We have spent a lot of time in western South Dakota, but mostly in the summer during the heavy tourist season. This time, we wanted to experience the breathtaking beauty of the Black Hills in the fall. The rugged and picturesque landscape transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors during the fall season. We also experienced some of the local fall festival culture. Here are our favorite finds:

Spearfish Canyon - A Tapestry of Colors

Spearfish Canyon is often considered the crown jewel of fall foliage in South Dakota. We explored the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway and discovered why it's one of the most sought-after spots for leaf-peeping. In addition, Spearfish Canyon is home to three major waterfalls:

(1) Spearfish Falls.

Located near Savoy, this 0.6 out-and-back trail to Spearfish Falls leads to a majestic 80-foot waterfall.

(2) Roughlock Falls.

Even though Roughlock Falls is accessible via a short hike from a small parking lot on Roughlock Road, we recommend doing the more scenic 2.1-mile out-and-back trail to Roughlock Falls starting near the Spearfish Canyon Lodge.

(3) Bridal Veil Falls.

Drive north from Savoy towards Spearfish on 14A to a pull-over area to see Bridal Veil Falls.

Custer State Park - Wildlife and Autumn Splendor

View of Needles Tunnel on Needles Highway in Custer State Park

Custer State Park, known for its bison herds and scenic drives, is another fantastic place to soak in the autumn beauty. Needles Highway (Highway 87) and Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A) are both stunning routes that wind through towering granite spires, dense forests, and narrow tunnels. The South Dakota Park, Fish & Game maps aren’t always in agreement about the tunnel dimensions, but one recent map provides the following information:

Tunnel	Highway	Width	Height
Needles Eye Tunnel	Highway 87	8’4”	11’3”
Iron Creek Tunnel	Highway 87	9’0”	11’4”
Hood Tunnel	Highway 87	10’6”	9’10”
CC Gideon Tunnel	Highway 16A	13’0”	11’0”
Doane Robinson Tunnel	Highway 16A	13’2”	12’2”
Scovel Johnson Tunnel	Highway 16A	13’2”	12’4”

Mount Rushmore is framed in the Doane Robinson Tunnel when traveling north on Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A), which is pretty cool.

The best place to find wildlife alongside the fall colors is on the aptly named Wildlife Loop. We got our fill of mountain goats, pronghorn, prairie dogs, and buffalo – all with a variety of yellow and orange leaves in the prairie background. I fell in love with prairie dogs as part of my visits to Custer State Park, and even wrote a song about them! The best place to see prairie dogs in Custer State Park is on the Seven Mile Draw just off the Wildlife Loop Road.

As for the buffalo, there’s no better place to see them than during Custer State Park’s annual Buffalo Roundup!

Pumpkin Festival in Rapid City

For the past 15 years, downtown Rapid City has hosted a Pumpkin Festival. The event featured a giant pumpkin weigh-off, pumpkin carving contest, live farm-to-table cooking demonstration, the Pumpkin Pub Crawl, drum line performances by Rapid City Central and Stevens groups, vendor booths, farmers market and kids activities. The best part was the Pumpkin Catapult a/k/a Pumpkin Chunkin’ a/k/a Punkin’ Chunkin’ – where about a half dozen teams from the South Dakata School of Mines & Technology created an array of devices to launch pumpkins across an open field!

I even made the Rapid City Journal trying to film all of those flying pumpkins!

Octoberfest at a Rapid City Brewery

Lost Cabin Octoberfest in Rapid City, South Dakota - Beer Stein Holding Contest

Rapid City is home to several breweries, and we’ve been to all of them on multiple occasions. During this trip to the area, our favorite brewery was Lost Cabin, who hosted a phenomenal Octoberfest on one Saturday. Kasie tried her best to follow the rules in a Beer Stein Holding Contest, and we made a few new friends. Most of the breweries in the area hold October celebrations so be sure and make that a part of your fall visit to western South Dakota.

Exploring Western South Dakota in the Fall