Aug. 28, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by Experience Sioux Falls.

The doors of the Falls Park Visitor Information Center open at 9 a.m. on this particular Monday.

And it takes only three minutes for the first visitor to walk in the door and head to the top of the observation tower.

Within the hour, a bus tour group from Mississippi pulls up – that’s more than 18 hours away to put it in perspective.

They’d come from visiting Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore, and had stopped in Sioux Falls on their way to Omaha.

Others at the Visitor Information Center that day brought their own stories — like the New York family with a young kid in the middle of a big road trip to the Black Hills, part of a goal to visit all 50 states before high school graduation. They crossed off South Dakota as No. 22 on their list.

“Most people are probably aware that Falls Park is the No. 1 visitor attraction in our city, along with its namesake, but this gives you a sense for why,” said Matt Barthel, communications manager for Experience Sioux Falls, who observed the visitor traffic that day.

“In four hours on a Monday, we saw people of all ages and from all over the country taking time to enjoy the park’s natural beauty.”

Barthel spoke with a couple from Missouri who have been to parts of the Dakotas but had never visited Sioux Falls.

There was a woman from Milwaukee who had been to Sioux Falls in the past and enjoyed her time so much that she was able to convince a friend who had never been here to join her on a road trip in her RV to experience Sioux Falls.

Then, there were people with ties to the area reconnecting or introducing others to the park. A family from Virginia was there to visit relatives. A couple from Minnesota brought their grandkids.

A man who grew up in Sioux Falls reminisced about sitting on a hill watching fire burn down the Queen Bee Mill building in the 1950s.

“A young father and his daughter stopped by after moving away from Sioux Falls five years ago and recently returning,” Barthel said. “He pointed out how noticeably different the city was and how much it has grown during the few years they were away.”

They did their share of shopping too – buying everything from shirts to stuffed animals. One man bought 80 Falls Park postcards to send to family and friends.

It all happened in just four hours on a Monday morning as temperatures started to push toward 90 degrees.

“We counted more than 200 people in four hours, and keep in mind many who come to the park don’t even come into the Visitor Information Center,” Barthel said. “Everyone we spoke with had nothing but good things to say about Falls Park and Sioux Falls in general. Many admitted how pleasantly surprised they were and that they plan to return to our city in the future.”

The Falls Park Visitor Information Center includes the observation tower in addition to a gift shop where guests can purchase Sioux Falls apparel and memorabilia, as well as pick up Sioux Falls travel information. To learn more about visiting Sioux Falls, click here.