Vacation homes in South Dakota provide tourists with access to what locals call the "Mount Rushmore State" after the iconic large-scale carvings in the Black Hills of four of our greatest presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. While there is no doubt that Mount Rushmore is one of the most popular attractions in the state, South Dakota has a great deal else to offer the vacationer who wants to see part of the old frontier in person.
South Dakota is also home to Custer State Park, which commemorates the largest Native American victory against forces of the U.S. Army, and the Crazy Horse Memorial, which stands near Mount Rushmore and is so massive in scale that this sculpture of this important Native American actually dwarves the figures of the presidents. At both these sites, visitors can get a sense of South Dakota's history as one of the last states to still deserve the title of the "Wild West, an era which has long since passed from American history.
National Parks abound in South Dakota. Two of the most frequently visited are the Badlands National Park and the Wind Caves National Park. In the Badlands, tourists can see the largest protected stand of prairie remaining, and view eroded spires and pinnacles that call to mind the Grand Canyon. The Wind Caves have the distinction of being the first cave ever to be declared a national park in any nation.