Off the Beaten Path in Dinosaur Park You’ll Find a Breathtaking South Dakota Overlook that Lets You See for Miles

Dinosaur Park may be one of the main attractions in the college town of Rapid City, but its high vantage point allows guests to see so much more than dorm rooms and libraries. Concrete giants guard the hill that overlooks some of South Dakota’s finest views, making it an interactive, fun spot to visit.

Built in 1936, Dinosaur Park was a supplemental tourist attraction for those traveling to the Black Hills area to see Mount Rushmore.

There are seven concrete dinosaurs on display, modeled off of the 1930s concepts of what dinosaurs looked like. As such, most of them are anatomically incorrect; their dragging tails are one of the biggest markers of Depression-Era paleontological thinking.

The views from atop the cretaceous kingdom, however, are remarkable, with the Badlands looming to the east like a sun-bleached Grand Canyon.

The layers of color hold mammalian fossils and various rocks and sediment, promising new things to look at in every crack and crevice.

Rapid City is its own unique type of beauty, its hills and valleys rippling out from beneath Dinosaur Park for miles.

As the sun sets, the thousands of lights from the town begin to twinkle and the sky turns bright shades of pink and orange.

The hill that Dinosaur Park sits on is interesting in and of itself, with many fossils having been found on the sandstone ridge.

These fossils belonged to dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, just like the statues erected on the site.

There is so much to see in South Dakota, but Dinosaur Park is a bucket-list item. It is located at 940 Skyline Drive in Rapid City, South Dakota 57701. Stop in at the gift shop, stage photos with your favorite dinos, and take in the breathtaking views ━ you’ll be glad you did!