Peoples’ Day festivals around the state; the Native American Day Parade in Sioux Falls and the Native American Day Celebration at Crazy Horse Memorial both promise music, dancing, food, and more.

About 20 minutes from Hill City, you’ll drive past the Deerfield Reservoir, one of many deep blue, frozen-over bodies of water locals use to ice fish in the winter. To those from sunnier climates, drilling a hole in the snow and sitting next to it with a fishing pole for hours on end may sound torturous. And yes, a good number of ice fishers just use the sport as an excuse to get out of the house and drink like Homer Simpson. But there’s more to it than that. 

Setting up on a frozen lake where the sound is absorbed by the snow and all you hear is rustling trees is instantly calming (so long as the wind isn’t whipping too hard). The silence is occasionally broken by a fish biting your hook, at which point you’ll reel him up, throw him back, and begin the cycle again. You’ll be stunned how quickly a few hours can pass when you’re this immersed in winter, and you may feel the most disconnected you have in months. 

Later, on your way back to Hill City, stop at one of the breweries along Highway 385 like Sick-n-Twisted Brewery or Miner Brewing—where a lonely bartender will happily pour you a pint to enjoy by the fire—or at the equally cozy Prairie Berry winery. South Dakota is, after all, a land of duality. 

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat!