1. Pennington County Courant
City: Wall, SD
Category: Media
Telephone: (605) 279-2565
Address: 212 4th Ave.
Description: The Courant circulates 1,000 copies throughout eastern Pennington County. It’s an award-winning broadsheet that was founded in 1906 and is a window to the happenings in Wall, the Badlands, and surrounding area.
2. Wall Driver’S License Exam Station
City: Wall, SD
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (605) 394-2162
Address: 501 Main St.
3. Wall-Badlands Area Chamber Of Commerce
City: Wall, SD
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (605) 279-2665, (888) 852-9255
Address: 503 Main St., P.O. Box 527
4. Wall Community Library
City: Wall, SD
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (605) 279-2929
Address: 407 Main St.
5. Ann’S Motel
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2501
Address: 114 Fourth Ave.
Description: Nineteen clean, cozy units and more than the usual amenities make this a homeaway-from-home kind of place. Whether you choose two double beds or one queen, you get a small refrigerator, microwave, coffeepot, phone, and remote cable TV in your room. Add a tub-shower combo and you’ve got all the basics and then some. Pets are allowed, but you can’t leave them alone in your room.
6. Best Western Plains Motel
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2145, (800) 528-1234
Address: 712 Glenn St.
Description: You’ll get the royal treatment at this sparkling-clean place, where the beds come in either king- or queen-size. Best of all, you can choose family accommodations with two beds in a separate room for the kids. All 74 rooms have a tub-shower combination, coffeepot, phone, and TV with movie channel. There’s a heated outdoor swimming pool and a game room. The lobby has free coffee and a gift shop with clothing and western gifts. Pets are allowed, and plenty of nonsmoking rooms are available.
7. Super 8 Motel
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2688, (800) 800-8000
Address: 711 Glenn St.
Description: This attractive, 29-room motel has a couple of outstanding features: a wheelchair-accessible room and extra-long double beds. (You can get a queen-size bed if you prefer.) Nonsmokers will appreciate the availability of smoke-free rooms. Other comforts include free local calls, cable TV with Showtime, tub-shower combinations, and free coffee in the lobby during the morning and evening. Babies have the use of a free crib and are welcome, but pets are not.
8. Cactus Cafe And Lounge
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2561
Address: 519 Main St.
Description: Steaks and Mexican entrees such as Butch’s Barnbuster—a large burrito smothered in green-chili gravy—are the specialties at this cafe, which has been run by three generations of the Beach family for more than 40 years. (It’s been in existence much longer than that, though.) Other choices include daily specials and a soup, salad, and fruit bar (although it’s not available during the winter). There’s ordinary fare such as chicken strips, sandwiches, fish, and pasta, but you’ll also find veggie burgers and, among the appetizers, breaded gizzards. Carrot cake and homemade pies appear on the dessert list. The decor is simple but dressed up a bit with brick arches and hanging planters. In the lounge, which has a full bar (plus a pool table and other diversions), there’s a mural depicting scenes of early prairie life, including the building of the railroads. The cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily all year.
9. Elkton House Restaurant
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2152
Address: 203 South Blvd.
Description: Low-fat and low-calorie items distinguish this eatery. You’ll have to ask for them, but nonfat sour cream, zero-cholesterol margarine, low-fat salad dressing, and steamed seafood and chicken are available. The rest of the menu is a mix of typical chicken sandwiches and grilled fish along with more distinctive dishes including buffalo burgers. The restaurant ages all of its own beef for steaks. There’s a soup and salad bar, too. Bottled beer is available. Elkton House serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, year-round.
10. Wall Drug
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2175
Address: 510 Main St.
Insider Pick:
Description: This legendary attraction—known for free ice water and nickel coffee—has cafeteria service and a cafe with seating for more than 500. The fare is simple—burger baskets, soup and sandwiches, and the like—but wine is available. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily all year; during the summer a sub shop and restaurant serving low-fat food are open in the Back Yard. Although the food services here do a brisk business, there’s far more to Wall Drug than you can imagine. See the Close-up in this chapter to learn more.
11. Wild West Historical Wax Museum
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2915
Address: 601 Main St.
Description: From Sitting Bull and the Sundance Kid to John Wayne and the James Gang, the displays here tell the ripsnortin’ version of western history. You’ll meet famous outlaws such as Billy the Kid as well as some whose names might be less familiar, like Clay Allison. But there are “good guys” in this hall of fame, too, including “Little Sure Shot” Annie Oakley, courageous Sacagawea, and a trusty Pony Express rider. Signs and taped narratives give lots of details about each of the 50 wax figures (although historians might take issue with a couple of pieces of information). You can see displays of barbed wire, antique cavalry swords, silver dollars, old photos, and more. There’s a gift shop with jewelry, souvenirs, books, and CDs.The museum is open from early May until mid-Oct or later. Summer hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission (which also gets you a coupon for post-tour free popcorn) is $4.50 for adults ages 16 to 61, $4 for seniors 62 and older, $2.50 for youths 6 to 15, and free for kids 5 and younger. Inquire about discounts for groups of 10 or more.
12. Wall Drug
City: Wall, SD
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (605) 279-2175
Address: 510 Main St.
Description: You’re not afraid of a little dinosaur, are you? Well, how about a big one? For a roarin’ good time, visit the (mechanical) T. rex in the Back Yard at Wall Drug—he speaks his mind about every 15 minutes. Less intimidating are the 6-foot rabbit, Singing Sam the Gorilla Man, and a hitch of singing reindeer. A tepee from the movie Dances with Wolves and a video arcade offer hands-on fun. The Back Yard closes for the winter, but there’s lots more stuff inside. Read all about Wall Drug, where admission is free, in the Close-up in this chapter.