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Welcome to the South Dakota Highways Page! Settle in, and we'll take a ride across the Rushmore State.
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| Interstate Highway System |
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Two multi-state Interstate Highways pass through South Dakota. I-90 is the west-east interstate, and runs across the southern part of the state. I-29 runs north-south across the eastern portion of the state. Each has its own spur going around or through a city (I-190 in Rapid City, and I-229 in Sioux Falls). Interstate construction was completed in 1983, with I-29 in the northeast part of the state. South Dakota makes use of the "Business" Interstate routes as well. |
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Several U.S. highways pass through South Dakota as well. The east-west routes are US-12, US-212, US-14, US-16, US-18 (in order from north to south). The north-south routes are US-385 (former US-85E), US-85, US-83, US-183, US-281, US-81, and the former US-77 (in order from west to east). |
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Many of South Dakota's current state highways received their designations in the mid 1920's, with the general format of numbering staying the same. East-west roads have even numbers, and north-south roads have odd numbers. Numbers increase from north to south, and from east to west. However, most of the 3-digit state numbers do not follow this convention (although the even/odd numbering does apply). There appears to have been only a couple instances of a 1-digit state highway (SD-8 in northwest and north central South Dakota, now a part of SD-20, and SD-9 in northeast South Dakota, currently unnumbered). |
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| Bureau of Indian Affairs Highway System |
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has highway systems in the Indian Reservations of western South Dakota. Official state highway maps indicate the numbers for these roads (Rand McNally atlases show the roads, but not the numbers). |
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Many of South Dakota's counties maintain a network of numbered county roads. In the Black Hills, the U.S. Forest Service also has a network of numbered roads. Neither of these will be covered on these pages.
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My sources of South Dakota highway information:
- "United States Numbered Highways", by AASHO, dated May 26, 1927 (and provided by Robert Droz)
- Standard Oil maps of South Dakota from 1929, 1932, 1935, 1953, 1956, and 1959 through 1961.
- 1933 Cities Service map of South Dakota.
- Conoco Oil map of South Dakota from 1935 and 1936.
- 1936 U.S. highway map from the National Map Company.
- Skelly Oil map of South Dakota from 1938.
- Skelly Oil map of North and South Dakota from 1939.
- Early 1950's DX Map of North and South Dakota, published by H.M. Gousha Corp.
- 1966 Gulf Tourgide Map of North/South Dakota and Nebraska.
- Hammond's World Atlas, Volume 2 (U.S. maps) from 1969.
- 1971 Standard Oil Map of North and South Dakota, published by Diversified Map Corp.
- Rand McNally road atlases from 1926, 1940, 1950, 1954, 1960, 1964, 1975, 1980, and 1987 through 2005.
- National Geographic road atlas from 1998 through 2001.
- State highway maps from 1927, 1929, 1941, 1944, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1960 through 1963, 1965, 1971, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1999, and 2002.
- DeLorme South Dakota Atlas and Gazetteer from 1997 and 2001.
- 2002 5-year construction plan, put out by the South Dakota Department of Transportation.
- South Dakota state laws regarding highway alignments.
I'd appreciate any other information that you may have; feel free to E-mail me at chris-g@dm.net.
The following pages are the most current listings of Interstate, U.S., state, and BIA highways that I have. These include historical highways (no longer exist, or have been significantly relocated from the original alignment) and details on each particular road.
Exit listings at Highway Heaven for:
I-29
I-90
I-190
I-229
Or, cruise the highways of North Dakota and Nebraska, two other states which I have covered.
South Dakota Road Conditions
(provided by the South Dakota Dept. of Transportation
Acknowledgements:
Research on U.S. highway history has been aided by Robert Droz and his US Highway History website. While I made some of the sign graphics on my own, the Interstate, state and historical US shields were generated through David Kendrick's "Shields Up!" page. Also, thanks to Ed Wilson, Nathan Barton, Greg Wysk, Matt Gustafson, and Dale Sanderson, who have provided historical and current information on some of the highways in the state.
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