Hill City, SD

Hill City is the oldest existing city in Pennington County, set in the Black Hills on U.S. 16 and U.S. 385. Its museums make the town’s past unusually tangible: the Black Hills Museum of Natural History grew from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, while galleries such as Warrior’s Work focus on regional and western art. The George S. Mickelson Trail runs through town, with Custer State Park south of Hill City. Hill City is a Black Hills stop where fossils, trail miles, art, and the old mining landscape meet on the same stretch of road.