I found this little gem on HipCamp, an app that helps travelers find a place to pull over an RV for the night and sleep. We pulled in, my husband went in to inquire about pulling over for the evening. Typical rule of thumb is always to invest a little something in anyway business that approves a travelled to park. So, I went in and purchased some bison summer sausage. The owner told me how his father had started raising buffalo over 60yrs ago and now he continues. As the sun set, we were offered some of South Dakota's stunning array of colors. read more

My girlfriend picked this place to get gas on our road trip to MN, great decision! The man at the counter was very friendly and asked where we were from, he said his family has been raising Buffalo for 60 years! Picked up some Bison meat and a Red Bull. I'll be back again for sure, I'd visit South Dakota again for this place alone. read more

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SAVE YOUR MONEY! What a waste of time and money. We were charged $8 per person and not one "animated display" worked. Everything is broken down and filthy. The pictures I've seen posted, must have been from 20 years ago. When I voiced my displeasure, the man at the desk got angry and said I must have liked something because I took a couple of pictures of the buffalo (which were not close enough to get a good look at) and my daughter standing in front of a large gun. The reason indoor area smells of mold and old cigarettes. Shame on Trip Advisor for even listing this as a place to visit. read more

I'm what one might consider a "down-to-earth" sort of guy. I love long drives in the ol' station wagon with my best girl, late night excursions to roadside diners for apple pie topped with cheddar cheese, and the occasional roadside attraction. Having checked off the other two items on my road trip to-do list with my significant other, the two of us decided it might be nice to make a spur-of-the-moment stop at Cowboy Town. We were headed to Seattle from our home state of Missouri, and we each had the desire to indulge ourselves in a slice of Midwestern Americana before we exited the geographical region. Had I known what horrors awaited us in Cowboy Town, I would have laid on the gas pedal with an anchor's heft until my car's speedometer swung to its extreme right -- leaving the potemkin village (and a trail of burnt rubber) in our tracks without looking back. As we stepped foot into the Buffalo Ridge Country Store, my better half recoiled in disgust. A black ooze tinted with vile streaks of puce refraction dripped from the rafters, staining the blouse she'd thrifted earlier on during our trip. Its smell could hardly put into words. It was as if pain and sorrow itself had been made manifest in olfactory form. "I do apologize," drawled the impossibly short, yet supple man peeking out from behind the store's register. "We've been meaning to get that fixed." He seemed to smirk as he said this, ducking into the stockroom to leave me and my lady alone among the BRCS' curious wares: taffies in cellophane, wind-up chattering teeth, handmade soaps, and a single wooden Indian chief whose whittled phallus extended at the press of a hidden button. Its hedonist aura chilled me to the marrow of my bones. Unimpressed and unsettled by the shop's selection of curios, the GF and I tried our luck in Cowboy Town, an animatronic village built nearby. As we left, I noticed the shopkeep's sunken eyes poking through the slats of the storeroom's venetian blinds. It was as if he were eagerly waiting for us to leave. ----- I'll keep it brief: Cowboy Town is a realm so far removed from all that is spiritually right in the world that you can feel your sense of order and belonging leave your body as you draw nearer. It is in a state of decay. Foul animatronic facsimiles of our 3rd most respectable Commander-In-Chief, Abe Lincoln, trailblazing frontiersmen, and the Native Americans who once populated the Dakotas are propped up in slipshod shacks, bringing shame to the legacy of the figures they were modeled after. These are truly creations formed in the image of man. Upon seeing a lineup of 4 uniformed sailors soundlessly singing -- the mouths of these figures move, but they make no noise -- I was filled with an inexplicable rage. I felt cheated out of an afternoon. I felt the otherworldly digits of demons outstretched for my soul. And I wanted none of it. We stormed back to the Country Store, and towards the parking lot, only to be stopped in our tracks by the loathsome little shopkeep. "And just where do you two think you're going?", asked the the subhuman worm, rubbing his gnarled, goblin-like hands together. "Out from this wretched place." "Not before," he said, feebly pointing towards a well-hidden sign mounted on the BRCS' back wall. "You pay." The odious excuse for a human being demanded we cough up a cool sixteen bucks before we hit the road, but not before offering us a gift: the anatomically correct Indian figurine. I begrudgingly accepted the gift, turned without a word of thanks, and proceeded to smash it to smithereens beneath the back tires of the ol' wagon before hopping back on the highway. I'm just a simple guy. I don't take chances. read more

All I wanted to do was use the restroom. You would think "that's not a lot to ask from a convenience store," but you'd be wrong, in this case. The cashier is something less than a man. Hard to put into words so I won't try. His voice is like a car crash mixed with hail hitting your roof. Big softball sized ones. He said "paying customers only." I needed a 1 and a 2 bad so I started looking around. I'm glad to see the Native American statue has been mentioned. Disgusting. No man has a penis that red. Racially insensitive. Anyway, I started looking at the fireworks. All bootleg. Unsafe! I have kids to look after. Just cardboard tubes with God-knows-what in them and pictures of military stock images pasted on. With the watermark and everything. Whole time the cretin is staring at me quiet mouthing angry words. Scary. He kept spitting behind the counter, my guess is onto the floor. There was a cooler full of nastymeat. No thanks! I settled on a water bottle. As I placed it on the counter, he muttered "you kidding me, f****r?" I was stunned. I stayed quiet out of fear. I saw weapons laying on the ground against the wall behind him. Before he got my change which was in the register right in front of him, he picked up a shotgun and examined it. Almost pointed it at me. Threatening. He said "have a nice day" in a very different, much higher voice as I walked out the door, too scared to stay any longer to relieve myself. I went to the car and hugged my kids. read more

My fiancée (now wife) and I visited this store on our way home. I thought it would be very interesting, but I found it to be pretty run down and the voices were all the same guy (I believe it was the owner). If this were free or alittle cheaper ($8 is pretty steep for what its worth), then it would deserve more stars from me. With all of that said, I did find it informational, but not a whole lot about South Dakota history in general (minus the Wild Bill Hickok story). Everything else was pretty generalized. If you were to ask me, I would save your money, but hey! It's your money, do what you want with it! read more

This is a place for a true horror aficionado! My girlfriend and I stopped here on our drive across country and absolutely fell in love with the Buffalo Ridge Country Store. Behind the shop, which served the best Buffalo burger I've ever had, is an abandoned ghost town. The old man who filled us in on its history (who we later found out had actually been dead for 20 years) was as nice as pie and pointed us up the path of rotting birds to the weirdest place I've ever had the good graces to step foot upon. A row of super dangerous buildings line a main street littered with more dead birds, the rickety sound of aging wood and movie western tumbleweeds licking at your boot-heels. Inside are mechanical robots from Chuck-E-Cheese hell, dressed in homeless gear who threaten to set on fire at the press of a button. It's been months since we've stopped here, and I just can't shake how amazing the experience truly was. It's something you have to experience yourself! If I ever go back that way, I'll be stopping back again. read more

Unless you're a connoisseur of roadside attraction, avoid this place like the plague. The entire town is broken. No maintenance has been performed for at least 20 years, and some of the park is downright hazardous. The animatronics are creepy, if that's what you're into, but most of them don't work. Including the lengthy walk to the "ghost town," there are about 10 minutes of solid entertainment. The cashier was rude and aggressive, demanding an unforgivable $8 per person for the forgettable experience. There was no one at the counter to accept payment when we arrived, and considering the state of disrepair, we assumed that the sign that said "$8" was from some bygone time when the attraction was operative and guided tours were given, but when we returned, we were accosted by the cashier and informed that if we didn't fork over the cash, there would be "a problem." I'm on vacation and didn't have time for whatever that meant, so we paid and left, but not before the cashier informed us that growing marijuana was one of the few career opportunities in our home state! Don't go here. The store is filthy, the whole premises should be condemned. read more

I am so glad we stopped at this place! It's so cool, and the two men who were working there were so nice to us! The front store part is small, they sell fireworks, shot glasses, postcards, etc. The postcards were only 35 cents, for cryin out loud! I bought a cute prairie dog one to send to my husband, and the guy behind the counter let me borrow a pen to write on it and sold me one of his stamps and promised to send it out with his mail! The fee to go see the cowboy town may seem steep, ($8 for adults, I think 4 or 6 for children) but it's totally worth it, plus you are helping support the people who own it (small business power!!) and the older gentleman will stop and give you some historical information and put quarters into the animatronic scenes for you to watch- that's the coolest part of cowboy town, each building in the town has an animatronic scene and historical information, plus a lookout tower to see their buffalo! Honestly, you have to go in with the right expectations- it's obviously very old, a little run down, and some of the animatronic people are downright creepy, especially the ones leering out the second story windows. Not to mention deserted- we were the only two people there. But the creepiness made it SO fun, and you can tell the people really care about the history. Best place I've ever stopped along I90, so happy we did. read more

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We stopped here as it was the first place we saw on our trip advertising buffalo steaks. We didn't look around much as we had to cover over 800 miles that day. It's not a fancy place. We bought four frozen rib eye steaks and put them in our cooler. They were completely thawed when we got home three days later. We grilled them that evening and they were fantastic. The two guys running the store were friendly and helpful. I recommend stopping here for the steaks. We will stop by next time we drive thru to check out the rest of the store. read more