1. Elk Creek Camping Resort And Lodge
City: Piedmont, SD
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (605) 787-4884, (800) 846-2267
Address: Elk Creek Road
Description: This 11-acre resort has 4 cabins and 5 ranch-style houses that enclose 17 “cottage rooms.” The vacation home has four bedrooms, two kitchens and a garage. Each motel-style cottage room shares only a wall with adjoining rooms and has a private bath, coffeepot, and refrigerator. Some rooms have kitchens, too. Cabins have one main room and a small bunk room that sleeps up to eight people. The cabins have no plumbing (shower facilities are nearby), but they do have air-conditioning and refrigerators. They also offer on-site RV rentals. An outdoor, shared hot tub is on the premises, as is a heated pool. Breakfast is available for purchase on summer weekends. Your pet is welcome, but an additional deposit is required. One cottage is wheelchair accessible. Elk Creek Resort is open year-round, and a campground is also on the property. To get there, take I-90 to exit 46.
2. Elk Creek Steakhouse & Lounge
City: Piedmont, SD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (605) 787-6349
Address: I-90 and Elk Creek Road
Description: Western garb fits right in at this popular restaurant, and you’ll see many customers enter the ranch-style building in their best hats and boots. Steaks and seafood are the main menu items, but the kitchen also cooks up such varied dishes as chicken cordon blue, pasta and its signature prime rib. Steak sandwiches are available, but don’t overlook the barbecued buffalo ribs and New York steaks, for a genuine taste of the Old West. The lounge has a full bar where you can order your beverage of choice. Elk Creek opens nightly for dinner, and reservations are recommended on weekends. The lounge opens at 4 p.m. on Sun and will serve food. Live music on Fri, Sat, and Sun. Take I-90 exit 46 and you’ll be there.
3. Antiques & Art
City: Piedmont, SD
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (605) 347-5016
Address: 21424 Clover Place
Description: There’s a reason many of the western and Plains Indian items in this bursting-at-the-seams shop look like museum pieces: They once were. Owners James and Peg Aplan spurn reproduction and modern artifacts, often buying museum collections in their quest for authentic Old West treasures and collectible guns. They even sell rare and out-of-print books on western Americana. There’s hardly room to turn around in here, but each time you do you discover something delightful: remarkable photographs, eye-catching beadwork, stunning military uniforms, star-shaped sheriff’s badges, well-worn stirrups, creaky saddles, fierce-looking branding irons, sturdy stone tools, an extraordinary Crow woman’s dress decorated with elk teeth, exquisite dolls, and much more. Look up and you’re likely to be startled by a mounted bison head sporting three hats. The store is open daily, so you can return as often as you like. To get there, take I-90 to exit 40.