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Minuteman Missile

Reservations are Required for the Delta-01 Tour and can be made between 24 hours and 90 days prior to arrival. Tour reservations inside 24 hours are not available. No same day tours in the Summer season. | How to Book: The TOTAL number of slots available per tour are indicated by clicking on the Adult Ages 17+ drop down box. If there are no matches for the date you searched, you will get this message ‘NO RESULTS FOUND’. Change your dates to check other availability. If for example, the Adult drop down box states 2 slots available and the Child states 2, there are ONLY a TOTAL of 2 tours available for that time slot.

Learn what it was like to have the awesome responsibility of thermonuclear war at your fingertips. The ranger-guided tour of Delta-01 begins with a walk through of the grounds and topside support building. Visitors then descend via elevator 31 feet underground to the Launch Control Center to see the electronic consoles used by missileers to control ten Minuteman II missiles.

Built for nuclear war, the control center features a small elevator and a tight underground space. To protect the historic facilities and to provide for visitor safety, each tour is limited to six participants and a park ranger. This tour lasts forty-five minutes, beginning and ending at the entry gate to the Delta-01 compound. The tour is moderately strenuous and requires a quarter mile round trip walk. All tour participants must be able to walk and stand unassisted; modern seating is limited on the tour. Visitors who need mobility assistance (wheelchairs and etc.) on the tour should contact the park at least a day before their reserved tour.

The historic Delta-01 compound is built to execute a nuclear war. The park is offering a tour that focuses on the topside structure and uses accommodations to explore the underground launch control facility. The guides will take the visitors through the top side of the Delta-01 Launch Control Center and show a short video/virtual tour of the capsule below.

Notice: The visitor center at Exit 131 is open Tuesday through Saturday.

View 90 Day Window Reservations Oct 2023 – April 2024

View 90 Day Window Reservations May – January 2025

Please read Tour Safety Restrictions below:

During the Cold War, a vast arsenal of nuclear missiles were placed in the Great Plains. Hidden in plain sight, for thirty years 1,000 missiles were kept on constant alert; hundreds remain today. The Minuteman Missile remains an iconic weapon in the American nuclear arsenal. It holds the power to destroy civilization, but is meant as a nuclear deterrent to maintain peace and prevent war.

Visit the once secret facilities where Air Force personnel controlled and maintained ten nuclear missiles, part of a force of 150 missiles located in South Dakota. Discover the Cold War events that shaped our lives and still remain through a tour of the underground control center at Delta-01. At the Delta-09 silo, view a nuclear missile which once carried a 1.2 megaton warhead.

Accessibility

Built to execute a nuclear war, the historic Delta-01 compound cannot be made fully accessible. For those visitors unable to safely experience the underground control center, the Visitors Center at exit 131 offers a Virtual Tour experience that can be enjoyed by all. 

Tour Safety Restrictions

The Delta-01 tour is moderately strenuous and requires a quarter mile round trip walk to and from the Delta-01 compound. All tour participants must be able to climb two 15 foot ladders, walk, and stand unassisted. Visitors who wish to participate in the underground part of the tour must fulfill the following requirements:

• Be physically capable of climbing two 15 foot ladders unassisted. These ladders are permanently attached to the wall and are very sturdy.
• Children must be at least 40” tall, six years of age, and be able to climb the ladder unassisted. At least one adult must accompany child on Delta-01 Tour.
• Be comfortable in a small elevator in close proximity to six other adults.
• Be comfortable with heights of approximately 35 feet or about 3 stories. The elevator door is an open grate, not a solid door.
• The underground control center was not designed to accommodate the general public. It is accessed by an elevator and a ladder. In the event of an elevator failure, visitors that are underground will need to be capable of climbing the ladder for a safe and timely exit. Entering the control center also requires passing through a narrow corridor.
• Why only six per tour? Because the facility was built for nuclear war. A small elevator and tight space.
• Arrive 15 minutes early tour time to ensure you have time to walk from the parking lot to the front gate at Delta-01, where all tours start.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

South Dakota

In the 1960s and '70s, a thousand Minutemen II intercontinental ballistic missiles, always at the ready in underground silos spread across the Plains, were just 30 minutes from their targets in the Soviet Union. The missiles have since been retired (though more modern ones still lurk underground across the northern Great Plains). This national historic site preserves one silo and its underground launch facility. The small visitor center is close to the main entrance to the Badlands and uses the same I-90 exit (131).

The visitor center has displays and films that try gamely to cover the entire Cold War. The 30-minute tours cover the nearby underground Launch Control Facility Delta-01, where two people stood ready around the clock to turn keys to launch missiles from this part of South Dakota. The tours require advance reservations and book up weeks in advance in summer (visit www.npsreservations.com/minuteman-missile).

The Delta-09 Missile Silo can be viewed without a tour through a glass cover. It's 15 miles northwest of the visitor center via I-90.

I-90 exit 131

Get In Touch

866-601-5129

https://​www​.nps​.gov​​/mimi

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Launch a Missile: Top Things to Do at the Minutemen Missile Site

In the U.S. Cold War against the USSR, two missileers stood guard, hidden in plain sight. Visitors to South Dakota can learn about a former missile launch facility and the Minuteman Missiles used to protect the U.S. Minutes east of Badlands National Park in South Dakota, visitors can tour the underground missile launch center. Then they can visit a deactivated Minuteman Missile, still housed in its silo. Both sites are found along Interstate 90, and this unique national park site is easy to visit in a few hours before driving into the Black Hills of South Dakota. Here are the top things to do at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

Top Things to do at the Minuteman Missile Site

Table of Contents

Learn about the Minuteman Missiles

Stop at its visitor center , sign up for the underground tour, see the silo with a deactivated missile , earn a junior ranger program, minuteman missile site at a glance, why visit the minuteman missile site.

I didn’t know what to expect when I visited the Minuteman Missile Site. My husband wanted to go on the tour, and I initially thought it might be scary for our kids, who were in grade school and middle school at the time.

The facilities were government-bland and very institutional, as you would expect. This was a military base. We signed up for the underground tour, and it was fascinating. The tour guide had family who worked for the Minuteman Missile program, and she shared a blend of history plus personal memories from the time period.

I found this experience so interesting that I then toured another deactivated missile site in Arizona at the Titan II Missile Museum.

First Stop: the Minuteman Missile NHS Visitor Center

Always a good first stop, the Minuteman Missile Visitor Center features maps along with Junior Ranger booklets. The visitor center shows a 30-minute film that covers the Cold War, along with interpretive displays and a bookstore.

In the film, viewers see why the missiles were necessary and the history of the Minuteman Missiles. Visitors will learn about the Cold War and the strategies the U.S. used, including duck-and-cover drills for schools.  

The interpretive areas at the Visitor Center cover the defense of the U.S. at the time by land, sea and air. Great Plains or Ground Zero display offers an overview of the historic site.  

The Nation’s Nuclear Defense display covers the details of the 66th Strategic Missile Squadron of the 44th Strategic Missile Wing based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. See the locations of the 150 Minuteman Missiles along with the 15 launch centers across 13,500 square miles of South Dakota.  

The When the Homefront Becomes the Front Line display guides visitors through Cold War themes like bomb shelter basements. Visitors can also find a replica of the original door to the underground launch control center at Delta-01.  

Finally, visitors will listen to actual missileers and learn how the missile fields were made.  

It is located at 24545 Cottonwood Rd., Phillips. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. year-round.

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Self-Guided Tours at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Two additional sites are included in the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site: Delta-09 and Delta-01.

The Delta-09 is the missile silo with the deactivated missile. The silo is 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep with a glass viewing cover.  

As a part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the glass cover is in place for the Russian government to see the deactivated missile. Originally, metal doors protected the missile. All of the Delta facilities are still protected by razor wire.  

Listen to the self-guided audio tour while at the Delta-09 silo to learn more about the 1.2-megaton nuclear warhead.  

To tour the Delta-Nine Launch Facility, the Missile Silo, exit 116 off of Interstate 90.

The Delta-01 is the underground launch control center with a nondescript government building above ground with a kitchen, sleeping quarters and offices. Unless you have a tour ticket, you can’t gain access, though find interpretive signs outside the fence along with an audio tour.

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Guided Tours at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

If you have more time, reserve a ticket to the Delta-One Launch Control Center led by a Park Ranger.

Delta-One Launch Control Facility Tour

As a former flight crew member, this tour tops my list of interesting National Park Sites I’ve visited over the years. Under the radar for most, my family secured tickets for a look into a classified world from 30 years ago.

The motto—in plain sight, the former military buildings are visible from Interstate 90. After parking in a gravel parking lot, my family, including three kids, waited for the special missileer ranger to arrive. After unlocking the gate on the razor-wired fence, we walked to the unassuming building.  

The upper portion of the facility contains a kitchen, living area, sleeping quarters and security area. This area also provides back-up generators and environmental systems for the underground facility.  

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Eight Air Force personnel based out of nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base worked on the topside of the Delta-One facility. A cook, a facility manager and six security personnel worked three days on and three days off, keeping the Delta-One facility secure for the two missileers located underground.

Underground Facility

After boarding a small elevator, we descended 31 feet underground before unloading in view of the 8-ton blast door. Behind the door, which can only be opened from inside, we entered a small self-contained living space.  

For 24-hour shifts, two missileers watched and waited for a launch command that would never come. In addition to standing on the ready, missileers oversaw the maintenance of the launch facilities and authenticated messages.

During our tour, our special missileer ranger walked us through a mock launch that had this kid of the Cold War ready to duck and cover under a nearby bench. The tour was gripping and offered a declassified view of post-WWII history.  

For tour ticket holders, the Delta-One Launch Control Facility is off Interstate 90, exit 127. Tickets must be reserved in advance (and up to 90 days in advance) for the Delta-One underground tour with NPS reservations. Adult admission is $12, and kids 6 to 16 are $8.

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Why Tour a Missile Site

Under the swaying grass of the South Dakota plains and hidden in plain sight, missiles stood ready and on constant alert for 30 years. Used as a deterrent in the Cold War against the Soviet Union, the missileers lived 30 feet underground, maintaining and potentially launching missiles that could destroy civilization on another continent.  

As a part of history, the Minuteman Missile program still prevails in the U.S. Now, the Minuteman IIIs are located near Malmstrom AFB in Montana, Minot AFB in North Dakota and FE Warren AFB in Wyoming.

After an arms reduction in the 1990s, the National Park Service opened a site dedicated to the Cold War. The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is a decommissioned missile field next to Badlands National Park that represents similar sites across South Dakota. This unit was chosen because it was accessible to Interstate 90 and located close to the national park sites of the Black Hills.

History of the Minuteman Missile

During the late 1950s, the Minuteman I missile was developed as an Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It was an improvement in technology from the previous ICBM’s, the Titan Missile.  

The Titan Miwase was the first-generation ICBM and required a lengthy and potentially dangerous launch with a larger underground silo. The Minuteman missiles offered solid-state fuel, a more stable option, and smaller, more efficient underground silos.  

Over the years, the Minuteman I missiles were replaced with Minuteman II until their retirement after the START—Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1991.  

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Kids at Minuteman Missile Site

The Junior Ranger Program is the go-to program for families to learn more about the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. It’s free and takes about two hours to complete. My kids love the badges that the Rangers present them after completing their booklet.

The Junior Ranger Program is the go-to program for families to learn more about Joshua Tree National Park. It’s free and takes about two hours to complete. My kids love the badges that the Rangers present them after completing their booklet.  

The Minuteman Missile Site offers three different programs for kids, depending on age, and a tour of the underground facility is not necessary. The booklet can be downloaded and mailed back to the visitor center for a ranger to look over, and send the earned badges back to your kids too.  

The underground tour is an effective history lesson, though the subject matter might be frightening for some kids. At the time of the tour, my son was barely old enough to attend.

Junior Ranger Badges you can earn at home

If You have 1 to 2 Hours

Start at the Visitor Center to learn about the Cold War and the Minuteman Missile program. Then drive to the Delta-Nine Launch Facility, or missile silo, to see a deactivated missile all hidden in plain sight along Interstate 90.

The Delta-One Launch Control Facility is an industrial-looking complex that’s locked at all times. You can’t gain access unless you have a ticket for the underground tour.

Where to Eat near the Minuteman Missile Site

The Minuteman Missile Site is a day-use park. Wall, South Dakota, offers the closest restaurants.  

A stop at Wall Drug Store is a must. It’s one of the top tourist destinations in South Dakota. Really, it’s a unique roadside attraction with lots of shopping, dining and even some quirky attractions out back.

Located 21 miles west of the Minuteman Missile Site at 510 Main Street. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

Why You Must Visit Wall Drug Store

Where to stay near the minuteman missile site.

If you are staying in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a few days, consider visiting Badlands National Park, located just west of Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

Badlands National Park offers cabins with air conditioning, mini-fridges, and porches. The reception building has a restaurant.  

Located at the eastern entrance of Badlands National Park, just five miles south of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.  

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

If you have additional time and interest, the South Dakota Air and Space Museum offers an outdoor airpark with 30 vintage aircraft. Inside, you can find more aircraft and interpretive displays on South Dakota’s contribution to aviation.  

Located just outside of Ellsworth Air Force Base gates at 2890 Rushmore Dr. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The outdoor park is free.

Note: The indoor museum is scheduled to open in June 2024.

Fun Guide to South Dakota’s Black Hills

Where’s the minuteman missile site.

Find three separate facilities for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.   Minuteman Missile National Historical Site is open Tuesday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The visitor center is free, along with the Delta Nine Launch Facility.  

Tickets must be reserved in advance (and up to six months in advance) for the Delta-One underground tour. Adult admission is $12, and kids 6 to 16 are $8.

Know Before You Go

• Kids under 6 and under 40″ tall are prohibited on the Delta-One underground facility tour.
• Only 6 people are allowed on a Delta-One tour due to the limited space.
• Delta-One visitors must be willing to climb two 15-foot ladders unassisted in an emergency.

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Catherine Parker has a passion for travel and seen all 50 U.S. States. As a former flight attendant with one of the largest airlines, there isn't a North American airport that she hasn't landed in at least once. Since clipping her professional wings after 9/11, she combines her love of the open road with visiting architectural and cultural icons. She is based out of Central Texas dividing her time between writing and restoring a pair of 100-year-old houses. She shares her life with her three kids and her husband.

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Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Hidden in Plain Sight

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is a fascinating destination that provides visitors with an immersive experience of the Cold War history and the historic Minuteman Missiles that never were fired at an enemy. By exploring the park's exhibits and tours, visitors can learn about the important role these missiles and the military personnel played in helping to keep America safe during this tumultuous time in history.

Visitor Center

Start your visit at the park's visitor center, where you'll find exhibits, displays, and educational materials that provide an in-depth look at the history of the Cold War and the Minuteman Missiles.

Launch Control Facility

Explore the underground missile control center at the Launch Control Facility. Discover the history and operation of the Minuteman Missile through guided tours that take visitors through the facility's various chambers and equipment rooms.

Delta-01 Missile Silo

Take a tour of the Delta-01 Missile Silo and experience the once top-secret location where Air Force personnel stood ready to launch a Minuteman Missile. Visitors will learn about the missile's construction, the personnel who operated and maintained the silo, and its role in the Cold War.

Experience the fascinating history and learn how the Minuteman missiles shaped our country at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. With tours, exhibits and the park's unspoiled natural beauty, there's plenty to see and do at this unique and historical destination.

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Minuteman Missile Site, South Dakota

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Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Photo © Minuteman Missle National Historic Site

For a peek into a window of somber American political history, visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in southwestern South Dakota.

Free, guided tours are available at the minuteman missile site. reservations are recommended in the summer and are required throughout the winter. to get to the project office of the historic site, take exit 131 off interstate 90 in south dakota..

The country's newest national parks area, the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was created to highlight the significance of the Cold War, the arms race, and the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. The Cold War played such a crucial role in shaping American politics and foreign relations that its effects should not be forgotten. A visit to this historic site is definitely a worthwhile educational experience.

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is made up of two important Cold War sites: a Launch Control Facility (Delta-01), and a missile silo complex (Delta-09). These are the only two remaining facilities of the nuclear missile field. Originally, the field consisted of 150 Minuteman II missiles, 15 launch control centers, and covered 13,500 square miles.

Location/Directions

To get to the Project Office of the historic site, take Exit 131 off Interstate 90 in South Dakota. This is 75 miles east of Rapid City.

Minuteman Missile NHS 21280 SD Hwy 240 Philip, SD 57567 Visitor Information: 605-433-5552 http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm

• Summer Season – Memorial Day – Labor Day  Monday – Saturday 8 to 4:30  
• Fall, Winter & Spring Monday-Friday 8 to 4:30
• Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
• Reservation Tour Visit both Delta – 01 and Delta – 09. This is an indepth tour limited to 6 people per tour. It is fascinating if you have any interest in the Cold War, nuclear missiles or national security.
• Terrific Tuesday On Tuesday, the Park Service conducts a shorter version of the tour which takes place at Delta-01.
• Missile Silo Ranger Program View a Minuteman II missile through a glass enclosure! This tour is best for those without a reservation or have a limited amount of time for their visit.

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Minuteman missile national historic site.

• Location: Philip South Dakota Regional Essays: South Dakota Jackson County Architect: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Types: military buildings missile silos Styles: no metadata available Materials: concrete Douglas fir (wood)

What's Nearby

Michelle L. Dennis, " Minuteman Missile National Historic Site ", [ Philip , South Dakota ], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/SD-01-071-0049 . Last accessed: May 14, 2024.

Permissions and Terms of Use

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site documents the role of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) during the Cold War. The Minuteman Missile, a critical element of U.S. defense strategy in the postwar period, was first developed in the 1950s. These missiles were a part of the arsenal of nuclear weapons that were maintained at a constant state of readiness throughout the Cold War. The Minuteman I, and later the Minuteman II and III missiles, could travel over the North Pole from this site in South Dakota and arrive at a target in 30 minutes. The warhead was the explosive equivalent of over a million tons of dynamite.

The site is located just off I-90 between Wall and Kadoka. The South Dakota facilities were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1961 and 1963 in association with the missile wing headquartered at Ellsworth Air Force Base. The historic site includes two primary complexes of buildings and structures: the Delta-01 Launch Control Facility and the Delta-09 Launch Facility.

The Delta-01 Launch Control Facility (LCF) was the building from which members of the missile combat crew, a.k.a. the Missileers, monitored and controlled a network of ten missiles in underground silos (known as Launch Facilities or LFs). It consists of two main structures: the aboveground support and security center (a one-story, wood-framed building that included sleeping, dining, and recreational spaces) and the underground reinforced concrete capsule with the missile launch controls (where two Missileers were stationed at all times). The facility also had several communications antennae and a system of underground cables connected to the LFs. Delta-01 was one of five missile flights (a unit consisting of the LCF and the ten missiles it controlled) assigned to the missile wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

The Delta-09 Launch Facility, located approximately ten miles from the LCF, is a missile silo that houses a Minuteman Missile II (no longer armed or connected to a LCF). The concrete blast doors have been retracted and replaced with glass so that visitors can view the missile in its silo.

Because of the need to protect the LCFs and missile silos, most of the complex was underground. Only the aboveground portion of the LCF and various communication antennae were visible at the site. The LFs themselves were identifiable by the security fencing surrounding the perimeter but only small communication antennae and concrete blast doors over the silos were visible to anyone close enough to see them.

The missile sites in South Dakota remained on active duty for nearly three decades. They were deactivated in 1991 and the silos were imploded following the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Active Minuteman missile sites still exist in North Dakota , Montana, and Wyoming.

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was established in 1999. The new Visitors’ Center, which opened in 2015, is located at Exit 131 off I-90, approximately 70 miles east of Rapid City. Access to the LCF requires tickets available at the Visitors’ Center but visitors can view the LF site without a ticket.

National Park Service. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site . Brochure. Washington, D.C.: US Department of the Interior, 2009.

Mead and Hunt, Inc., “Minuteman ICBM Launch Control Facility Delta-01 and Launch Facility Delta-09, Ellsworth Air Force Base,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 2003. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.

Engle, Dr. Jeffrey A. The Missile Plains: Frontier of America’s Cold War. Historic Resource Study for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site . Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 2003.

Writing Credits

• Location: Philip, South Dakota Regional Overviews: Jackson County Architect: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Types: military buildings missile silos Styles: no metadata available Materials: concrete Douglas fir (wood)

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• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Minuteman Missle Facts

• Location:  24545 Cottonwood Rd, Philip, SD 57567
• Created: Constructed in 1963
• Year Established:  Became a nationally recognized site on Nov 29, 1999.
• Why It Matters: The complex, one of six located in the central United States, was built as a deterrent to a nuclear first strike by the Soviet Union.

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• Jewel Cave National Monument
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Standing on a windswept patch of western South Dakota prairie and looking down into a hole at the cone of a missile as motorists zoom past on nearby Interstate 90, you begin to appreciate the frightening absurdity of the Cold War.

Down in that hole, there was once a missile topped with a nuclear warhead containing more destructive firepower than all the bombs used in World War II – including the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And for decades, that missile rested peacefully right there in its underground silo, covered by a concrete blast door, marked by a big, above-ground pole, and enclosed with a regular-looking fence.

Anybody who was curious could have pulled off the interstate and drove up to the fence for a look. Tourists sipping their free ice water at Wall Drug – located six miles to the west – could have had their refreshment interrupted at any time by the awesomely terrifying sight and sound of an intercontinental ballistic missile rocketing toward Russia at 15,000 mph. Or, on the other hand, they could have been suddenly and instantly killed by an incoming Russian rocket of a similar kind.

Mutually Assured Destruction

The missile down in that hole east of Wall was known as a Minuteman II – so named because of its ability to reach a target 6,300 miles away in just 30 minutes. Informally, the missiles were known to some as “silent sentinels of the prairie.”

There were once 450 such missile sites in the United States, mostly in the upper Great Plains. The presence of those missiles, along with the presence of a similar fleet in Russia, gave rise to the Cold War-era acronym “MAD”: Mutually Assured Destruction. That’s what was guaranteed if either country had ever fired the first shot.

Today, that hole in the ground contains not an armed nuclear missile, but an unarmed test missile. The concrete blast door has been pulled back a little, and a glass viewing structure has been built over the top. It’s part of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which as of 2009 was among the newest additions to the National Park Service.

The missile’s launch control center is also located alongside the interstate, about 11 miles east of the underground silo. The above-ground portion of the control center, where security personnel were stationed around the clock, looks from the interstate like it could be a modest bachelor rancher’s home. There are no visual clues to the roughly 15 feet of concrete beneath it, or the tiny, locked pod below in which two missileers sat, awaiting printed codes instructing them to insert their keys into a control device and begin the process of nuclear annihilation.

Hours of boredom, seconds of panic

Missileers served rotating 24-hour shifts in the underground pod. Above ground, the little ranch-style house was constantly staffed by a cook and security personnel who also worked in rotating shifts. Everybody commuted to the launch control center from Ellsworth Air Force Base, located about 70 miles to the west. The above-ground and underground portions of the site became second homes to the crew members who worked, ate and slept there.

A modern tour guide retells one missileer’s description of what it was like to work in the underground pod, where the hours of waiting were sometimes broken by incoming messages that turned out to be tests.

“It was hours of boredom,” the tour guide recalled the missileer saying, “punctuated by seconds of panic.”

The site and hundreds of others like it were deactivated following the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1991 (as of this writing, there were still 150 active nuclear missile sites in the United States, but none in South Dakota). The silo and control center east of Wall were the most easily accessible of the deactivated sites, so Congress designated the two locations as a National Historic Site in 1999. A temporary visitor center consisting of modular trailers was placed at Exit 131, four miles east of the control center and 15 miles east of the missile silo. Construction of a permanent visitor center at Exit 131 was scheduled to begin during the summer of 2009. Also accessible from Exit 131 is Badlands National Park, which is just a short drive to the south.

A Quintessential Great Plains Object

Visitors to the missile site stop first at the visitor center, and then drive on to the launch control center and the underground silo. The above- and below-ground portions of the launch control center have been preserved exactly as the military crews left them, down to the magazines and VHS tapes that were left in the living quarters. It’s a living museum, and visitors are asked to refrain from touching anything.

There is perhaps no other attraction in South Dakota about which so much can be learned before visiting. In addition to the scores of books and Internet resources detailing the history of the Cold War and the Minuteman program, the National Park Service’s homepage for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site contains links to a resource study, oral histories by missilers and other people involved in the Minuteman program, photo galleries and a multimedia presentation.

The Park Service’s printed literature includes a quote from author Ian Frazier that perhaps best sums up the site and the feeling one gets from visiting it:

“A nuclear-missile silo is one of the quintessential Great Plains objects: to the eye, it is almost nothing, just one or two acres of ground with a concrete slab in the middle and some posts and poles sticking up behind an eight-foot-high Cyclone fence; but to the imagination, it is the end of the world.”

Great Faces. Great Places.

South Dakota is an incredibly unique state in that each region offers a completely different experience then the others. Check out each of the regions to see what each has to offer!

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Featuring the Black Hills, Badlands, the Sturgis Rally. This region tends to be the most popular.

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The eastern region is home to the largest city in the state and provides visitors with a true "prairie" experience.

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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s book tour hits The Villages in Florida amid growing controversy

• Published: May. 13, 2024, 8:29 a.m.

Gov. Kristi Noem will be signing copies of her book, “No Going Back,” Villagers for Trump 47

• Jennifer Torres | [email protected]

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will be in the Sunshine State today, to sign copies of her new book, “No Going Back,” during an appearance at The Villages in Wildwood, Florida.

After several controversial appearances, Noem canceled at least two national interviews on her book tour, but a spokesperson for Villagers for Trump reportedly confirmed she will attend her book signing event today in The Villages.

Considered a frontrunner to be former President Trump’s running mate, Noem has faced recent criticism over several revelations in her book, creating an atmosphere around the tour that some have likened to a “dumpster fire.”

With anecdotes including a story about being forced to kill her dog, Cricket, who she referred to in the book as a “trained assassin” that killed chickens indiscriminately and nipped at people —and a false claim about meeting Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, Noem has used the book tour as an opportunity to provide more context.

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But, in an article for The Hill , Campaign Reporter Jared Gans said “The governor made the rounds over the past week defending what she wrote, though it has done little to quash the blowback — and likely made it worse.”

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that Noem is banned from entering nearly 20% of her state over comments she made earlier this year about tribal leaders benefitting from drug cartels With nine reservations across South Dakota, more than 12% of the state is made up of reservation or trust lands.

The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 13, at the Rohan Recreation Center at 850 Kristine Way in Wildwood.

Admission to the event is $50 and includes a signed copy of Noem’s book.

For more information, visit Villagers for Trump .

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Gov. Kristi Noem Is Banned By Two More South Dakota Tribes

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is now banned from entering nearly 20% of her state after two more tribes banished her this week over comments she made earlier this year about tribal leaders benefitting from drug cartels.

The latest developments in the ongoing tribal dispute come on the heels of the backlash Noem faced for writing about killing a hunting dog that misbehaved in her latest book. It is not clear how these controversies will affect her chances to become Donald Trump’s running mate because it is hard to predict what the former president will do.

The Yankton Sioux Tribe voted Friday to ban Noem from their land in southeastern South Dakota just a few days after the Sisseton-Wahpeton Ovate tribe took the same action . The Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes had already taken action to keep her off their reservations. Three other tribes haven’t yet banned her.

Noem reinforced the divisions between the tribes and the rest of the state in March when she said publicly that tribal leaders were catering to drug cartels on their reservations while neglecting the needs of children and the poor.

“We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day,” Noem said at a forum. “But I’m going to fight for the people who actually live in those situations, who call me and text me every day and say, ’Please, dear governor, please come help us in Pine Ridge. We are scared.′ ”

Noem’s spokesman didn’t respond Saturday to email questions about the bans. But previously she has said she believes many people who live on the reservations still support her even though she is clearly not getting along with tribal leaders.

Noem addressed the issue in a post on X on Thursday along with posting a link to a YouTube channel about law enforcement’s video about drugs on the reservations.

“Tribals leaders should take action to ban the cartels from their lands and accept my offer to help them restore law and order to their communities while protecting their sovereignty,” Noem said. “We can only do this through partnerships because the Biden Administration is failing to do their job.”

The tribes have clashed with Noem in the past, including over the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock and during the COVID-19 pandemic when they set up coronavirus checkpoints at reservation borders to keep out unnecessary visitors. She was temporarily banned from the Oglala Sioux reservation in 2019 after the protest dispute.

And there is a long history of rocky relations between Native Americans in the state and the government dating back to 1890, when soldiers shot and killed hundreds of Lakota men, women and children at the Wounded Knee massacre as part of a campaign to stop a religious practice known as the Ghost Dance.

Political observer Cal Jillson, who is based at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said this tribal dispute feels a little different because Noem seems to be “stoking it actively, which suggests that she sees a political benefit.”

“I’m sure that Gov. Noem doesn’t mind a focus on tensions with the Native Americans in South Dakota because if we’re not talking about that, we’re talking about her shooting the dog,” Jillson said.

Noem appears to be getting tired of answering questions about her decision to kill Cricket after the dog attacked a family’s chickens during a stop on the way home from a hunting trip and then tried to bite the governor. Noem also drew criticism for including an anecdote she has since asked her publisher to pull from the book that described “staring down” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a private meeting that experts said was implausible.

After those controversies, she canceled several interviews that were planned as part of the book tour. With all the questions about “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” no one is even asking anymore about Noem’s decision to appear in an infomercial-style video lavishing praise on a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas who gave her veneers.

Jillson said it all probably hurts her chances with Trump, who has been auditioning a long list of potential vice-president candidates.

“I think that the chaos that Trump revels in is the chaos he creates. Chaos created by somebody else simply detracts attention from himself,” Jillson said.

University of South Dakota political science professor Michael Card said that if it isn’t the vice-president slot, it’s not clear what is in Noem’s political future because she is prevented from running for another term as governor. Noem is in her second term as governor.

She could go after U.S. Senator Mike Rounds’ seat or try to return to the House of Representatives, Card said.

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Yet another lie found in Kristi Noem’s book? Even Trump feels sorry for her

• Updated: May. 11, 2024, 11:22 a.m. |
• Published: May. 11, 2024, 11:18 a.m.

Has there been a more disastrous book launch that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's? (AP Photo | Jeff Dean) AP

• Kevin Manahan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

First, Kristi Noem murdered a dog and a goat . Then she murdered the truth — and has been hammered in almost every interview on her book tour — even by MAGA-friendly Fox News hosts. And now she apparently has been caught in another lie.

How do you say “fact-checker” in French?

France’s government is disputing a portion of the South Dakota governor’s book that describes a canceled meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

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The book — which has already had a passage scrubbed when the one-time GOP star wrongly reported meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — says a meeting between Noem and Macron last year was canceled after he allegedly made “pro-Hamas” comments.

“While in Paris, I was slated to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron,” Noem wrote in “No Going Back,”   her controversial memoirs. “However, the day before we were to meet, he made what I considered a very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press. So, I decided to cancel.”

A French official refuted Noem’s account, saying there’s no record of a scheduled meeting, nor was there an invitation extended to her. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Noem said that “the Governor was invited to sit in President Macron’s box for the Armistice Day Parade at Arc de Triomphe.”

“Following his anti-Israel comments, she chose to cancel,” Ian Fury, the governor’s chief of communications, said in a statement, according to NBC . Fury added that Macron “did not end up attending, either.”

Noem had been in Paris in November 2023 to speak at the Worldwide Freedom Initiative conference.

Pundits believe Noem’s book, which was supposed to position her to become Donald Trump’s GOP vice presidential running mate, instead has torpedoed any chance she had.

Along with falsehood that she had met Kim, Noem admitted in her book that she shot and killed her family’s 14-month-old dog because of it could not be trained to be a hunting dog. She also confessed to shooting a goat. In another questionable claim, Noem told interviewers that South Dakota’s reservations are a hotbed of activity for the drug cartels.

In an interview this past week, Trump said, “She had a rough couple of days. I will say that.”

RealClearPolitics reported Noem  put her calamitous tour on ice.

“Gov. Noem has sold a lot of books on this tour and is back in South Dakota to be prepared for some potential emerging bad weather systems,” Fury told RCP.

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Pictures In History

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Drops Out Of Interviews Amid Tumultuous Book Tour

Posted: May 11, 2024 | Last updated: May 11, 2024

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem faced a challenging book tour this week, marked by a barrage of inquiries regarding controversial anecdotes from her book.   

Questions arose about a story involving the death of her dog Cricket and another narrative recounting a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with doubts cast on the authenticity of the latter account.  

Promotional interviews

During promotional interviews for her book "No Going Back," Governor Noem encountered probing questions from mainstream media outlets like Face the Nation and NewsNation. However, the most contentious exchanges occurred with conservative figures such as Fox News' Stuart Varney and Newsmax.   

The book tour

The book tour was seen as a strategic move to garner attention, especially as speculation swirls around potential vice presidential candidates for Donald Trump.   

Media appearances

In a direct exchange, Rob Finnerty of Newsmax even remarked, "I don't even think you're on the list." In response to the challenging interviews and scrutiny, Governor Noem has begun canceling scheduled media appearances.  

Sudden cancellation

CNN's Dana Bash informed viewers today that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem had canceled her appearance on Inside Politics, which was scheduled weeks in advance, citing a sudden cancellation the night before.   

The real reason

Additionally, Noem canceled an interview with Greg Gutfeld on Fox News' Gutfeld! with the explanation that it was due to the weather, as reported by Mediaite. Greg Gutfeld expressed skepticism about the weather being the real reason for the cancellation, suggesting that it may be a last-minute decision to restrict her availability.   

Severe weather

He proceeded with Dana Perino filling in for Noem and continued to jest about the governor during the show. Governor Noem has addressed the severe weather conditions in South Dakota through posts on X/Twitter.   

Aggressive behavior

She defended her decision to euthanize her dog, portraying it as a necessary action due to the dog's aggressive behavior and threat to livestock and people.   

The alleged meeting

Regarding the alleged meeting with the North Korean leader, Noem has chosen not to confirm or deny the encounter, stating that she will not disclose details of her discussions with world leaders, despite mentioning such interactions in her book.  

The controversial content

During an interview with Finnerty, Governor Noem explained that upon discovering the controversial content, she had it revised accordingly.   

Certain details

She defended her decision not to disclose certain details, stating that she would not discuss her meetings or conversations with world leaders.   

Firm in her stance

When pressed by Finnerty, who expressed doubts about the authenticity of the meeting, Noem remained firm in her stance.  

The audio version

In a separate interview with Elizabeth Vargas on NewsNation, Governor Noem refrained from elaborating on why she did not request the removal of the anecdote when recording the audio version of the book.  

Future plans

A request for comment on the future plans for the book tour from Noem's publisher, Center Street, was left unanswered at the time of inquiry.  

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Mapping the missile fields.

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By the mid-1980s, the actions of locally based anti-nuclear activists across the country inspired other groups like Nukewatch, based in Luck, Wisconsin, to undertake consciousness-raising projects of their own. It occurred to members of the organization that while the Soviet Union knew where all of the American ICBMs were based (and had targeted them with their own ICBMs), the location of these facilities had largely been forgotten by the American public.

Nukewatch’s Missile Silo Project, which resulted in the mapping of one thousand missile silo sites across the country, was intended to be a high profile project capable of furthering public discussion on nuclear weapons. At all six missile fields, local activists volunteered to drive the countryside and record driving directions to all locations, while maintaining legal distances from all facilities. Jay Davis, a local peace activist, participated in the mapping of the rural missile sites in South Dakota and described an encounter with Air Force security personnel at a missile silo,

“. . . eventually we came to a missile silo right near State Highway 34 and there was a semi-truck backed up right onto the pad inside the perimeter of the fence and there were a couple of soldiers, from the Air Force I suppose, with machine guns guarding the missile silo and the semi-truck. And we stopped there and, I mean, it was obvious they weren’t unloading furniture and this one soldier with the machine gun came over to my car as I was writing down the directions to that silo and also giving it a name and he said, can I help you with anything when I rolled down the window. And I said no thanks we’re just tourists. And of course he knew we weren’t tourists, but the point was we had a right to be out there driving on the back roads whatever it was we were doing this is supposed to be a free country.”

One of the traditions of this project was that the volunteers provided informal names to each silo and control center. These informal designations are a combination of the names of those who mapped the sites, or political and pop cultural references from the era. During the mapping of the missile sites in South Dakota, Delta- 01 was assigned the name of “Mike and Beth’s Launch Control Center” after Mike Sprong and Beth Preheim, peace activists that mapped the Delta Flight and directed the mapping project in South Dakota. Delta- 09 was believed to be assigned the name “Cassandra’s Missile” for Cassandra Dixon, a peace activist who served as director of Nukewatch at the time the organization coordinated the missile field mapping project.

In 1988, Nukewatch published the book, Nuclear Heartland, which mapped missile silo sites by state and provided an overview of the history of ICBM deployment and the development of national and local resistance movements. As stated by Sam Day, founder of Nukewatch, in the introduction to Nuclear Heartland , the goal of this project was to raise awareness and spark a critical debate of the dangers of the continued presence of these weapons and the real threat of a nuclear war. The organization also hoped their maps and information might prompt public visits to the sites by concerned citizens, other activists, or even vacationers.

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Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Last updated: October 20, 2020

Kristi Noem’s increasingly bizarre Kim Jong Un story

The South Dakota governor’s book tour is a testament to the GOP’s Trump-era push to never back down and focus instead on planting seeds of doubt.

“This is really a book that talks about how we’re not going back,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) told CBS News on Sunday. “We’re not going back to the days before Donald Trump. Donald Trump broke politics. And I think that’s a good thing.”

Noem, a potential Trump VP pick, is certainly right about his breaking politics, but perhaps not in the way she meant.

Her game attempt to proceed with a media tour promoting her book despite alleged inaccuracies and a story about killing her dog is a testament to the thoroughly Trumpian impulse to just push on through — while avoiding facts.

To recap: Not only has Noem faced bipartisan backlash for her story about her young dog Cricket, but other anecdotes in the book have also been called into question in recent days . There’s the meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that seems unlikely to have happened. And there is the meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron she says she canceled, and the threatening conversation with former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley she says she recalled. (Representatives for Macron and Haley have rejected her accounts.)

Through it all, Noem and her office have offered shifting accounts and, especially on the Kim story, proven bizarrely evasive.

After the South Dakota Scout last week questioned the Kim meeting — there is no record of it; Noem was a backbencher in Congress at the time; and relations between the countries were especially frosty, leading some experts to conclude there’s no way it took place — Noem and her office set about cleaning up.

Her spokesman initially cited “ conflated world leaders’ names in the book ” and said they would be addressed — a clear suggestion that Kim was mixed up with someone else.

But since then, Noem has declined repeated attempts to explain the situation. She won’t even say that she didn’t meet Kim.

CBS anchors asked her twice Sunday and twice more Monday whether she met with Kim, and Noem punted each time.

“I’m saying that I’m not talking about that meeting — I’m not talking about my meetings with world leaders,” Noem said Monday morning.

Pressed one more time on whether she met with Kim, Noem responded: “That’s the answer that I have for you, is that it will be adjusted” in the book.

Part of the problem with Noem’s saying she met Kim is that his first known foreign trip after taking power in 2011 was in 2018 . Her book claims she met him before then.

CBS’s Margaret Brennan posited that Noem had never been to North Korea. Noem responded, “I have been there.” But she proceeded to talk about visiting the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, between North and South Korea.

“There are details in this book that talk about going to the DMZ and specifics that I’m willing to share,” Noem said. “There’s some specifics I’m not willing to share with you.”

Does Noem want people to believe the meeting might have actually happened but she just can’t talk about it? That’s difficult to square with the initial comment about conflating world leaders’ names. And even if the newer implication is correct, it would mean she put a meeting she wasn’t supposed to talk about in her book, which could certainly lead to questions about her judgment.

Noem was also evasive Sunday when Brennan noted that Noem recorded the audio edition of her book.

“You didn’t catch these errors when you were recording it?” Brennan asked. (Noem’s office has admitted to using an incorrect date for the phone call with Haley.)

Noem avoided the question, saying merely: “Well, Margaret, as soon as it was brought to my attention, I took action to make sure that it was reflected.”

Noem has set about claiming persecution by the media, noting the number of times Brennan interrupted her, for instance.

“What I talk about in the book extensively, when people are able to get it on Tuesday, is to see the whole story and the truth, not the spin that the media has put on this story,” Noem said.

She added later: “I hope that they will buy it. They’ll find a lot of truthful stories.”

As for one of the book’s most publicized stories, though, it appears the truth just can’t — or won’t — be told.