The coyote (Canis latrans) is a prominent character in Native American folklore, usually depicted as a trickster that alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or a man. As with other trickster figures, the coyote uses deception and humor to rebel against social conventions. Before it became the Mount Rushmore State, South Dakota was known as the Coyote State.

At 7,244 feet (2,208 m), Black Elk Peak was known as Hiηháη Káǧa or "owl-maker" in Lakota, after rock formations that look like owls. They considered it a sacred site within the Black Hills.

South Dakota is bordered by six states: North Dakota to the north, Minnesota to the east, Iowa to the southeast, Nebraska to the south, Wyoming to the west, and Montana to the northwest.

The construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941. The original design was a sculpture of each president intended to go down to their waists, but time constraints and funding only provided for their heads.

Five ancient burial mounds sit in the center of the city at Sherman Park along Kiwanis Avenue. Radiocarbon testing shows the physical remains of Woodland Indians were buried here 1,600 years ago.

Native to Asia, the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was first successfully introduced to Spink County, South Dakota in 1908 by A.E. Cooper and E.L. Ebbert. Easily recognized by its colorful plumage, the pheasant is a well-known gamebird, perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. It is one of only three U.S. state birds that is not a species native to the United States.

Since 1997, Clark, South Dakota, has played host to Potato Day each August. One of the highlights of the event is the mashed potato wrestling contest, held in a large pit filled with ... mashed potatoes.

Few fish have a fan base as large as the cool-water-loving walleye (Sander vitreus). Found in lakes and rivers across South Dakota, it is most common in the Missouri River system and in the glacial lakes in the northeastern section of the state. It is widely stocked to enhance sport fisheries.

Tourists who cross the northern plains of South Dakota to the city of Lemmon, will come upon a very interesting and unusual site--the world's largest petrified wood park. This site consists of 3,200 tons of petrified wood, 100 tons of petrified grass, and tons of cannon ball boulders which are either standing in the condition they were found or stacked and cemented together to form conical pyramids, pillars, various other configurations, and three buildings.

In 1888, the Watertown Public Opinion reported that the Lake Kampeska Monster was at least 200 feet long, had a thirty-foot-long fluked tail, and a "crested head as large as a yearling calf." "Opening its awful jaws," one witness said, it "uttered the most unearthly laugh that ever broke on mortal ears." Fortunately, there haven't been any sightings since the 1880s.