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All 36 Rapid City Attractions »

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, SD
605-385-5189
Ranked #9 of 30 attractions in Rapid City
4.0 of 5 stars 30 Reviews
Type: Science Museums
Description: Museum that displays antique aircraft including planes used in World War II and hot air balloons from the 1930's.
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30 reviews from our community

Visitor rating
    8
    16
    5
    1
    0
Date Rating
Waverly, Minnesota
Senior Contributor
36 reviews 36 reviews
Reviews in 24 cities Reviews in 24 cities
10 helpful votes 10 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 25, 2012 NEW

A small museum located on Ellsworth Air Force Base just a few miles outside of Rapid City. It has a good mix of displays relating to the Air Force, lots of planes to walk around and touch, and a really nice little gift shop. The museum is free, they do take donations and that is how they fund their operations.... More

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See 4 more reviews by churchhaus for Rapid City
Portsmouth
Senior Contributor
42 reviews 42 reviews
Reviews in 22 cities Reviews in 22 cities
20 helpful votes 20 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed May 24, 2012 NEW

This is interesting even for non aviation enthusiasts but apparently some of the exhibits can only be found here (according to my enthusiast!) What I found particularly interesting was the $3 tour of the missile man silo - very sobering. More

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See 4 more reviews by PortsmouthLegaleagle for Rapid City
Minneapolis, MN
Top Contributor
55 reviews 55 reviews
Reviews in 20 cities Reviews in 20 cities
16 helpful votes 16 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed April 29, 2012

OK a B-29, B-52 and B-1 all right next to each other. Plus lots of the little guys that were there to protect them. Not much on space, but the guts and a great description of the launch pod of a minuteman missile silo. It is free and worth a decent donation. More

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Madison
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 22, 2012
1
person found this review helpful

We were foruntate to learn about this enroute to Rapid City. Our family enjoys learning about aviation--and this was an excellent place, with many very impressive aircraft. Thank you for providing this. More

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Sugar Land, Texas
Contributor
18 reviews 18 reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 10, 2012
2
people found this review helpful

For someone who loves planes, this is the place to go. I am not into planes like my husband is but I really did enjoy it. Just seeing the size of the airplanes on display was amazing. Kids would love the planes outside. Inside would depend on the ages. I don't think kids under 7 would enjoy the inside. More

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See 5 more reviews by Buyumama for Rapid City
Worcester, UK
Top Contributor
70 reviews 70 reviews
Reviews in 44 cities Reviews in 44 cities
67 helpful votes 67 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 7, 2012

We visited this museum while staying in Rapid City. The museum is free, and there is a tour of some of the base and a Minuteman missile training silo which has a small charge. There are a large number of aircraft exhibited outside which are well-worth viewing. The interior has a number of large room filled with exhibits. The tour... More

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See 4 more reviews by midlandsmoggy for Rapid City
Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States
Senior Contributor
42 reviews 42 reviews
Reviews in 12 cities Reviews in 12 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed April 1, 2012

This was an educating stop for the kids. It was interesting to learn about the planes and the kids had fun taking pictures to show how small they looked compared to the machines. More

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See 10 more reviews by fl088-88 for Rapid City
Lake Villa, Ill
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed March 30, 2012

If you have time on your agenda in Rapid City, but not enough time to make it to the Black Hills, this is a great and convenient stop. Admission is free, and our sons loved being able to get up close to and touch aircraft with historic significance. More

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See 2 more reviews by LVTravelers_12 for Rapid City
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Senior Contributor
31 reviews 31 reviews
Reviews in 13 cities Reviews in 13 cities
62 helpful votes 62 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed January 23, 2012

My partner and I visited Rapid City for 24hs, originally our plan was exclusively to visit Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial. It was the final stop on an already busy and intense trip to the SouthWest, and we sincerely had had no time neither efforts left to do further research about what to do in Rapid City. We just... More

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Las Vegas, Nevada
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed November 16, 2011
1
person found this review helpful

My husband and boys really enjoyed this attraction. It is free, but we did leave a donation. More

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See 3 more reviews by C H for Rapid City

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