Two South Dakota towns have been named to the '2017 Smithsonian Top 20 Small Towns To Visit' list earlier this month.

De Smet and Hill City South Dakota have made the cut as two of 20 small towns in the United States that one must visit in 2017.

To help compile the list, Smithsonian used a company called Ersi to help find appropriate places that had all kinds of culture, history and intrigue.

I have been to both and they got it right, small town gems in South Dakota are exactly what they both are.

Hill City has a population of 990 while De Smet has a population of 1,090, clearly fitting the criteria.

Noted by the Smithsonian was that De Smet is home to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society where you can go back in time to the fascinating life and home of the Ingalls family. I visited this myself as a kid growing up as we took a field trip in elementary school.

Also noted in the article is a close proximity to Lake Thompson, which is a fishing gem as well in the state.  It has tremendous walleye fishing in the largest glacial lake in South Dakota.

Hill City is full of history including being right in the backyard of Mount Rushmore.

The town has the Prairie Berry Winery and Black Hills Miner Brewery to get your drink on and if you want to grab some food, you can stop at the Alpine Inn, Hill City Cafe, Mac's Grub or many others.

And what is a trip to Hill City without a stop at Dairy Twist for some ice cream.

Both small towns are unique and certainly deserving of the list they made.

Spencer Iowa was the next closest city while Zoar Village Ohio had the least amount of people with a population of 178.

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