South Dakota is celebrating 125 years of statehood. Throughout the celebrations SDPB is sharing stories about the people, places, and events that make our state unique. As part of our series called Landscapes of South Dakota, we're asking people to tell us about their perfect day. For many South Dakotans that means doing something outside. SDPB's Kaitlynn Wornson asks two young adults at a Sioux Falls coffee shop about their perfect day which includes the walking and biking trails in South Dakota.
"Yeah, wake up, have your coffee, do your thing, and then be like, let's go for a walk. You go outside, get bundled up, do it, freeze your face off but that's part of the fun," Mitchell Harms, 25 of Sioux Falls says.
Harms says his perfect day requires two things: low temps and a sturdy pair of boots.
"Yeah, so outside, walking. That’s the thing about Sioux Falls: even in this area, there’s great places to walk," Harms says.
One of those places is Yankton Trail Park. It’s a tree-covered area right off the interstate in Sioux Falls. The bike trail runs through that Park as it follows the Big Sioux River around the City. And for river enthusiasts like Lucy George Cooper it’s a nice escape from traffic and deadlines. She’s 22 and lives in Sioux Falls. She says she prefers to walk in a different kind of weather.
"So probably the 70s is what I like. Just enough to be outside in shorts and a t-shirt and hang around without getting too hot or too cold," Cooper says.
Cooper says her perfect day takes her to the other side of the state.
"If I were out in the Hills, I would do some hiking. Spend some time with a dog outside, walking around," Cooper says.
Cooper and Harms are both able to have their perfect day thanks to statewide walking and biking trails.
Al Nedved is the Assistant Director of the South Dakota Division of Parks and Recreation. He says they encourage people to come out and enjoy South Dakota’s parks in any season.
"The parks are not just a summer activity. The beauty of parks is seeing the change of the seasons and being able to experience it," Nedved says. "You know, the differences in plant life and animal life throughout the year."
Nedved says the walking and biking trails in South Dakota build on the state’s history. He says community efforts have made walking and biking trails within towns and cities a place to connect with other people and nature. A current project on the West Side of the State connects two very historical places - the George S. Mickelson Trail and Mount Rushmore.
"One of the assets of the Mickelson trail has always been how it connects key attractions and communities throughout the Black Hills," Nedved says. "It really provided that link to a lot of those neat little towns and communities. And the trail comes in close proximity of Mount Rushmore, but there’s still no real connection that can connect the Mickelson trail with South Dakota’s largest outdoor attraction-Mount Rushmore."
Nedved says other projects are connecting the past with the present. On the East side of the state just outside of Sioux Falls is South Dakota’s newest state park called Good Earth.
"We’re working on a plan both to improve the trails that are out there. But also to develop a first-class visitor’s center and interpretive program that truly does interpret that site and educate our visitors on what that site is all about. And that is, an incredibly rich history of human presence that goes back hundreds of years," Nedved says.
Nedved says the Parks and Rec Department has other walking and biking trails projects in the works to preserve and share the history of South Dakota’s land.