34. South Dakota

And we finally reach our last Great Plains state. But what makes this one so much higher than all the others? Oh my god it actually has mountains.

Yep, that’s pretty much it. Every other Great Plains state’s highest point is not even really a hill. It’s just at where a gradual elevation increase ends, usually on a state border. But South Dakota has real honest to god mountains. The Black Hills are so remarkable. It’s weird having the sharp rocky mountains anywhere outside of the Rockies and West Coast, but it really goes a long way to make the area special.

The glorious Wall Drug billboards

But the Black Hills and Badlands are doing some really heavy lifting. Because the rest of the state is pretty much as boring as the other states in the Plains. That drive down I-90 from Sioux Falls is rough because the only thing you have to look at and remark on is the ridiculous amount of Wall Drug billboards.

I don’t really know how to feel about Mount Rushmore. On one hand it is an artistic marvel commemorating the history of our county and our pretty universally agreed upon greatest presidents. But it was also carved into a mountain sacred to the Native Americans of the region, and it idolizes flawed people with complicated pasts. I definitely feel all four presidents are worth commemorating, but what Mount Rushmore does is treat these real people as larger than life. And in this current day when all that presidents want to do is make their mark on history by any means necessary, it doesn’t really sit right with me. So I thought this was worth a mention despite not really affecting my ranking.

All in all, I want to have a dedicated visit to South Dakota again, and that is enough to make it stand out above other states like it.