South Dakota Magazine

24/10/2025

Fall has peaked at the Outdoor Campus-West in Rapid City. Photo by Zach Zweygardt.

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20/10/2025

A BILLION BUSHELS of corn creates scenes like this around South Dakota. USDA statisticians predict the ’25 corn crop will exceed a billion bushels for the first time ever. So for a moment, let's forget our prices and policies and farm politics and just say, “Well done, South Dakota farmers! You guys and gals know how to grow corn!” (This particular pile is just west of Meckling in Clay County.)

17/10/2025

Dignity lights up the night sky in Chamberlain. Photo by Kendra Perry Koski.

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13/10/2025

JEREMIAH MURPHY SHOOTS AMAZING photographs of Indian Rodeo in South Dakota, and he’s generously shared images with South Dakota Magazine in recent years. This week, his fine photography reached an admittedly larger audience. Here’s a link https://loom.ly/RrlTTsE to a fine story on Murphy in the New York Times. Murphy lives in Rapid City and spends a lot of time in Pierre, as he’s one of the state’s top lobbyists. He’s an interesting and talented guy who loves South Dakota.

For more than a decade, Jeremiah Murphy has been trying to capture the beauty of a deeply American sport.

10/10/2025

Bison grazing in the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe’s pasture near Flandreau. Photo by Bill Britton.

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08/10/2025

You read it firsthand-- South Dakota Magazine is the go-to gift for any time of year. And with Christmas just around the corner, there’s no better time to share the stories, beauty, and spirit of South Dakota with the ones you love.

Give a gift that lasts all year long! ⬇️

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07/10/2025

Spring of 2009 was when we met Jerry Frailing. He and his wife Janice were running Bridge City Marina, a well-shaded resort just east of Mobridge. “When we took over there was hardly a tree here,” he told us. He dug saplings along the shore of Lake Oahe and replanted them outside his cabins and campgrounds. He was happy that he’d never lost anybody from fishing in his many decades as a guide. “That’s a surprise,” he joked, “because those ice fishermen do some pretty dumb things once in awhile.” Jerry was once a KYNT-Yankton DJ known as “Mitch Michaels," and a salesman for Cimpl Meats. He was also a legendary South Dakota baseball umpire. Jerry died a week ago. We can picture him planting cottonwoods in heaven.

06/10/2025

Are South Dakotans funny?
We'd argue yes... along with sharp wit and a great knack for turning everyday life into a good story.
As part of our 40th anniversary issue, we looked back on four decades' worth of storytelling and picked forty of our all-time favorite stories. One section is dedicated entirely to humor-- filled with characters and classic stories that made us laugh back then... and still do today. Grab a sneak peek and get ready to laugh.

Do you think South Dakotans are funny? We'd love to know your best South Dakota punchline.⬇️

If you like to laugh, subscribe today and let us know what you think!
Call 800-456-5117, text 605-660-5718, or go to https://loom.ly/vSLVw7E

03/10/2025

A dragonfly lands on lavender at Sioux Park in Rapid City. Photo by Bonny Fleming.

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30/09/2025

THE AMAZING MONARCH migration is underway. Kevin Loftus captured this video of monarchs on blazing star flowers, just north of Vermillion. The beautiful butterflies are on their 3,000-mile journey to Mexico. Readers tell us that they are seeing more monarchs than in recent years. Is that true for your area?

29/09/2025

We had an amazing time at this year's Festival of Books in Spearfish!📚✨
A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, celebrated our 40th anniversary with us, and packed the room for our storytelling event.
It was such a joy to have so many fun conversations with our readers. Your support means the world.
We also had the best seats in the house—right in front of the South Dakota Humanities Council booth! Couldn't have asked for better neighbors.
We're already counting down the days until next year's festival!