Why Sioux Falls:
I found a flight deal direct from Los Angeles to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While I had briefly passed through Sioux Falls on a road trip back in 2013 (one of my first ever blog posts), I did not really get to explore the city. Moreover, there were three National Park Service sites that I could visit within close-ish driving distance.
June 14, 2024: Around Sioux Falls
My flight from Los Angeles landed around noon. It took about an hour to retrieve my bag and get my rental car. I then headed out of town along I-90 to the east.
After crossing into Minnesota, I headed south into Iowa. After traveling along farm roads, I eventually reached Hawkeye Point, the highest point in Iowa. At 1,670 feet above sea level, Hawkeye Point is the ninth lowest state high point. Moreover, it is not a mountain or ever really a hill, it is merely farmland that is slightly higher than the surrounding cornfields. The area used to be a privately owned farm, but the family donated it to the county on the condition that it forever be used as a park open to the public.
Despite the meager location, the county went all out on visitor amenities. There is a summit register, multiple plaques, distance markers to all the other state high points, a giant chair, a grain elevator, historic barn, American Gothic wooden photo op and museum of historic farm equipment! Truly, what more could you want?!
Next, I drove north for a bit over an hour into Minnesota to reach Pipestone National Monument. This monument protects the world’s best-known quarry for pipestone, a sedimentary rock. The stone is soft and has a unique red color. Native tribes from all over the Great Plains and Midwest would come here to mine the stone to make ceremonial pipes. Native peoples have been coming here for at least 3,000 years.
Native people are still allowed to quarry the stone. Inside the visitor center, there were local experts who were doing live carving demonstrations and answering questions.
The quarry can be visited along a ¾ mile trail that passes along a quiet creek and leads to a waterfall. The scenery was pretty but there were so many bugs it started to blur my vision.
The quarry sites are located just off the trail. I saw just one person quarrying the stone.
At this point it was 17:00 and my plan was to head northwest to the town of Brookings, South Dakota and camp. However, I received a text message from my friend Bailey who is from Sioux Falls. She said that her Aunt Vonna and Uncle Tim would love to meet me and show me around Sioux Falls. So instead of driving to Brookings, I rerouted to Sioux Falls.
Before arriving at the house, I stopped for a slushwhip at the famous B&G Milkyway.
I arrived at Tim and Vonna’s house around 18:30. After drinking South Dakota red beers (beer mixed with tomato juice – basically a simpler michelada), we ate dinner in the backyard.
We then headed into downtown to check out the Falls Park, home of the namesake falls of Sioux Falls. The downtown was bumping. Not only was the main avenue packed with pedestrians but there was also a free concert in the brand-new Levitt bandshell.
At the falls, we walked around to see some of the historic structures. The park was lit up at night and full of life.
Then, we walked up a pedestrian pathway along the Big Sioux River that was based on San Antonio’s Riverwalk. Vonna was petitioning the city to allow her to install a mural along one section of the pathway.
At this point it was very late at night and I stayed at Tim and Vonna’s house. While just 4 hours ago we were complete strangers, we were now good friends!
June 17, 2024: In Sioux Falls
Two days later…
After road tripping through central South Dakota and Northern Nebraska, I returned to Sioux Falls and once again slept at Tim and Vonna’s house, avoiding a strong storm.
The next morning, I set out to explore some of the tourist attractions in Sioux Falls. The city operates two free museums and I decided to visit them both. The first one was the Old Courthouse Museum.
The former county courthouse from 1890-1962 has been transformed into a municipal museum with three stories of exhibits. My favorite exhibit had 100 artifacts from the history of Sioux Falls. The combination of all these stories told the narrative. My favorite artifact was the visitor register from the South Dakota Pavilion in the 1893 Columbian Exposition. It must be the thickest book in the history of books!
Just to the west of Downtown is the Cathedral District, which has an incredible number of historic homes. In fact, this is the only neighborhood I have seen outside of the Northeast with “plaque homes”. Out of the 223 houses in the neighborhood, 190 were built before 1930 and 104 were built before 1900.
Perhaps the most magnificent of all the homes in the Cathedral District is the Pettigrew House. This was the house of Franklin Pettigrew, the first ever Senator from South Dakota. He came to Sioux Falls with a lot of money but was able to build an even bigger fortune as a landowner, surveyor and lawyer. He was best known for being indicted for his opposition to World War I, which he viewed as a capitalist scheme to enrich the wealthy.
The home is elaborate with impressive wall coverings. The house also has some incredible artifacts from Pettigrew’s world travels and attempts at amateur archaeology. The house was donated to the city at the time of his death and is operated as a free museum.
Since the district is called the Cathedral District, I had to visit the impressive Cathedral of Saint Joseph. It is way more impressive than I was expecting for Sioux Falls.
It was now almost 11:00 and I had to return my rental car at 12:00. For lunch, based on the recommendation of Tim and Vonna, I visited Sanaa’s Gourmet Mediterranean. Sanaa Abourezek is the third wife of US Senator James Abourezek, the first Arab senator in US history. She was born in Syria but moved to the US to pursue her career in food.
The two met in Washington at a Syrian embassy event. At the time James had retired from Congress and was practicing law. Somehow, he convinced Sanaa to move to South Dakota. Despite living in a state with one of the smallest Arab populations in the country, Sanaa has managed to make the restaurant a huge success. Twice she has been nominated for a James Beard Award. The restaurant is fast-casual. I ordered the chicken shish tawook and it was incredible.
I then headed to the airport to fly home.
Final Thoughts:
Despite its small size, Sioux Falls, appears to be an urbanist’s dream. The city has a coherent plan and has worked very hard to make it happen. With apartments, public parks, programming and strong safety, the plan has results to show.
There are also plenty of good restaurants and sights to see in town.
Within an hour’s drive, there are also plenty of things to see besides just Pipestone and the Iowa highpoint. This includes some state parks, South Dakota’s two college towns and a few offbeat attractions such as the Corn Palace.
Finally, the people in South Dakota are extremely friendly.
Even though western South Dakota has the main tourist attractions, don’t sleep on Sioux Falls!
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