The Travel South Dakota Stories – Details, episodes & analysis

The Black Hills are home to more than 100 known caves - including the world's third-longest cave system at Jewel Cave National Monument with its miles of unmapped passageways, and the complex caves systems at Wind Cave National Park, which are not merely a geological wonder they also make up a sacred site for the Lakota people.

We join pioneer explorer Chris Pelczarski for some hands-on spelunking in seriously narrow caves (that are sometimes home to mountain lions). Then we meet Indigenous park ranger Sina Bear Eagle and learn about the Lakota emergence story and its deep spiritual meaning.

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

• Chris Pelczarski and Adam Weaver from the Black Hills Cave and Nature Conservancy  
• Sina Bear Eagle from Wind Cave National Park

Recorded on location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there. It's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at TravelSouthDakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

In South Dakota, the deep agricultural roots mean that visitors have plenty of chances to get a true hands-on experience, from exploring vineyards to see how wine is made to meeting farm animals and learning how to make cheese. When you participate in agritourism, you're tapping into a way of life that few visitors see.

Join us as we take a stroll through a hops farm on our way to a brewery, help brew some beer, and make cheese with some friendly emus. Along the way we learn about family farming legacies, hands‑on food and drink production, experimental craft beers, and the sensory joy of tasting locally grown ingredients.

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

• Lee and Josh Anderson from A Homestead Brew
• Chad Blase from Farm Life Creamery
• Blake Thompson from Fernson Brewing Company

Recorded on location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there. It's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at TravelSouthDakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Rodeo in the United States is a pure reflection of the spirit of the American West, and it's a tradition rooted in the folklore and culture of the country. And in South Dakota, it's not only the official sport - it's a way of life.

Join us as we go on a wild ride at the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo where over 300,000 people from all over the world descend on Rapid City to watch over 120 different events. We join a father and son team at the ranch rodeo, cheer on Gill the border collie at the sheep dog trials, take part in a bachelor cattle auction and watch seven-year-old Kreed hang on to a sheep for dear life in mutton bustin'.

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

-  Sheepdog handler and dog lover Linda Loulias

-  Sheep shearer Mike Por and Loren Opstedahl

-  Kreed, our fearless mutton buster

-  And the boys from Lakota Funds and the Corn Creek Bandits

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

In Africa, people go on safari in search of the Big Five: the Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo. But in South Dakota, you can go in search of the huge five: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Raptor and Mammoth.

South Dakota is a major hub for paleontology and in the past three decades alone some of the most famous dinosaurs in history have been unearthed here.

Join us as we head out with Paleo Adventures in the northern Black Hills on a dig for 67-million-year-old T-Rex teeth and Stegosaurus bones. We then head down the road from Custer State Park, which was home to something wilder and woolier than bison: mammoths. In 1974 a mass graveyard of mammoths was found here and today it's now a museum built over an active dig site. We join the dig, work on mammoth bones in the fossil preparation lab and find a whole lot of mammoth dung in the archives.

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

- Walter Stein and Ethan Turpin from Paleo Adventures

-  Dr Chris Jass, Kelly Lubbers and Alex Gardner from The Mammoth Site

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

"You're experiencing what you see on TV and the old western movies, the buffalo roaming
across the prairie like that. It's that old west tradition that you don't see anywhere else in
the world."
– Matt Snyder, Superintendent of Custer State Park

Feel the ground rumble and the dust fly as sixty cowboys and cowgirls saddle up to bring in
a thundering herd of 1,300 buffalo at the 57th Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup.
But we're not just watching it, we are in the thick of it as we get thrown around on the back
of a truck chasing the herd across the wide-open plains. Listen to one of the riders Molly as
she cracks her whip and corrals the galloping beasts.

We also meet Lakota rider and manager of Bear Butte State Park, Jim Jandreau, who tells us
what the buffalo means to the Lakota people.

At the end of the long and tiring ride we join Molly's 87-year-old dad, who had just taken
part in his 53rd roundup.

Along the way we discover that although the roundup harks back to a different time, the
adventurous spirit of South Dakotans that has been a way of life for centuries still lives on.
And that spirit is infectious.

-       Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured on this show:

-       Jim Jandreau, Bear Butte State Park

-     Molly Olivier, Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup

-       Bob Lantis, Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup

-       Lydia Austin, Custer State Park

-       Kobee Stalder, Custer State Park

-       Matt Snyder, Custer State Park

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

"Nobody's down here except for us ghost people and the hotel staff. And some of the hotel staff in the past wouldn't come down here by themselves. Things happen in here. Things have happened to me."

– Kate, Ghost Tour Guide at the Bullock Hotel, Deadwood

Tales of the Wild West and lawless frontiers are ingrained in American culture - and in Deadwood, the discovery of riches in the southern Black Hills in 1874 kicked off one of the largest gold rushes in America. Not long after, Deadwood became a rough-and-ready boomtown that steadily lured bands of outlaws, gamblers, and gunslingers.

Join us as we mosey down Deadwood's streets in search of famed tales and legendary residents from this wild frontier. We begin our adventure in Saloon No 10, where we join a local gunslinger (or an actor who plays a gunslinger - in daily gunfights in the streets of Deadwood) for a game of poker at the table where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead.

We then head down into the dark basement bar of the Bullock Hotel chasing ghosts and getting well and truly spooked.

Lastly, we end up, as many locals have ended up, at Moriah Cemetery. There we make the pilgrimage to Wild Bill's grave where visitors have left flowers, bullets, and small bottles of Jack Daniels.

Through it all, we discover that Deadwood is truly alive. Well, besides the ghosts. It's a place where the wild west spirit lives on. You can feel it – and the former coarse and cavorting town is now a lot less rough, but just as much fun.

-       Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured on this show:

-       Andy Mosher, Deadwood Alive

-       Kate McGraw, Bullock Hotel Ghost tours

We'd like to thank our gunslinging Andy Mosher and our ghostly guide Kate McGraw who gave us their time and stories.

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

"It's kind of interesting that people that come here to Crazy Horse Memorial, because it's almost like there's a spiritual calling. They don't know quite what it is. But they feel it."

– Paul LaRoche, Lakota tribe member and founder of the band Brulé.

The great Lakota Sioux Nation have become the international symbol of America's native people. Over 60,000 Lakota Native Americans live in South Dakota, and they believe that their very creation began in the Black Hills.

Join us as we delve deep into South Dakota's rich native American history and culture. We begin our adventure by stepping out onto the arm of the Crazy Horse memorial with head carver Caleb Zilokowski (the grandson of Korczak Ziolkowski, who started it back in 1947).

At the base of Crazy Horse, we join Paul LaRoche who has been coming to Crazy Horse for 25 years with his award-winning band Brulé. Through his music and dance we learn about Paul's journey back into a Native American life he knew nothing about.

Along the way we uncover what makes Native American culture in South Dakota so unique.

And as you hear these stories and the history of this fascinating and colorful culture, you'll soon discover that you need to experience South Dakota for yourself.

-       Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured on this show:

-       Caleb and Vaughn Ziolkowski, Crazy Horse Memorial

-       Joe Pulliam, Seven Council Fires Native Art

-       Paul LaRoche, Brulé

-       David Flute, for singing the Native prayer

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is the biggest two-wheeled party in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of riders. Set in the stunning Black Hills, it's a spectacle filled with roaring motorcycles, live rock concerts, custom bikes, and communal camaraderie.

Join us as we take in the stunts and music at Buffalo Chip, ride Main Street on a Fat Boy Harley Davidson, meet a 100-year-old rider, and hit the road out to Bear Butte to learn about its spiritual significance to the Lakota people. 

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

• Buffalo Chip founder Rod "Woody" Woodruff
• Photographer Michael Lichter
• Sturgis veteran Milton "Mac" McKinney
• Centenarian rider Gloria Struck
• Sturgis Hall of Famer Cris Sommer-Simmons

Recorded on location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there. It's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at TravelSouthDakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry armchair-productions.com

There are two sides to every story. That's especially true when Lewis and Clark met the Teton Sioux. Their 1804 journey through South Dakota wasn't just about exploration — it was where two worlds met along the Missouri River. Long before the Corps of Discovery arrived, Boyd Gourneau, chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, says his ancestors and other Indigenous tribes had already built full lives here, rooted in storytelling and protecting the land. When Lewis and Clark reached Fort Pierre, they encountered the Teton Sioux at Fischers Lilly Park — a meeting that began in ceremony and curiosity but soon turned uneasy as trust gave way to tension.

In this episode, host Brian Thacker sits down with guests to revisit that moment through both Native and explorer eyes, revealing how hope, pride and misunderstanding shaped one of America's most powerful early encounters.

You'll hear from:

• Boyd Gourneau, chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
• Jay Vogt, retired director of the South Dakota State Historical Society

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to let you feel what it's like to be there for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com for ideas, inspiration, and eveything else you'll need to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. 

The Black Hills Powwow is the biggest powwow in the U.S., where dancers, singers, artists, and spectators come from across North America to honor the spirit and beauty of the Great Plains Indigenous culture. The powwow comes alive through handcrafted regalia and the spirited dancers who embody history.

Join us as we take in the sounds and stories from this enduring celebration that bridges generations and cultures. We meet Ruben Little Head who has been an MC at the Black Hills Powwow for 17 years, dancer and former Miss Oglala Lakota Nation winner Santana Young Man Afraid of his Horses and we get a private concert from singing and drumming group Showtime.

- Brian Thacker, presenter

Thank you to everyone who featured in this episode:

-  Ruben Little Head

-  Santana Young Man Afraid of his Horses

-  Showtime singers, Hunter Blasingame, Xavier Little Head and BJ Braveheart

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it's like to be there; it's designed to let you feel what it's like for real.

Find out more at www.travelsouthdakota.com where you'll find lots of inspiration, ideas and everything else you need to know to plan your great South Dakota adventure.

Produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com