Nearby National Parks
While you’re in the Agate Fossil Beds area, why not see some other sites in the National Park System? These parks offer a variety of experiences from frontier history presentations to caving.
[Badlands National Park] is 97 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota. This wonderland of bizarre, colorful spires and pinnacles, massive buttes, and deep gorges is open all year, though blizzards may temporarily block roads in the winter. Campfire programs and guided nature walks are presented. Backpackers will enjoy the park’s wilderness area. The park has a herd of about 300 bison and some prairie dog towns. Mailing address: P.O. Box 6, Interior, SD 57750.
Devils Tower
[Devils Tower National Monument] is 47 kilometers (29 miles) northwest of Sundance, Wyoming. Known as Mato Tipila (Bear Lodge) to the Lakota, this towering landmark looms over the Belle Fourche River in the northeast corner of Wyoming. Here the Black Hills meet the plains grasslands, and you will likely see prairie dogs, as well as other mammals and a variety of birds. The park is open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 10, Devils Tower, WY 82714.
Fort Laramie
[Fort Laramie National Historic Site] is 5 kilometers (3 miles) southwest of Fort Laramie, Wyoming. The first fort on the site was built in 1834 and soon became a lucrative center of the fur trade. The U.S. Army took over in 1849, using the fort to protect the Oregon Trail. The fort was abandoned by the Army in 1890. Several buildings are furnished as they would have been during the Army years of the 1870s and 1880s. The park is open all year. Mailing address: HC 72, Box 389, WY 82212.
[Jewel Cave National Monument] is located on U.S. 16, 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Custer, South Dakota. The cave’s name comes from the myriads of jewel-like calcite crystals that adorn its walls. Tours are conducted daily from mid-May through September. Tours, if any, the rest of the year are irregular. Mailing address: RR 1, Box 60 AA, Custer, SD 57730.
Mount Rushmore
[Mount Rushmore National Memorial] is 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota. The mountain sculpture of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln is best viewed under morning light. From June 1 to Labor Day the faces are illuminated at night. The park is open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 268, Keystone, SD 57751.
Scotts Bluff
[Scotts Bluff National Monument] is 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. This massive rock promontory rises 245 meters (800 feet) above the valley floor, and it served as a landmark to Indians, fur traders, and settlers traveling the Oregon Trail. It was named for a fur trapper, Hiram Scott, and has remained a symbol of the great overland migrations. The park is open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 27, Gering, NE 69341.
[Wind Cave National Park] is 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Hot Springs in southwest South Dakota. Two worlds meet here: the underground world of the cave and the life of the surface prairie. The cave gets its name from the wind blowing into or out of the cave. Mailing address: RR 1, Box 190, Hot Springs, SD 57747.