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Lake Herman State Park, Madison, SD

Photo: Katyrw, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Lake Herman State Park

A South Dakota state park on a peninsula at Lake Herman, offering camping, hiking, boating, fishing, and winter skiing near Madison.

23409 State Park Drive, Madison, SD 57042 · Madison, SD

About Lake Herman State Park

Lake Herman State Park sits on a peninsula beside its lake and offers a campground with electrical and non-electrical sites, four camping cabins, and modern showers. Visitors can hike through oak woodlands and prairie, play disc golf, pitch horseshoes, reserve picnic shelters, and go boating, fishing, or cross-country skiing. The lake formed from melting glacial ice, and Native American groups camped here while traveling to the nearby Pipestone quarries. Settlers Herman Luce and his son William arrived in 1870, and their 1871 log cabin, built from hand-hewn oak, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

  • #camping
  • #cabins
  • #hiking
  • #disc golf
  • #horseshoes

Printable maps

What's around here?

The closest stops to Lake Herman State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

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    Quirky Fun

    Porter Sculpture Park

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    Roadside prairie park with more than 60 giant metal sculptures made by self-taught artist Wayne Porter.

    23 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Museums

    Brookings County Museum

    Check prices

    Local history museum in Volga, South Dakota, covering Brookings County and the surrounding area through a campus of historic buildings.

    26 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Museums
    Family Favorite

    Children's Museum of South Dakota

    Under $25

    A 44,000 square foot hands-on children's museum in Brookings with a full-size animatronic T. rex.

    28 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    McCrory Gardens and South Dakota Arboretum

    Under $25

    University-run gardens and arboretum on the South Dakota State campus, with formal flower displays and wider tree collections to walk through.

    29 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Oakwood Lakes State Park

    Under $25

    A South Dakota state park on a chain of connected glacial lakes, offering water recreation, trails, and winter activities.

    33 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Family Favorite

    Wild Water West Waterpark

    Under $25

    South Dakota's largest waterpark, with a wave pool, lazy river and a six-story waterslide.

    36 mi awayMore like this