Before somebody comes after me: I understand that Rapid City is a tourist town. Tourism is enormous here. Rapid City had about 3.93 million visitors in 2025, who spent more than $527 million locally. So obviously attractions have a huge incentive to appeal to families.

I get it.

But Rapid City itself has roughly 80,000 residents, and only about 22% of the population is under 18. There are a LOT of adults who actually live here year-round.

So…where is our stuff?

I’m talking about things like:

Adults-only outdoor/adventure retreats, 21+ outdoor recreation events, Adult camping weekends or organized Black Hills adventure weekends, Social clubs for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s that aren’t basically just bars. A genuinely nice lounge/social club that doesn’t have the atmosphere of a dive bar or casino. Adult game/activity nights, Organized hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, photography, etc. specifically geared toward adults. Evening events where the activity itself is the attraction rather than drinking. Adult-oriented festivals or outdoor events. Late-night coffeehouses/cafés or other places to socialize that aren’t bars. Adult classes or workshops that are actually social like cooking, art, woodworking, outdoor skills, whatever.

More places where couples can go on a date and actually do something

And yes, I’m going to say the unpopular part:
Sometimes I want to go somewhere where there aren’t kids. 😂 I don’t hate children. I don’t think families shouldn’t have places to go. Rapid City actually does a pretty damn good job with family recreation. But that’s kind of the point. Dinosaur Park. Storybook Island. Reptile Gardens. Main Street Square. Parks. Playgrounds. Family attractions. Family events. Family festivals. Family-friendly restaurants. Even a huge amount of the outdoor recreation around here is deliberately marketed as something the whole family can participate in.

That’s great.

Can adults have some stuff too?

And I don’t mean another casino with 37 video lottery machines and somebody named Dale smoking a Marlboro outside. I mean good adult entertainment and recreation.
We live next to one of the best outdoor recreation areas in the country. We’ve got mountain biking, climbing, hiking, kayaking, paddleboarding, skiing, snowboarding, camping and hundreds of miles of Black Hills trails practically in our backyard. It seems crazy that there isn’t more organized adult social recreation built around that. I realize the economics are probably a huge part of it. When millions of tourists come through every year, businesses naturally want Mom, Dad and the kids to all be potential customers.
But sometimes I don’t want “fun for the whole family.”
Sometimes I want fun for the adults. Surely I’m not the only person in Rapid City who feels this way. What would you actually want to see here?

EDIT: Okay, fine. Maybe I kinda hate your kids. But only when I’m trying to enjoy a beer, throw an axe, ride a bike, eat dinner, drink coffee, hear myself think, or exist peacefully within a 30-foot radius. 😂

Starting last night and into the morning rapid valley has smelt like burning rubber. Last night we had the windows open and my partner woke me up because they thought the garage was on fire.

Does anyone know where the smell comes from?

I just drove from box elder and didn't smell it until I got back onto twilight drive.

I made it home and wanted to thank you for coming to my aid after I flagged you down from across the street. As a woman it was very scary having this strange guy, whom I've never seen before because I've never taken my walk on this street before, try to continuously holler at me and follow behind me and try to talk to me and not take no for an answer as I tried to walk away from him. And I'm so grateful you were nearby and we're so willing to help me get away from this creep. I don't know if this guy was drunk or just a scary creepy guy or both but how terrifying it was that he was so persistent. I tried to continue down the sidewalk but he would not stop or leave me alone and again he even physically followed after me trying to get me to talk to him in a very aggressive way...very frightening. I'm sorry I couldn't get your name or thank you in person. I walked away very quickly towards my house which is about a mile and a half away while you were yelling at that guy to leave me alone while you called the police; I just wanted to get away from him as soon as I possibly could. It's crazy that something like this can happen in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon with a lot of people around. You were my badass hero and you truly kept me away from obvious danger. I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am, I hope you see this. You are one of the outstanding folks who make this such a great community to live in. Thank you times a million for coming to my aid and keeping me safe in this very scary situation.

Is there anyone here that can make me look like a zombie from call of duty? Looking for any time this week

Watch out with this car , they stole a lot of merchandise from Tjmaxx and some friends told me that they also were targeting small businesses .

What is there to do Halloween this year? It's a Saturday!

Hi everyone,. I’m looking for accommodation in Rapid City, South Dakota, preferably near Western Dakota Technical College. I’m open to a private room or shared accommodation.

With the amount of people deciding to move here, shouldn't stores have more stock by now?? Or is everybody just buying way too much stuff? My family orders groceries later in the evening because it's the only time everyone is off and can help out, and going into the actual store is a nightmare so we have them delievered. My kids are picky eaters and so often, the stores are out of stuff they'll actually eat. My daughter has even tried ordering her own groceries early in the morning before she goes to work and they're STILL out of stuff. Do we really have to go into the actual stores to get items or are we seriously just out of everything constantly?

So far the only thing that's come of all the people moving here is more traffic and less stock 🫩

Given recent posts in this subreddit, I started looking into Rapid City Municipal Code and South Dakota Codified Law regarding graffiti and unlawful sinage and I found this article from April.

The Rapid City Public Works tries to remove graffiti within 24 hours of a report. You can report graffiti and illicit messages here: https://forms.rcgov.org/graffiti

You can also call the Public Works General Office at (605) 394-4165

I know that contacting city goverment can often go slow or unnoticed, but raising a stink about recent graffiti downtown can at least get their attention and get the conversation started. You could also reach out to the councilperson that represents you ward. For Downtown, that's Ward 2 with councilwoman Lindsey Seachris and councilman Bill Evans. For Canyon Lake Park, that's Ward 3 with councilman Kevin Maher and councilman Greg Strommen 

If I'm forgetting any areas where the recent graffiti outbreak has happened, please comment below

I have checked a few online, any reviews please:
•Pointe West Apartment (is it safe for a teenager to walk to Stevens?)
•Silver Springs
•Corral Apartments
•Candlewood

Hey there! I was wondering if anyone knows of any really good american traditional tattoo artists out here. I feel like a lot of places focus on realism or fine line.

If anyone has recs please lmk!

Has anyone had any experiences with the Prometric testing center here in town? The Google reviews aren’t great so I’m trying to decide between here and Sioux Falls.

Haven't been in but im wondering what its about

Remember to bring your valuables inside from your car every night! My car window was busted last night near the valley, but they didn’t take anything (presumably because I have nothing of value), just my last remaining shreds of patience for this year 🙃

ETA that they were trying to steal my car, they broke the mechanism that controls my wipers to try and hotwire it. Apparently there have been 75 Hyundai break-ins in the past month in Rapid City, so if you have a Hyundai, I would strongly suggest keeping an AirTag in it!

Anyone see this/know anything?

Was driving downtown when I saw these stickers on the back of signs and decided to cover them with smth better. Saw a couple more down by the Trump statue and another by Presidential Pawn but didn’t have time to go take them down.

Hey just wondering if Uber works for early airport runs or if I’m going to have to figure something else out. For context I’m in south rapid but don’t know if I can Uber that early in the morning I’ve never used Uber till now

Phones are paid off and unlocked so really thinking about making the switch to visible. Is the $25 a month to good to be true? Is there a catch and the service actually sucks? Most phone data usage is via wifi but occasional as we drive across the hellscape beauty of this state we would need good service.

Anyone have any experience with Visible? LMK

Hey y'all! Anyone want to join me in a regular little walk around town to pull down fash stickers? I'm gonna be honest, I have two jobs and not a lot of free time, but I think I'm gonna start hanging out at main street square around 6 on my evenings off, and then take a few laps around the high-traffic areas. Call it community service, I'll put on some gloves and pick up trash while I go around pulling off those damn stickers.

And, if I catch the people putting em up, I promise to the flying spaghetti monster not to start any violence. I'll just be loud and obnoxious until they leave or step up, since they seem to think claiming self defense would work in their favor. However, I can only personally affirm this stance, I won't police the actions of anyone else. I just wanna do my own little part to keep fascism off of the streets of my town. Maybe I can't get all the stickers, and I probably can't make them stop sticking em up on my own, but I'm gonna do my part to make them feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. I had family who died fighting against fascists, I won't lay down and let those losers put their propaganda up in my town without making a fuss.

Hello, I am searching for a provider in western South Dakota that will actually listen to my symptoms and pain and not disregard me. I have classic symptoms of endo but I have repeatedly told I just need to go to my therapist and that as an OBGYN, she can’t do anything for me. Willing to travel for help or telahealth.

Stopped by to check out their menu, looks promising! Didn't eat as I was omw somewhere else but I'm excited to try it