South Dakota in the winter??
 

We are thinking of visiting SD the week after Christmas over NYE. What is there to do? What town do you recommend and why? We have never been to SD and we are planning on driving from Chicago. We are not skiers or snowmobilers.We are a family of 5. Thank you.

Why did you choose SD? Just because you've never been there? It can be pretty nasty in the winter, cold, snow, ice. Not exactly a winter playground. I would check a map and see where 900 miles would take me heading south.

Why?

>>We are thinking of visiting SD the week after Christmas over NYE<<

Did you pull SD out of a hat or do you have some ideas of what you want to do?

It does seem an odd choice for New Years . . .

Rapid City is the logical choice but it is at the far western side of SD and would take 2 days to drive there.

It may surprise some people, but Rapid City is not an icebox. High temps are slightly warmer than Chicago, and only a bit colder than Denver.

Still, it is puzzling why you picked the state without knowing anything that is there. There are some great places to visit in the Black Hills but a 4 day round trip in winter is not a great idea. I've made the drive across SD in January. If the weather is good, no problem. If you run into a storm, you're going to spend some time in a little town off the interstate bored out of your minds. Between Sioux Falls in the east and Rapid City in the west, there are no decent sized towns to keep you entertained.

fmpden asked the real question - why?

Would you also tour Death Valley or Phoenix in July?

I think it could be interesting in summer, if it's just pull a name out of a hat (could be, for a game), I'd head south instead for a family getaway. It is an odd choice for someone from Chicago for the first week in January.

http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate...tates/ussd0315

Lots of snowmobile stuff in January. How about a big ice fishing tournament?

https://www.travelsouthdakota.com/ev...ing-tournament

>>Would you also tour Death Valley or Phoenix in July?<<

What do either of those places have to do with this topic?

The average high in Rapid City is warmer than Chicago. It is not a subzero frozen icebox, which is the only way your comment makes any sense. Please try to pay attention or just refrain from posting if you have nothing to add.

<<The average high in Rapid City is warmer than Chicago. It is not a subzero frozen icebox, which is the only way your comment makes any sense. Please try to pay attention or just refrain from posting if you have nothing to add.>>

The only person who has mentioned Rapid City is you, not the OP. Thus, at this point, your claim is an irrelevance. Your statement is also misleading, and therefore false. Rapid City's December average high temps may be 1.5 degrees higher than Chicago, but its average low is nearly 8 degrees lower.

My statement stands. The OP says they're not snowmobilers and make no indication they're going for ice fishing (which would make sense).

>>Would you also tour Death Valley or Phoenix in July?<<

>>What do either of those places have to do with this topic?<<

A lot really. If someone said they were visiting Phoenix in July -- we'd ask "why?" - Same w/ the Dakotas at New Years . . . <i>Why?</i>

Been almost 24 hours and OP hasn't been back. No answer to the basic question of why?