South Dakota is the fifth-smallest state by population in the U.S., with approximately 885,000 residents living in its 77,000 square miles. From the Black Hills and the Badlands, across the plains to Sioux Falls, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of South Dakota and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.
This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
A view of eroded rock formations within Badlands National Park in southwestern South Dakota #
A U.S. flag flies as fireworks explode above the Mount Rushmore National Memorial during an Independence Day event in Keystone, South Dakota, on July 3, 2020. #
Clouds and low sun over Pine Ridge, South Dakota #
Spectators watch as riders and drivers herd buffalo toward the corrals at the 49th annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup in the southern Black Hills near Custer, South Dakota, on September 26, 2014. #
A view of Falls Park in the city of Sioux Falls #
Downtown Sioux Falls, seen on a crisp fall morning in October #
Pronghorns gather in Custer State Park. #
"Dignity," a 50-foot-tall statue of an Indigenous woman, created to honor the Lakota and Dakota peoples, stands in Chamberlain, South Dakota, photographed on July 29, 2018. #
An old barn stands in front of Bear Butte near Sturgis, South Dakota. #
The Corn Palace, photographed in Mitchell, South Dakota, on September 22, 2019. The Corn Palace is a theater and festival hall that has been rebuilt and modified several times since its construction in 1892. #
Cows graze in a pasture beneath a haze-filtered moon near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on September 30, 2012. #
An ominous supercell develops outside Rapid City on June 1, 2015. #
Mahto in the Woods jumps over a small creek on foot while his cousin Jayden Lookinghorse jumps over on his horse on the Cheyenne River Reservation in Green Grass, South Dakota, on May 31, 2018. That year, Stephanie Keith, a photographer for Reuters, spent time with the Lookinghorse family on a 400-mile horse ride from Green Grass to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, commemorating 150 years of the Fort Laramie peace treaty between the Sioux Nation and the U.S. government. #
A view of the Black Hills from the Harney Peak Trail #
An aerial view of the town of Winner, South Dakota, on October 13, 2014. #
Cave Hills Church, north of Buffalo, South Dakota #
A bison stands atop a grassy hill near Pringle, South Dakota. #
Mallards erupt from a South Dakota wetland on November 27, 2011. The early-morning backlight reveals the droplets of water coming off of the mallards' wings as they rise. #
Erin Williams competes in the barrel-racing event at the 101st annual Black Hills Roundup rodeo on July 4, 2020, in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The town celebrated Independence Day with the rodeo, a parade, a street dance, and a carnival. #
Residents cap off Independence Day activities with a carnival and a street dance on July 4, 2020, in Belle Fourche. #
A winter sunrise, viewed in Badlands National Park #
A view of downtown Rapid City #
Two mares and a foal stand together near Hot Springs, South Dakota. #
Bikers ride down Main Street on the first day of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, on August 3, 2015. That year marked the 75th anniversary of the rally, drawing crowds of up to 1.2 million people. #
The huge open pit of the Homestake Mine sits alongside the town of Lead, South Dakota. The site was mined from the 1870s until it closed in 2001, after more than 1,365 tons of gold were extracted. #
The South Dakota State Capitol building, photographed at dawn in the capital city of Pierre #
A view of part of the Lower Brule Indian Reservation, with the Missouri River in the background, photographed on April 22, 2020, in Lower Brule, South Dakota. #
A huge dinosaur sculpture stands at the entrance of the town of Wall, advertising for the Wall Drug Store, seen on September 12, 2018. #
A view down Main Street in the historic gold-rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota #
A road winds through the picturesque rock formations in Badlands National Park. #
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