South Dakota

Take rock. Carve into it one of the country’s most recognizable national monuments; tuck beside it a frontier town with big bad legends; and spread out next to it expansive stretches of prairie that inspired a classic American novel. You’ve got South Dakota, a remote and wild state chock full of offbeat history, quirky attractions and some of the most stunning natural scenery in the US. The rugged, other-worldly terrain of the Badlands National Park lures wildlife lovers and adventure fiends, while the Black Hills’ duel attractions, Mount Rushmore and Chief Crazy Horse Memorial, feed the clicking shutters of monument hungry. History buffs head into Wild-West legend Deadwood, immortalized by a recent television series—or go seriously old-school at the Mammoth Site, where fossils are still being unearthed. Fans of kitsch go wild for roadside attractions Wall Drug and Dinosaur Park, an Americana as it gets, and kids love for the Corn Palace, whose façade is covered in murals made of native grains. Add in the air-sucking Wind Cave National Park, a wealthy of Native American historical sites and more open space than you could possible explore, and you’ve got a state tailor-made for road-tripping and American adventuring.