Sioux Falls: Recreation
Sightseeing
Local sightseeing revolves around the natural beauty and history of Sioux Falls. A good place to begin a sightseeing tour is at the Visitor Information Center and 50-foot observation tower at Falls Park. This park is located where the Big Sioux River forms the Falls, a natural phenomenon from which the city takes its name. Falls Park is home to two buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places—the 1907 Sioux Falls Light & Power Hydroelectric Plant, known as the "NSP Building," and the Queen Bee Mill, a flour mill built in the nineteenth century that proved to be too large for the river's typical water flow. The Memorial to the Pioneers at the junction of North Drive and North Cliff Avenue marks the spot where pioneers from Iowa first saw the Falls of the Sioux. The Monarch of the Plains Sculpture is a 12-ton piece of mahogany granite, and the Horse Barn Arts Center features the works of local artists. Falls Park also offers Sound and Light shows, self-guided historic walking tours, and a farmers market.
The 45-acre Great Plains Zoo is home to more than 100 species represented by more than 400 live reptiles, birds, and mammals from around the world. The adjoining Delbridge Museum of Natural History features an extensive display of mounted animals. Sertoma Park, situated aside the Big Sioux River, features picnic shelters, the Outdoor Campus park, and the Sertoma Butterfly House, a facility housing nearly 1,000 butterflies that opened in 2002. Created between 1928 and 1936, the Shoto-teien Japanese Gardens near Covell Lake have been restored. The Pettigrew Home and Museum is the renovated home of one of South Dakota's first two United States Senators. The USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial honors the most decorated battleship of World War II. At EROS Data Center, a United States Department of Interior research and development facility near Sioux Falls, millions of satellite and aircraft photos of the earth are on display together with a pictorial history of Sioux Falls from 1937 to the present. Located five miles west of Sioux Falls is Buffalo Ridge, a cowboy ghost town featuring more than 50 exhibits, a buffalo herd, and the region's largest souvenir and fireworks store.
Arts and Culture
The Sioux Falls Community Playhouse stages a season of theater productions at the Orpheum Theatre; these range from drama to musicals and children's shows and draw casts from local performers. The Olde Towne Dinner Theatre in Worthing presents live theater and dinner. The drama departments at Augustana College and Sioux Falls College mount productions during the school year. Local cultural groups sponsor touring dance, musical, and Broadway performances at Sioux Falls College's Jeschke Fine Arts Center.
The Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science is the region's leading entertainment, cultural, and educational facility, comprised of several distinct components. The Husby Performing Arts Center is home to the South Dakota Symphony, which presents classical and pops concerts featuring guest artists and soloists during a September-through-May
Exhibits at the Siouxland Heritage Museums and Center for Western Studies capture the culture of the area's Plains tribes and the city's early settlers. The Old Courthouse Museum features a restored 1890s courtroom and law library. Art from the nation's top western artists, including work by the late Jim Savage, and Sioux culture items are on display at the Center for Western Studies. Minnehaha County's historic rural churches offer a chance to examine nineteenth-century church architecture and religious customs imported to the western frontier from Norway, Sweden, and other Scandinavian countries.
Festivals and Holidays
More than 30,000 visitors attend the Sioux Falls and Sioux Empire farm shows at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds over four days in January. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with a parade downtown. A major spring event is the Festival of Choirs at Augustana College. June brings RibFest, known as "South Dakota's Biggest Backyard BBQ." Also taking place that month are the Siouxland Renaissance Festival, the Sioux Falls Festival of Cultures, Artfalls Fine Arts Festival, and Nordland Fest, Augustana College's tribute to Scandinavia. Free jazz and blues music can be heard for two days in July at JazzFest. Hot Harley Nights, which includes a motorcycle parade through downtown, and Hot Summer Nites, offering rock and roll music and a display of hundreds of Corvettes and Harleys, both take place in July as well.
The Sidewalk Arts Festival, the region's largest one-day outdoor festival, draws 50,000 people each September with 350 fine art, folk art, craft, and food booths. German Fest, the Downtown Harvest Festival, and Spirit of the West, a tribute to the area's western heritage, are also held in September. High school marching bands participate in competitions and a parade in October's Festival of Bands. The holiday season begins in November with the Parade of Lights, Festival of Trees, and Winter Wonderland at Falls Park. The year comes to a close with First Night, an alcohol-free family celebration taking place throughout Sioux Falls during the day and evening of December 31st.
Sports for the Spectator
The Sioux Falls Arena hosts home games of the Continental Basketball Association's Sioux Falls Skyforce, the U.S. Hockey League's Sioux Falls Stampede, and the Indoor Football League's Sioux Falls Storm, which had its inaugural season in 2001. The Sioux Falls Canaries play baseball at Sioux Falls Stadium. O'Gorman High School hosts the soccer games of the Sioux Falls Spitfire and the minor league football competitions of the Dakota Lawdawgs.
Augustana College and the University of Sioux Falls both have successful football college teams that compete in most collegiate sports. State high school basketball tournament competition takes place at Sioux Falls Arena in March. Sioux Falls softball and baseball fields and the Sioux Falls Stadium host local, regional, and national competition throughout the season. The acclaimed Howard Wood Field hosts track and football events.
Sports for the Participant
Golf magazine has raved about Sioux Falls's golf courses and the opportunities they offer for "prairie golf." The magazine praised the area's "gently rolling topography with an ambiance close to the links courses of Scotland, minus the heather and ocean spray." The city of Sioux Falls maintains 67 parks and outdoor recreation centers totaling more than 2,800 acres. In addition to the usual park facilities there can be found swimming pools, soccer fields, lighted skating areas, sand volleyball courts, a disc golf course, and cross-country ski trails. The 16-mile Greenway system of bicycle and hiking trails is a popular attraction. The city is the gateway to the glacial lakes region and the Missouri River, where the walleye fishing is said to be the best in the country. Hundreds of thousands of hunters come to South Dakota each fall for ring-neck pheasant and waterfowl hunting. Winter sports enthusiasts gather at Great Bear Ski Resort for downhill skiing, snowboarding, and tubing.
Shopping and Dining
Shopping malls and a redeveloped downtown retail district in Sioux Falls offer shoppers more than 3,200 options ranging from small specialty shops to major retail outlets. The Empire and Empire East Mall contain 180 retail establishments. Park Ridge Galleria, the oldest enclosed shopping center in Sioux Falls, is an upscale specialty mall located downtown. Sioux Falls is a central trading center for Native American crafts. Buyers travel to state reservations, including Rosebud and Pine Ridge, to supply local outlets such as Prairie Star Gallery with star quilts, painted hides, sculpture, and jewelry, designed and made by tribal crafters. Shopping is also available at the Old Courthouse Museum downtown.
More than 500 restaurants present menu choices that include Japanese, Chinese, French, Mexican, and Greek dishes. The local specialty is beefsteak; venison is also popular.
Visitor Information: Sioux Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau, 200 N. Phillips Ave., Ste. 102, Sioux Falls, SD 57104; telephone (605)336-1620; toll-free 800-333-2072; fax (605)336-6499; email sfcvb@siouxfalls.com