HI Notam, I can understand your concern for your nephew, but rest assured~he'll be in good hands here. And I know that Airboat will be up here soon and they'll help with any info they've gathered.
You'll find that the people are very down to earth and helpful and I think he'll love the scenery. As Danny said, there are plenty of places for winter sports like skiing and I believe there are also quite a few snowmobile enthusiasts around the Hills.
The crime rates here are relatively low so he can basically wander the entire state without fear. He can easily pop on over to Wyoming or up into Montana for sightseeing. If he has a few days leave, he may want to visit Yellowstone National Park and see Old Faithful.
The "must sees" in the Hills area~
Definitely Mt. Rushmore. Anyone who is even close to the area should take the time to see it.
Crazy Horse Monument appears to be moving along, too.
Kinda must sees~
The Cosmos~Danny loves it there so I'll let him explain it.
Spearfish Canyon~Personally, I think this is the most beautiful part of our state. It has a clear mountain stream running through it and the clear waterfalls~just gorgeous!!!
The 1880 train ride between Hill City and Keystone. (I hope I got it right this time.)
The Badlands~definitely worth heading a bit southeast to see them.
Deadwood~it's a very Historic town and although a lot of the history burned up in the fire, there is still just something "old western" about Deadwood. They have plenty of activities, too ranging from antique car shows to street dances. It's the same town as the HBO series "Deadwood" was about and in old westerns, it was called "Deadwood Gulch". Mt. Moriah is there and he may want to visit the resting places of some famous people from the past.
I always look for feedback from people and a couple years ago we had the pleasure of vacationing in the Hills with some friends from NJ. They loved it there and couldn't believe Rushmore. We went to a street dance in Deadwood and they were shocked at the civility. First of all, they couldn't believe we were all out dancing in the rain and secondly, they couldn't believe there were no fights or shootings because you buy your cup and drink free beer all night.
![Big Grin](https://pics3.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
They said it would've turned ugly in their area.
As far as keeping this thread positive~there's not a lot of negative to say about our state. The only negative for me is our cold and snowy winters, but since your nephew is familiar with and enjoys it, he'll be fine.
You'll have to come on up and visit him.
![Wink](https://pics3.city-data.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif)