Dances With Wolves

Possibly the most famous of all location movies, Orion Pictures' "Dances With Wolves"  was shot in South Dakota between June and November 1989.  The movie was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and took home Oscars for Best Cinematography, Director, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound, Original Screenplay and Picture.  Featuring the beauty of the never-ending western South Dakota prairie, one of the largest herds of American Bison in the world, and the famous Lakota Sioux culture, "Dances With Wolves" introduced South Dakota's wonders to the world.

Today, movie makers and visitors alike may see many of the same vistas featured in the movie.  The movie was shot entirely in South Dakota, and in part at the Triple U Buffalo Ranch north of Pierre.  Many of the movie's sets still remain on the ranch.  More than 2,000 bison roam the ranch's seemingly never changing, surreal landscape, rolling hills and endless prairie.

A simple road sign marks the location of the movie's winter camp finale.  This site can be found north of Roughlock Falls, in Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills National Forest.  It is located on Forest Road 222, about three miles upstream from the Spearfish Canyon Resort.  The canyon's Highway 14A is designated as a National Scenic Byway.