Year-Round
If you’re an outdoor enthusiast, you’ll find plenty to keep you busy here in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota any time of the year.
With more than a dozen National Parks and Monuments, Memorials, Forests and Grasslands and four State Parks and recreation areas open year-round, you won’t run out of places to explore. Hike any of the dozens of trails, from an easy stroll to a challenging mountain excursion 12 months of the year.
Take a cave tour any time of year. Although cave exploration is a great reprieve from the summer heat, Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument offer cave tours year-round.
You’ll find an entirely different variety of wildlife critters during the winter months than you will see in the summer, so it's fun to check them out throughout the year. The distinct golds, burgundies and greens of Autumn create a breathtaking backdrop for your photography shots. Scenic byways and wildlife loops offer panoramic vistas of our great outdoors year-round.
Geocaching can be done any time of year, and archaeologists and paleontologists don’t let a little cooler weather or a couple inches of snow keep them from exploring. Hunting and fishing are two activities that be enjoyed any time of the year. With several distinct hunting seasons set by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, you can hunt everything from grouse to elk, spring through winter. Sport shooting prairie dogs is a real challenge in marksmanship and western South Dakota holds black-tail prairie dogs by the thousands. There is no season and you can hunt them anytime you want with a $5 non-resident General Hunting License.
In South Dakota, the fishing season never closes! Which makes the pursuit of trout in the streams and lakes of the Black Hills a year-round sport. You can catch walleyes, northern pike, bluegills and crappies, too — but trout top the list for Hills sportsmen. Dedicated fly fishermen know that September, October and November provide some of the best fishing of the year.
Links to Consider:
SD Hunting and Fishing Licenses
