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Wall Drug is definitely a tourist trap, if not an unusual one. I'm sure everyone has already mentioned the free ice water, cheap coffee, etc. It's conveniently located at the end of the Badlands Scenic Loop, which we finished in the early morning on a recent trip to Yellowstone, so it was a convenient breakfast stop.
Breakfast was decent - not remarkable. Pancakes and (McDonald's style) hash browns hit the spot after driving all night, though. I have nothing to say about all the shopping - all looks gimmicky, so paid very little attention.
All in all, I would not miss this place if you have the time - there's a sculpture garden in the back with some incredible stuff - jackalopes and bunnies and goofy stuff you can have some serious fun posing with. We have some killer pictures.
One Word: Tourist Trap
- Saw signs on I90 399 miles away
- Cool history to it but it has changed owners and it's a tourist trap now
- IF you have children, it might be a better place to stop since they basically sell a lot of crap and a lot of kids toys and things.
- 5 cent coffee sucks
- Food wasn't that good
You will stop here... The hundreds and hundreds of signs on I-90 will make sure of that!
Really just a cheesy tourist trap with overpriced gits and greasy spoon food.
The one thing worth trying is the freshly made doughnuts.
I did find a cool medicine crusher thing- the thing that is on a lot of pharmacy signs... anyone know what it's called? Looks like a bat and a bowl. It was under $10 and looks like marble, though I doubt it is.
Stop there, because when someone talks about traveling cross country on 90 the topic of Wall Drugs is sure to come up.
Gifts under $5, Christmas ornaments from every state, cups, hats, tshirts, and the best donuts and cinnamon rolls you ever tasted. Fun for kids and adults. Historic native american and pioneer photo display as well as a huge original western artwork collection. Eclectic-yes- worth the stop- most definitely. Americana at its finest.
Old wooden indians, junk shops, bad coffee, tacky crap ... welcome to Wall Drug Store. I'm always amazed when the Travel Channel features this place. It is the definition of tourist trap. There really is almost nothing of value here. And yet somehow stupid people make the trip and stop. How does that happen? I wish I knew.
The Drug Store has some nice ice cream.
This place is a trip!
Wall Drug isn't a rest stop, It's a main attraction!
Sure, They sell snacks and souvenirs- but shortly after you wander in front door, you can tell this place is different.
Maybe it's the endless assortment of tacky "who would buy this crap' kind of bric a brac, or the stuffed and mounted Jackalopes, or even the 'Backyard' of animatronic animals. But, there is something about this place that will have you giggling and using up all the memory on your camera.
Whatever it is, you'll be sure to have countless inside jokes and a ton of great memories.
Yeah, you've seen the signs so many times..."500 miles to Wall Drug." Just what the hell would prompt someone to drive 500 miles just to go to Wall Drug? Plain and simple: Curiosity. Yes, you'll find western gear such as Coon Tail caps, cork pop guns, metal coffee cups... stuff you'll need really need to survive in the wilderness.
Outside of western gear, you can find more trinkets of souvenirs than you could ever imagine. I've been here a few times and it's always interesting just looking at all of the hidden treasures that sit about.
I've always wanted to hunt Jackalope and obtained a license to do so when I was there. Wall Drug is one of the few places to obtain Jackalope hunting license. Jackalope is a gamy meat that sorta taste like chicken. However, I gone hunting a few times and just can't seem to find them out there? I was told they are all over the place...
Yes, it's worth the time to stop in and discover something interesting. Just how far is Wall Drug from my house? 843 miles until Wall Drug.
Yes, I had heard about all the Wall Drug signs along the highway and was told that I had to stop in Wall, SD to see the infamous drugstore. I was driving solo on my trip from Rapid City, heading east on I-90. I had just left The Badlands when I started seeing the signs. Big ones, small ones, close to the road, back towards the hills...
To pass the time, I put my car on cruise control, pulled out the digital camera, and began snapping shots of as many Wall Drug signs as I could. I took around 50 pictures before I finally lost interest.
A little while later I arrived in Wall, SD. I made my way through the town and found parking quite easily. My first thought as I entered the Wall Drug complex was that it was like walking into a HUGE version of the store/gift shop at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It was like a big, indoor, country mall of sorts. Lots of novelty trinkets, touristy gifts, mini shops. Nothing all that special in my opinion.
I glanced around a bit and then left Wall Drug about 30 minutes later. It was okay. I don't think I'd make a special trip out of the way again. But at least now I can say, "Yeah... I've been there." (no enthusiasm in that statement)
It may be a good stop for families with kids who have to make a quick stop somewhere just to get out of the car for awhile. But if you're not into tourist traps, just stick to the highway and keep on driving.
a lot of hype for a tourist trap, novelty stop. You gotta be "into" shopping to want any part of this. They boast large square footage BUT the store repeats itself within the walls so that you are going from the same overpriced junk to the same overpriced junk (like 2.49 for a cardboard auto bingo car). The jackalope display is fun and Cowboy Alley, full of stuffed creatures and life-sized statues to pose by was great. Clerks were not interactive nor helpful. Did love the sound of the wooden floors underfoot. No clear signs back to Badlands if you leave by exit 109. Folks want to say they've been there, but it's the thing to skip if you're short on time
By the time we got there, I'd been reading Wall Drug signs for approximately 10 hours (ok ok, it just *felt* like 10 hours).
Contrary to what's implied on some of the signs, coffee is *not* 5 cents (unless you're a veteran), but the cold water *is* still free.
The place is kitschy. I got my photo on a giant rabbit, and they recently installed a $250k t-rex.
The drugstore itself is a bunch of smaller 'departments', some of which sell drugstore items, some sell decorations, food, and random things.
I'm glad to have experienced it . Once. Exactly once. Please don't ask me to go back.
One word: LAME
There is no way you can miss this tourist trap while driving on I-90. There is a billboard every half mile saying something about Wall drug. After seeing the 100th billboard, I was intrigued. Surely, a drug store in the middle of SD does not need to advertise so much. So, I pulled up google on the phone and started looking for information on Wall drug. We took the exit and drove in to town to see this attraction.
oh good lord, what the hell is this? I appreciate the history behind it, but it is now a "mega mall". Might as well go ahead and call it a discount mall with 20 little glorified dollar stores. If this is one of your state's major attraction (considering the number of billboards that are used to advertise it), I feel sorry for you. Really sorry.
In a state where the majesty of Badlands and the patriotism of Mt. Rushmore are equaled by the adventure sports and scenic beauty of Spearfish and Custer national park, Wall drug has NO place to be billed as a tourist attraction.
An extra star for the history behind it and the the fact that the original owners handed out free ice water to thirsty travelers.
Skip it and keep driving until you get to the Badlands.
Wall Drug is a funny place. It is so tacky that it is hilarious. It is the quintessential classic American roadside tourist trap. There is a lot of interesting stuff in the stores though. I stopped by here during the earlier part of the decade while a college student and have been wanting to go back just to take photos.
I am absolutely torn between being madly in love with and absolutely terrified of Wall Drug, the largest and most self-aware tourist trap in the history of the United States, nay the universe.
As a kinda sorta not really hipster, I am in love with ironic statements and cheesy things. Therefore, Wall Drug is the greatest place in all of creation. It is a cheesy department store/drug store/mall/museum/greasy spoon diner/80foot dinosaur corral/arcade location ever....
....DID I JUST SAY 80 FOOT DINOSAUR? Yes. Yes I did. A freaking dinosaur. In nowhere, South Dakota. God Bless this land.
Anyway, it's a kitschy spot that found success in offering free ice water to tourists driving across country (perhaps to visit their great aunt in Michigan as well) during the Great Depression, and it continues the charming tradition, although it also serves up a delicious slice of cheesy American kitsch that I both adore and abhor.
So I love you Wall. I'm just glad that I've seen you once. Never again. :) Unless I have children, then, well....i guess.
There is no fighting it, if you are driving across country your brain will have been billboard bored (in every sense of the word) by the vast signage Wall Drug has peppered along the way and you simply will end up here.
It's a kitchy goofy place to stretch your legs, use the restrooms and peer at oddities (the items there as well as a number of the people), what's to kvetch about?
Danger Will Robinson, Danger...tacky tourist trap ahead! Yes, this place is pure kitsch and I'm not ashamed to say I loved it.
The food was a typical menu from a hometown diner, water was 10 cents, coffee 5 cents, and the sandwiches served on white bread.
However, you aren't going there to eat, you're going there to walk through the gift shop. Not only because you have to see what useless item that says Wall Drug you need to buy, but also to people watch. Serious fun I say!
Wherever you go on the planet, there you are, standing before a sign that says, "Wall Drug, 2456 mi." or "You're only 439 mi. from Wall Drug."
All of human history has led up to this place's existence. It's a monument to commerce, to car culture, to pioneers, to junk, to mercantilism, and the apocalypse.
There's also some beautiful artwork and a giant jackalope (I've ridden it). Dinosaurs, too.
This place is so finely, so precisely American in all sorts of good-natured ways, you just must love it. I hope to go back, and next time I hope to have more money.
The bumperstickers are free, tho. And the surrounding landscape is just gorgeous. South Dakota is a gem, mounted upon Cold War nuclear silos.
Like the previous review, the best reason to stop at Wall drugs is just to put the several hundred Billboards you have seen for it behind you. Starting in Western Montana and continuing on, you can bet you will see a Wall Drug billboard at least every 50 miles.
Unlike the prior post, buying things is pretty much a good time at Wall Drug. Some of it is the usual tourist stuff you would expect, but surprisingly, you can find things you actually need in one of the many corners of the store (really a collection of many stores joined by a western facade and wooden walkways!).
I think you can see it all in 30 minutes or less, complete with ice water or an ice cream...or you can spend hours....which you have as you are literally in the middle of the great plains...and the next town is at least 45 miles away.
Fun place, decent prices (better than I expected). Probably not worth going across country for, but if you are planning on being near the area, its worth a stop to check out for the afternoon. :)
Clearly you either get Wall Drug or you don't. As a kid we'd always stop there at least once on a trip and I'd waste some of my allowance on crap like brontosaurus sun glasses or some kind of novelty foam hand. Yes, it's just a giant gift shop, and a crappy one at that, but if you haven't seen a Wall Drug bumper sticker then you haven't lived in the midwest. I think kiki is right that you have to experience this place at least once in your life. Yet it's not quite weird enough to be truly kitsch. I think it's just touristy. I prefer many of the stranger tourist traps in the Black Hills such as Keystone and the ever present "Cosmos"
This place is a genuine piece of kitsch Americana and certainly worth a stop to see on a trip to the Badlands or the Black Hills, even if you don't buy anything. Looks of junk and some good stuff, plus the usual ice cream, candy and beverages, plus campy dinosaur type things for the little ones. Don't take it too seriously.
PS: I stayed overnight once in Wall when visiting the Badlands. For a town that thrives on tourism, the eating places here are lousy.
What do you expect in the middle of nothing? By the time you hit Wall, you should be happy to find anything, nevermind a small town built on tourism, a giant dinosaur, wax figures playing cards, a faux western town- high noon town and enough cheap garbage that anyone with kids will walk out of with their pockets considerably lighter?
Wall is fun if you don't expect a lot. The appeal of it is that it's all crap yet everyone that leaves the place gets warm memories whenever they spy the WALL DRUG bumpersticker in Manhattan, Miami or Mars.
Oh yeah, there are a lot of douchebags on bikes that give you dirty looks if you're driving something with more than two wheels. Just ignore em and let them get back to their accountant jobs after their weekend of playing badass.
I wouldn't take anything but memories back from wall. Anything you can get there you can get just as easily at the state fair. My heart goes out to the poor souls that live there year round.
5 stars simply because this little town has survived only because of their drug store. Spotting their billboards on my road trip from Madison, WI was much fun. Taking pictures of as many of their signs as possible is a good way to stay entertained (awake) on the road, and it really is exciting when you finally make it to Wall!
Reading about the history of this little town is interesting. The food is typical grease-pit fare, and the stores are full of dust collecting crap, but I got my first pair of cowboy boots at Wall Drug, and of course some of their "famous" 10cent ice-cold water!
Good memories, genuinely nice people, and Main Street is cool to see, even if it is all just to attract tourists.
Part western outlet shopping and part old-time roadside attraction with the best 5 cent cup of coffee I've ever had (so good in fact that I had fifteen cents' worth). There was nothing here for me to buy apart from coffee and hotcakes, but I'm really impressed that the founders built a complex from a little country drug store that still draws hundreds if not thousands of travelers a day.
Standard goofy, tacky roadside attraction. Skip the "shopping" areas (I only stopped for a Wall Drug shot glass, "free ice water" magnet, and 34" fill-it-yourself Pixie Stick); they're full of the same junk that every other convenience store and roadside attraction has. Do check out the cafe - though most of the menu was unavailable by 7:30 p.m., the char-burger with fries tasted good and was filling enough for my companion and me to share. The courtyard area has plenty of awesomely tacky photo sets, and our fellow road warriors were friendly and willing to take pictures for us. Other than that, a coin-operated piano-playing mechanical monkey and a mechanical t-rex that "attempts to feed" every 12 minutes are the only other things worth your time. They will probably terrify toddlers, but adults and older kids will be amused, and it's a welcome break from the monotony of the open road.
Super duper campy and fun! If you happen to be wandering around the Badlands there is no way you could miss the fifty million signs directing you towards Wall Drug! This place an amazing complex of old west kitch! I had a ball posing with a huge jackalope in the photo area, playing pinball in their arcade, eating a fresh donut in their cafe and getting my 5c coffee! Thanks for the memories Wall Drug!
Stops like this are truly what make driving the country worth the hours. For anyone who has driven I-95 think of South Of The Border mid-west style. There are signs for hundreds of miles as you approach this icon. When you finally get there, it's an oasis of random tourists wandering through the bison, horse and stagecoach and jackalope figures, browsing the western wear and souvenir shops and getting a bit to eat. I don't think I'd bother to stop again, unless it was to show someone else, but it is a piece of history in a way, and fun if you want to act silly for a minute.
Free ice water since 1931, Coffee for 10 cents. It's places like Wall Drug that make South Dakota the biggest tourist destination in the midwest. After seeing billboards for Wall Drug over hundreds of flat prarie miles (for days), it's more than most can do to resist checking it out when the exit comes up. And really, the only reason to resist is that you actually won't want to buy anything. My parents picked me up a toy from here on a road trip when I was 7 months old, got it home and realized it had been made about thirty miles from home. But they have fantastic old west dioramas and very good jackalope postcards. Worth the stop, but I guess I give it five stars solely on account of the billboards and because there's really nothing else around for miles.
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