South Dakota Ski Resorts

South Dakota stretches from farms and forests on the eastern border with Minnesota to wheat fields, rangeland and high plains. Travelers watch as the landscape changes as they drive West toward the haunting beauty of the Black Hills. The state is home to Badlands National Park, an eerie landscape of eroded mud hills, where early homesteaders called the water "too thick to drink and too thin to plow."

South Dakota is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, four presidential busts carved out of the rock of the Black Hills. Yet, skiing is available in South Dakota. Two South Dakota ski areas are close to Deadwood and Lead. Both towns have plenty to offer in the way of dining, night life, and lodging options. Great Bear Ski Valley is in Sioux Falls.

Terry Peak has 29 trails, a vertical drop of 1,100 feet off a summit elevation of 7,100 feet. The ski resort has 450 skiable acres, snowmaking on 60% of the mountain. It also has four chairlifts. Terry also has a half pipe and a north-facing freestyle terrain park. The ski area is perfectly positioned to receive prodigious amounts of snow. Resort officials note how common it is for snowfall predictions to exceed up to three times of what was anticipated or to receive snowfall at 5,500-ft and higher when snow wasn't expected at all.

Deer Mountain/Mystic Miner Ski Resort has 50 trails served by 1 double chair, 1 triple chair and 1 surface lift. It features 850 feet of vertical, and it averages 200 inches of snowfall per year. Deer Mountain also has an entire novice area dedicated to beginners.

Great Bear Ski Valley has over 220 acres of outdoor activities. It’s a pretty small ski resort, but it’s minutes from Sioux Falls, making it extremely convenient for area residents. There is 178 feet of vertical, 1 terrain park, 14 downhill and snowboarding trails, and 4 total lifts. There’s also a tube park and four miles of cross-country and snowshoeing trails.