EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The Black Hills' southern anchor, HOT SPRINGS , differs from other regional towns in that it hasn't tarted up its downtown to look like a movie set. It doesn't need to. Several dozen utilitarian yet handsome sandstone structures dominate its center, through which flows the sprightly Fall River.

Battles over the town's thermal pools have caused as much grief as the clamor for gold. Before white settlement, the Sioux drove out the Cheyenne, and later landowners, speculators and settlers dodged and outwitted each other for ownership of the springs. The disputes ceased in 1890 when Fred Evans incorporated numerous small springs and one mammoth hot water pool into a spa center. Today, Evans Plunge , on the north edge of town at 1145 N River St, is a popular family-fun center, where three great slides zoom down into the 87°F waters (summer daily 8am-10pm; rest of year times vary; $8; tel 605/745-5165).

The unique Mammoth Site on Hwy-18 By-Pass is the only in situ display of mammoth fossils in the US. In 1974, building on a housing project came to an abrupt halt when a tractor driver unearthed a seven-foot tusk. Paleontologists soon declared that the workers had discovered the 26,000-year-old grave of Columbian and Woolly mammoths - 52, all male, have been found to date. Inside the dome, fascinating tours explain how these ten-ton mammoths, along with camels, bears and rodents, were trapped in a steep-sided sinkhole (a pond formed by a collapsed underground cave) and were gradually covered by sediment. Complete skeletons are easy to pick out in the excavation site, which is still being uncovered slowly by groups of summer volunteers (mid-May-Aug daily 8am-8pm; rest of year times vary; $5.50).

Seven miles south of Hot Springs, the huge reservoir of the Angostura Dam State Recreation Area ($3 per person), set against contorted sandstone bluffs, is a picture-perfect spot for boating and jet skiing. Equipment can be rented from Breakers Beach Club, a small hut offering beer, snacks and beach volleyball, at the north entrance.

Information for visitors to Hot Springs is available from the cabin at 630 N River St or from the CVB, 801 S Sixth St (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 1-5pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 8am-5pm; tel 605/745-4140 or 1-800/325-6991, ). Accommodation rates are a bit more reasonable than in the hectic northern towns. The Super 8 Motel , 800 Mammoth St (tel 605/745-3888 or 1-800/800-8000; $75-100), is unusual in having a bar and restaurant, both of which are recommended; alternatives include the old, faded, riverside Braun Hotel , 902 N River St (tel 605/745-3187; $75-100/$100-130), and the sumptuous Villa Teresa B&B , 801 Almond St (tel 605/745-4633; $75-100). Yogi's Den , 625 N River St (tel 605/745-5949), a lively lounge, fries up good burgers, while the Elkhorn Café , 310 S Chicago St (tel 605/745-6556), serves sandwiches and salads on a sunny terrace.