May 28, 2021

After coming off a record year, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park northeast of Sioux Falls has a new attraction for the 2021 season.

Construction was completed on a mining sluice attraction a few days ago, according to general manager Ray Aljets. Guests can purchase a bag of mining rough, which they take to the running water sluice to search for gemstones, arrowheads, shark teeth and other “treasures.”

The mining sluice joins laser tag, mini golf, basketball and sand volleyball as just a few of the many attractions and amenities at the campground along Interstate 90 at the Veterans Parkway exit. 

Aljets said the park has not been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as health guidelines pushed many families to seek outdoor activities and resulted in the best year ever.

“It’s actually been a good year for us over the last calendar year. The pandemic and the science associated with COVID transmission has pushed a lot of people outdoors into outdoor rec and outdoor leisure, which is kind of our wheelhouse,” he said. ” So it’s kind of a strange scenario where … our industry has done pretty well through the pandemic because people are looking for those outdoor leisure activities.”

However, the park is able to operate much more normally this summer compared to last year. Guests had to sign up for time slots to use the pool, and wagon rides were not offered. 

Aljets said he is excited for a return closer to normalcy, building on last year’s success to continue to provide family fun to the community. 

“I think for us on the operation side of things, we’re more excited … that we are able to be more free and not have as many steps that we have to take to keep guests safe,” he said. “I mean, that’s a lot of manpower, a lot of expense for us on the operation side. On the customer service side, we’re excited about having to go back to some of those more in-person activities that people really enjoyed that we had to cut out last year.”