As one of the most picturesque and unique areas inn South Dakota, Palisades State Park is a popular destination for travelers. Here you’ll find Sioux quartzite formations that line Split Rock Creek and rise out of the water by as much as 50 feet in some areas. Two of the most unique formations are called King and Queen Rock.

The Big Sioux River flows between cliffs of Sioux quartzite that reach as high as 40 feet. In the late 1800s the area offered a number of natural advantages for the development of a town. With its beauty and powerful water it initially became known as Dell City.

Scattered amid the prairie grasses are islands of Sioux quartzite outcroppings that span 23 miles, across Cottonwood County. The Red Rock Ridge is made of rock more than 1.6 billion years old. On some of the Sioux quartzite you’ll find carvings, or petrolyphs, created about 7000 years ago by American Indians.

The Sioux quartzite you’ll find here was estimated to be more than a mile thick and between 1.2 to 1.7 billion years old. In the 1880s quarries were in full swing in this area and remained active until the late 1890s. There are structures in the nearby town, Luverne, that are made from the stone from the quarries.

A project that started in 2001 by photographer and filmmaker, Jim Brandenburg, is now a prairie made up of more than 800 acres and preserved for public enjoyment. The prairie is home to a Sioux quartzite ridgeline that runs over a mile.

This city-owned park in Garretson, SD offers as much scenery as it does history. The powerful water of Split Rock Creek has carved out a deep, narrow canyon in the Sioux Quartzite rock. Legend has it, Jesse James convinced his horse to leap over the ravine to avoid capture in 1876.

A number of quarries populated this area in the 1880s and by the 1890 the largest quarry employed almost 500 men. Today this area is part of 115 acre park, a dream by local environmental advocate, Mary Jo Wegner, who fell in love with the beauty and history of the area.

The Gitchie Manitou State Preserve is located in the extreme northwestern corner of Iowa, near the South Dakota border. The preserve, covering 91 acres, is home to Precambrian Sioux Quartzite outcroppings that are about 1.6 billion years old; the oldest surface bedrock in Iowa.

The three-tiered waterfall on the Big Sioux River is what gave Sioux Falls its name. It’s now part of a 123 acre park that sees thousands of visitors each year. In 1878, construction began on the seven-story Queen Bee Mill and by 1881 the mill was complete. Richard Pettigrew understood the power offered by the falls and wanted to harness it.