Pierre Parks and Gardens

(Pierre, South Dakota - SD, USA)

This may be an extremely small capital, but Pierre has chosen to provide its residents and visitors with plenty in the way of public parks, gardens and general recreational space. However, don't forget that the winter months can be bitterly cold, with temperatures staying below freezing for long periods of time.

In the city center, LaBarge Park is of note, being bounded by West 2nd Street, West 3rd Street, Maple Avenue and North Poplar Avenue. Visitors will find that this is not only a place to relax and enjoy a picnic, but also to play baseball and tennis.

Lying on the southeastern side of Pierre and just off East Franklin Street is Devine Park, which fills an entire city block and offers a pleasant space where nearby office workers come to eat their sandwiches at lunchtime. However, the main recreational spaces are to be found on the southern side of the city, where they are very much based around the Missouri River.

General Information

The riverside Griffin Park is a popular place to hang out when the sun is shining in Pierre, with the principal attractions here including an open-air swimming pool, tennis courts and a small camping site. Many tourists stop off at Griffin Park, on their way to the adjacent Pierre Marina Recreational Area, where boat trips along the river can be organised.

The big green spaces in this part of South Dakota's capital are made up by both La Framboise Island and the Farm Island Recreation Area. Head a little further to the south, via Highway US-83, and you will find it hard to miss the simply enormous Fort Pierre National Grassland.

The Fort Pierre National Grassland encompasses an area of almost 47,000 hectares / 116,100 acres and boasts many attractions, such as camping, seasonal grouse hunting and wildlife hides. Much of the space is made up of prairie land and looks like it belongs in an old cowboy movie. In fact, scenes for Kevin Kostner's blockbuster movie Dances with Wolves (1990) were actually filmed on location here.

When the winter arrives in Pierre and the snow settles, there are many outlying hills suitable for sledding and cross-country skiing. In the city center itself, there is a particularly notable and popular sledding hill at the Hilger's Gulch Park, just down the road from the South Dakota Capitol Building itself.