The Black Hills Travel Blog

Lights, Cameras, Black Hills!

By Heather • Feb 23rd, 2009 • Category: Culture

Poster of North by Northwest

With such beautiful scenery, historic sites and a diverse landscape, of course the Black Hills have been a favored area for film production.

You’ve probably seen National Treasure II with Nicolas Cage or Dances with Wolves with Kevin Costner(who, might I add, liked the area so much he started his own restaurant/casino called The Midnight Star in Deadwood). But what you might not realize is that the Black Hills have been a popular movie set since 1914 and have been featured in well over 50 different productions since then!

Of course, with the rich cultural history of the area, the Black Hills have been part of numerous films featuring Native American Culture. Just a few include DreamKeeper (2003), Thunderheart (1992) with Val Kilmer, Skins (2002), Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994) and in 1972 Journey Through Rosebud.

Also, plenty of directors have taken advantage of the of the area’s reputation of being part of the wild west. This again includes Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp (1994), Into the Wild (2007) and Hidalgo in 2003.

You might be surprised by a few of the productions that seem a little bit more on the ‘random’ side.  This includes clips from Starship Troopers in 1997, the series Cops (1989), Alfred Hickock’s 1959 North By Northwest, the 2003 comedy Head of State featuring Chris Rock and a 1959 horror flick called Beast From Haunted Cave.

How do I know all this? I found a listing on the website of the Black Hills Film Resource Council and did my research from there. Take a look for dates of and locations other productions in South Dakota.

There are probably many more film locations, including documentaries and television series, than mentioned on this list.  Let’s not forget about the recent award winning No More Smoke Signals, the Japanese NHK feature on the Wild Horse Sanctuary, and who even knows how many features on the Sturgis Bike Rally.

Next time you’re in the area, you might want to keep your eyes open for film crews, or perhaps the next time you’re at the movies, you might want to stay on the look out for clips of the Black Hills.

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About the Author

Heather is originally from De Smet, South Dakota, where she spent her time giving Laura Ingalls Wilder tours until she moved across the state to the Black Hills area to attend college. She is a recent graduate of Black Hills University, where she received a bachelor of arts degree with a double major in Public Relations and Spanish. On two different occasions Heather has fed her love of travel as an exchange student: a summer in Japan at age 17, and semester in Mexico in spring of 2008. Traveling and sightseeing are things she plans to keep on her agenda, and she's currently working on applying to graduate school. Heather has loved living in the area the past five years. When not working, she is usually spending time with her friends or reading.
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