South Dakota's Once-Thriving Prairie Town Now Sits Abandoned

Some ghost towns in the United States used to be popular hotspots along Route 66, the "Mother Road" that extended thousands of miles from Illinois to California. Others, like the once-thriving prairie town of Okaton, South Dakota, were established along historic railroads. Now largely abandoned, the eerie ghost town makes an interesting detour on the way to one of America's best road trip destinations, Badlands National Park.

Located in south-central South Dakota, about a 45-minute drive east of the national park, Okaton was founded in the early 1900s on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. According to Legends of America, the town was thriving in the years immediately after it was built, home to a farming community as well as a number of railroad workers. However, most of those workers didn't stick around as the railroad expanded westward, and the town grew quieter. The remaining residents were primarily farmers and homesteaders — and many of them ultimately left, too, in search of employment during the Great Depression. Decades later, in the 1980s, the train tracks fell out of use, and few people stayed there.

Around the same time, one enterprising couple from Illinois, the Westlakes, tried to turn Okaton into a tourist attraction. Signs on the I-90 highway nearby advertised "Westlake's Ghost Town," bringing in visitors to enjoy a stroll around the abandoned prairie town (and newly installed features, including a petting zoo and a rock shop). Their venture was moderately successful, but after the owners passed away, their tourist site became a thing of the past. Just like Vinton, Ohio, another abandoned railroad community, Okaton is a ghost town that visitors can still explore today.

To get to Okaton, take Exit 183 off I-90, west of Murdo. In the abandoned prairie town, there are a handful of original streets with some buildings still standing. These include several dilapidated houses and shacks, a wooden grain elevator, a general store with gas pumps, and a crumbling old school. Also on view are Okaton's deteriorated railroad tracks, and out on the fields, visitors can spot rusty farm equipment once used by the region's cattle ranchers and grain farmers.

Atlas Obscura writes that the ghost town is "a very creepy place to visit, even in the middle of the day, but amazingly photogenic." Many past visitors echoed the same sentiment, mentioning that it's a great spot for photographs. As one traveler commented on Instagram, the once-thriving town "felt exactly how I imagined — quiet, worn down, and slowly being reclaimed by time."

Keep in mind that the ghost town may still have a few residents, even if you don't see anyone around. The place is no longer a managed tourist attraction — Okaton's ramshackle buildings are privately owned, and visitors should not attempt to go inside. Luckily, past visitors say that you can take great photos of the crumbling buildings without even getting out of your car. If you love discovering abandoned towns, find out more about visiting Rhyolite, one of the best-preserved and most photographed ghost towns in the country.