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Free Traveling Guides » States » South Dakota » Greater South DakotaWall
Wall, a colorful western town in the Pennington County, South Dakota, is situated 55 miles (89 km) east of Rapid City on Interstate 90. The town was established in the summer of 1907, as a railroad station on the C&NW Railroad. The town of Wall is best known for its Wall Drug Store, a large roadside tourist attraction. The present-day Wall Drug Store began as a small pharmacy during the Depression but eventually developed into a sprawling shopping mall consisting of a gift shop, restaurants, and a drug store. Popularly known as the “free ice water store”, this store attracts nearly 20,000 people to the city every year.
Another major tourist attraction in the town is the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. It is the second largest National Grassland and comprises of mixed-prairie and chalky badlands. These grasslands surround the famous Badlands National Park, situated just 8 miles (13 km) south of Wall.
The Badlands area is home to several water chiseled spires, rugged canyons, prairie, and ragged ridges. The lower and the upper prairies in the Badlands area are separated by a 9-mile (14-km) long rugged strip with a succession of ridges, tinted spires, and twisted gullies. This strip, popularly called “The Wall”, stands like a “Wall” between the two areas and serves as a barrier to north and south going traffic. The name of the town of Wall has also been derived from “The Wall”. Wall is also home to a number of elegant restaurants, motels, filling stations, and many other places of tourist interest. It has a lot to offer to its visitors and is certainly worth a visit.
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