Discover Brookings: Art, Gardens and History

Brookings brings together art and agricultural history with landscaped gardens, seasonal market offerings, and outdoor activities. If you’re looking for a hotel in Brookings, these different highlights can help with your planning: consider whether your trip will focus more on collections and historic sites, plants and trails, or a visit to the market.

Art, Agricultural History, and Historic Sites

The South Dakota Art Museum has seven galleries and a collection of more than 7,000 objects. Its exhibitions include traditional and contemporary art by Native Americans. These two perspectives offer insight into different artistic viewpoints and make the museum a cultural attraction in its own right during your stay.

Agricultural history can also be explored through specific examples: at the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, visitors can get a close-up look at a 65-horsepower J.I. Case steam traction engine. The family-friendly Ag-Xploration Gallery gives children ages one to six the opportunity to explore agriculture. Separately, the Stock Judging Pavilion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

At the Brookings County History Museum, visitors can explore five historic buildings; the museum also houses more than 4,500 artifacts. The buildings and collection offer different ways to engage with history: through historic structures and preserved objects.

Gardens and Trails

McCrory Gardens encompasses more than 25 acres of formal display gardens featuring hundreds of different flowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses. At the South Dakota State Arboretum, which spans 45 acres, the trails offer another option: jogging and cycling are permitted and encouraged. This lets you choose between formal plant displays and activities on arboretum trails when planning your visit.

Outdoor Activities and Regional Orientation

The Brookings County Outdoor Adventure Center has an Olympic-sized archery range and a 12-lane shooting range with automatic retrieval. During public hours, you can use either of the two shooting ranges without a reservation, on a walk-in basis. Hours and usage rules may change; check the latest information before your visit.

Equipment for outdoor activities can be rented by the hour at Dakota Nature Park. Since availability and conditions of use may vary, checking in advance is recommended. For regional orientation, Lake Poinsett Recreation Area is in Brookings County, 14 miles northeast of Arlington on U.S. Highway 81.

Markets and Performances

The Brookings Farmers Market takes place every Saturday from the first week of May through the last week of October. Depending on the season, regional producers offer fruit, vegetables, herbs, meat, jams, honey, bread, coffee, soap, eggs, tea, mixes, and other products. If you plan to visit the market, check the latest dates before your trip.

The Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center hosts concerts as well as theater and dance performances. Since the program changes, check the schedule if you’d like to include a specific performance in your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Brookings, Lake County, Union, Walworth County, Stanley, Brown, Pennington, Fall River County.

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