Skip to content

Why Keystone?

Lodging
Attractions

Take a step into a town where the simplicity of the past meets modern-day fun and amenities.

A small town nestled in the magnificent beauty of the Black Hills. Originally built as a “men only” gold mining camp, later, home to the men that carved Rushmore and today Keystone has transformed into a vacation destination for all ages.

You will have plenty of activities to choose from in the stunning town of Keystone. As a premier tourist destination in the Black Hills, Keystone offers more than just lodging, dining, and shopping — it is also filled with fun and educational activities and attractions. No matter what you’re in the mood for, you will find it in the Keystone area. Ride a chairlift through the beauty of the Black Hills, explore caves, try your luck at making a hole-in-one at miniature golf, visit your favorite presidents at Mount Rushmore National park, or even get lost in a mirror maze. Keystone is also just a hop, skip, and jump away from local day trips like the Badlands, Crazy Horse Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, or Custer State Park. Keystone is the perfect home base for your vacation. 

Want to learn more about Keystone’s rich and abundant history rooted in the ideals of the American dream? Learn more about the region’s ties to mining, visit our local historical museum, and delve into the private life of one of our nation’s favorite families: the Ingalls family.

Learn more about Keystone’s history and the growth our community has endured throughout the years by contacting the Keystone Visitors Information Center today.

Keystone Mining

The town of Keystone, South Dakota was established in the late 1800s at the end of the Black Hills Gold Rush era. Now, Keystone is known as a bustling tourist town, but before, the town existed and thrived from local mining. The initial discovery of gold brought new settlers and a flood of prospectors hoping to get rich quick.

The Ingalls Family

Americans fell in love with the Ingalls family when Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book, Little House in the Big Woods. Carrie Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, was a real South Dakota pioneer who was determined to leave her mark in Keystone as a seasoned newspaper manager. The rest is history with her and all that she achieved in Keystone, South Dakota.