In a search for the perfect Christmas town, large and sprawling cities are usually excluded. Simply put, rush-hour traffic just doesn’t provide the Hallmark Christmas movie vibes we’re all looking for.

Because South Dakota has only two towns with a population over 30,000, there’s no shortage of small towns to choose from.

Here, we will provide our 5 favorite Christmas towns in the state of South Dakota. Before concluding, we’ll also highlight 5 additional points of interest that are worthy of your Christmas-time consideration!

For starters, Spearfish is simply a charming town.

Some of the town’s holiday events are typical of any town, such as a lights display at the park, a Christmas parade, and a holiday market. But Spearfish does a great job with every one of them.

The Holidazzle Light Parade draws a good turnout each year. And the “Winter Wonderland” lights display at the city campground is also worth the trip.

Spearfish hosts Christmas-time fundraisers that are tremendously enjoyable events, including the Zonta Festival of Trees and Black Hills State University’s Madrigal Dinner.

The High Plains Western Heritage Center is the home of “Christmas at the High Plains” concerts and performances, and also “Christmas Shopper’s Village.” Another unique offering is Hatchery Holidays at the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery, offering live music, snacks, tea, smores, and a tour of the beautifully decorated Booth family home.

Visit Spearfish also does a great job of maintaining an events calendar, which can be seen here.

With a population of 74,000, Rapid City (the 2nd largest city in South Dakota) is larger than a typical “Christmas town.” Despite the size, it still has a small-town charm.

Main Street Square serves as the headquarters of the holiday season in Rapid City. The festivities kick off with the town’s Holiday Celebration & Winter Market on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In addition to a figure skating performance and shopping, you can also witness the mayor’s tree lighting.

Perhaps the highlight of the Main Street Square is the Ice Rink, which is open daily throughout the winter months. 

The Festival of Lights parade draws quite a turnout (nearly half the town’s total population), and the floats are elaborate and well-done.

Be sure to check out “Christmas Nights of Light” at Storybook Island. This is one of the cutest, most charming parks you will find anywhere – and it’s even more fun during the holidays with lights displays, hot chocolate, and cookies!

Black Hills Tour Company offers guided tours of the area, including the Black Hills, Deadwood, and Lead. Rapid City has a number of great restaurants and breweries, but the most unique Christmas-time experience is a trip to the heated igloos of Que Pasa Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar.

First of all, the town of Deadwood, South Dakota is a great place to plan a trip – any month of the year. Downtown is beautiful, and history buffs (or fans of the classic HBO show) will find plenty to appreciate. 

This mountain town in the Black Hills recently opened a Brothel Museum and has become a gambling mecca, so excitement-seekers shouldn’t worry about growing bored.

Holiday Open House at the Days of 87 Museum is a kick-off event for the holiday season, featuring free museum admission, shopping, snacks, and pictures with Santa. 

Outlaw Square hosts a Christmas shopping event – Kris Kringle’s Market – in mid-December. The square is also the home of a skating rink that additionally features ice bumper cars! (Parents, don’t worry — skaters and bumper cars never share the rink at the same time).

As the home of the Children’s Museum of South Dakota, Brookings should be atop your list if you are traveling with kids. The museum has a pre-parade party before the town’s Festival of Lights Christmas parade, as well as a cookie decorating and a reservation-only Breakfast with Santa.

The town’s Let it Glow lights competition provides a map of some of the best holiday lights in Brookings. Trolley rides are also available downtown.

McCrory Gardens, an arboretum on the campus of South Dakota State University, provides enjoyable events throughout the long winter. 

The Garden Glow lights display is probably the highlight of the Christmas season. Horse drawn carriage rides are offered on select days, and Santa makes occasional appearances. Upgrade your ticket by reserving a heated igloo, an experience for up to 6 people which includes hot chocolate and popcorn, served inside of your private igloo!

The Swiftel Center hosts a number of Christmas events, too. These include holiday concerts, performances, and a “Last Minute Holiday Market” on the 2nd weekend in December.

When you think of charming small towns, capital cities don’t usually come to mind. But with a population of just 14,000, Pierre combines small-town charm with the perks of being the state capital.

The highlight of a Christmas trip to Pierre is “Christmas at the Capitol.” Three full floors of the South Dakota Capitol building are decorated with nearly a hundred Christmas trees. The entire building looks stunning, and the fact that the centerpiece Christmas tree is a locally-sourced Black Hills Spruce just makes it even better.

The Parade of Lights is a typical small-town Christmas parade, but the locals of Pierre take it quite seriously!

With nearly 200,000 residents, we won’t consider Sioux Falls an ideal Christmas town. But the “Winter Wonderland” event at Falls Park is, without a doubt, one of the great Christmas attractions in the state of South Dakota.

The entire park is beautiful, with trees – and even the falls themselves – illuminated. The park can be seen as a drive-through tour, with a local radio station playing Christmas music.

The town also has a Parade of Lights that is worth attending. And if Falls Park and the parade aren’t enough to get your Christmas lights fix, be sure to check out the Sioux Falls Christmas Light Map.

The 1880 Train – a Black Hills area favorite – turns festive after Thanksgiving. Departing from Hill City, the “Holiday Express” travels to “the North Pole,” at which point Santa boards the train.

Along with the Santa meet-and-greet, guests can enjoy cookies, hot chocolate, and Christmas decor on the train. For those of us that are “too old for Santa,” the 1880 Train also has limited runs of “Holiday Express Spiked” – an adults-only event that trades regular hot cocoa for an alcohol-containing variety.

And for anyone that would rather have some drinks without the train ride, Hill City’s Miner Brewing Company has an igloo seating experience available all winter long. 

“Nora Store Christmas” is a tiny-town event that has taken on a life of its own in the last few decades. The town of Nora doesn’t have much for amenities, but people flock to the former Nora General Store for caroling and Christmas music on the pipe organ.

This isn’t a Christmas concert – it’s more like a group of friends having fun and singing in the living room. For more details on the event, see the official Facebook page. To contribute to the fundraising effort and help keep the Nora Store Christmas tradition alive, check out the event’s GoFundMe page.

As the hometown and lifelong inspiration of Terry Redlin – the artist that painted some of the most iconic Christmas scenes of all-time – Watertown deserves a spot on this list for that reason alone.

The Goss Opera House is busy hosting events throughout the Christmas season, including recent favorites like The Nutcracker Ballet, a Holiday Open House & Market, and Dinner & A Movie screenings of Christmas classics.

Watertown’s Winter Wonderland drive-through lights display at the park is also a local favorite, as is the Holiday Festival of Trees, Holiday Lighted Parade, and a breakfast with Santa at the Bramble Park Zoo.

There are thousands of towns across America that host a meet-and-greet with Santa. But only Mitchell, SD allows you to meet Santa in the lobby of “the World’s Only Corn Palace.” Need we say more?

International Christmas Towns

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