Ancient villages, nature island, famous cheese are waiting north of Sioux Falls

This paid piece is sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

Take a short drive north of Sioux Falls and discover prehistoric villages, a 100-acre nature island – and a memorable place to take home some of the state’s signature cheese.

And, you can win prizes along the way if you get your Peaks to Plains Passport virtually stamped. The digital South Dakota Passport program – offered through the state Tourism Department – encourages people to explore the history and places that make South Dakota special. 

People earn prizes when they check in to destinations using the free mobile-exclusive passport. Ready to get started? Here are three spots to check out.

Hartford Beach State Park

Hartford Beach State Park in Roberts County has 4 miles of trails and a significant cultural history for the area, said Josh Cleveland, district park supervisor.

“We have prehistoric villages from 15,000 years ago. There was an 1860s U.S. military encampment up at the park, and there are a few locations where there were trapping cabins. We still have one of those cabins on-site,” Cleveland said.

Plus, there’s a beautiful beach and a day-use area with picnic shelters and playgrounds for families. Paddleboards and kayaks are available for rent for families who want to enjoy the water.  “There’s lots to see and do in a day,” he said.

If visitors want to stay longer, the park offers 87 electric campsites, two tent sites and four camping cabins that feature some of the best views in South Dakota, according to Cleveland.

“Two of our cabins are up on a bluff on the edge of the park, and they oversee Big Stone Lake, so you can see over the lake to Minnesota. In the fall when the sumac is turning red, it looks like you’re looking over a sea of fire. It’s beautiful,” he said.

The park also offers archery and programs for the sport.

“You have to hike the Aspen Springs and Robar trails. You’re going to get some beautiful scenery and see a lot of the historic sides of the park – and it’s a good little workout,” Cleveland said. “Some of the trails are mowed grass paths, and we have others that have recently been improved, including boardwalks over wetland areas, and we graveled 2 miles of trails.”

Hartford Beach is also on Big Stone Lake, which is a world-class perch fishery and a good walleye lake, Cleveland said. “That gives an added attraction with some excellent shore fishing opportunities and boat fishing.”

Big Stone Island Nature Area

 Big Stone Island is a 100-acre nature area about 4 miles north of Big Stone City. Before Europeans settled the area, it was home to the Wltotina, or Island Dwellers, tribe, said Shawn Hendricks, park manager.

In 1812, the U.S. government sent an expedition under the command of Stephen Long and William Keating to the area to meet with the Wahkpatoan, or Wahpeton, a band of the Dakotas who lived on the island, he said.

“The village consisted of 30 skin lodges next to an open meadow and cultivated cornfields,” Hendricks said. The commanders had come to make sure the British had vacated their fur trading posts after the War of 1812, making room for the American Fur Company to trade in the region.

Big Stone Island was homesteaded in 1874 by Charles Chamberlain and his family. They stayed only a few years but gave the island one of its many names – “Chamberlain Island,” Hendricks said.

“The island was then sold to Sol Kight, whoses intent was to set up a destination for gambling, resorts, distillery and even a brothel. During this time, the name changed again to ‘Kight Island,’” Hendricks said. “Then, the Kight family sold it to two Sioux Falls businessmen who promoted it as ‘Holiday Island’ and turned it into a resort community in the ’40s and ’50s, even installing a graded airstrip.”

That eventually failed, and the island was left to return to its natural state – which now is a regional draw for families and vacationers.

Video by Dakota Drone

Big Stone Island today offers hiking, bird-watching, kayaking and canoeing, Hendricks said. But the big draw is its lack of development.

“Because it is not readily accessible by vehicle and because of the shallow rocky area of the lake surrounding the island, it has become a nature preserve,” Hendricks said. “There are many old-growth trees throughout the island, and numerous bird species nest there. A multitude of aquatic birds can be easily observed.”

Hendricks said the island provides a perfect primitive wilderness experience. “You can still feel like you’re stepping back in time to before when men dominated the landscape,” he said.

The island is accessible only by boat and offers no maintained trails or amenities.

Valley Queen Heritage Center & Cheese Shop

You had me at cheese.

Did you know there’s only one place in South Dakota to get Valley Queen-branded cheese? It’s in Milbank at the Valley Queen Heritage Center & Cheese Shop, which opened in 2018 on Main Street.

It’s one of a few stops in the region that make for a fun family road trip. You also can visit Hartford Beach State Park and Big Stone Island.

The cheese shop is a retail site for the famous 1-pound blocks of cheese customers used to be able to buy from the front office of the Valley Queen Dairy, which works with national brands and ships out more than 500,000 pounds of cheese every day, said Jon Rogers, communications coordinator for Valley Queen.

“I remember going back to the main office, and they had a little cooler you could choose your cheese from,” Rogers said.

The small blocks are what customers can buy in the shop, and the dairy ships out 700-pound blocks to national customers. That’s made out of 5 million pounds of milk that come in every day – which is expanding to 8 million pounds. Valley Queen mostly makes American-style cheeses, such as havarti, colby, cheddar, pepper jack and others, and they sell under national labels.

“One of the largest sellers we’ve started making is gouda,” Rogers said. “That has done really well. It has a creamy, nutty flavor, and it’s just good.”

Valley Queen opened in 1929 when two Swiss brothers stopped for gas in Milbank on their way to Montana, where they hoped to open a cheese plant. They ended up talking with the mayor, who suggested building right in Milbank. So they did.

You can read about the family and the business history as part of the heritage museum connected to the cheese shop. Admission is free, Rogers said.

“We have one wall that talks about the basics of the cheese-making process, and there are videos built in that show the different processes from collecting the milk at the farm to bringing it in and processing it to breaking it down to curds and whey and then packaging it,” Rogers said.

Other parts show the production process, family history and the area of Switzerland where the founders were from. Visitors also can watch a 12-minute documentary on the history of the family and the business.

“If you don’t want to read the history on the wall, you can sit and enjoy the video,” Rogers said of the small theater at the heritage center.

And, of course, you can snack. “We have cheese samples, and all of our 1-pound blocks are for sale,” Rogers said. “You can taste the different ones.”

The shop also includes branded items, goodies and cheese slicers.

“You won’t get any Valley Queen-branded cheese anywhere but in Milbank,” Rogers said. “If you’re in Milbank, you should stop here. It’s worth seeing – plus there’s amazing cheese!”

Relaxing state park, historic hike, destination bakery await just south of Sioux Falls