Whether you want to cut your own tree, pick a live tree and have it cut for you, buy a tree already cut or buy a living tree you can plant, this page provides detailed listings of South Dakota's choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms, places to buy pre-cut (also called pre-harvested and fresh-cut) trees, stands, sleigh rides, hay rides and related winter events and fun. Some listings are for tree farms, others are tree lots, and some only offer hay rides, sleigh rides or other winter events. READ EACH LISTING to know what each facility offers. The farms are listed further down this page, so scroll down the page! I'm always looking for more to add, and to correct any inaccuracies or errors, so if you encounter any, please email me!

Tips:

• If the name of the farm is blue with an underline; that's a link to their website. Click on it for the most current hours and information.
• ALWAYS call the farm or store BEFORE YOU GO to confirm their supply, their hours and whether they have trees, are allowing choose-and-cut or just precut trees; and which attractions or winter activities are available.  All three can change during the short Christmas season, due to weather, demand and the farmer's business conditions! Farms get sold, shut down or run out of trees, and I have no way of knowing, because I can't call or visit every farm every month, let alone every day. For more tips to make your trip fun and successful, click here! DON'T DRIVE OUT THERE IF YOU CAN'T REACH THEM BY PHONE OR EMAIL!
• And please tell the farmer you visit in South Dakota that you found their farm here! I need the farmers to realize that you found them here so that they will keep their information up to date!

• To find fruit and vegetable pick-you-own farms, click here.
• Crop availability / harvest schedule for fruit and vegetables, click here
• To find pumpkin patches, corn mazes and other Halloween activities, click here.

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Listings:

Brookings County

Clay County

• Mannings Garryowen Tree Farm - Have wreaths, Santa's sleigh pictures, crafts, gift shop, featuring hand-crafted figurines.
  Burbank, SD. Phone: 402-393-0181. E-mail neteetogreen@cs.com. Directions: Burbank, SD; I-29 north to Exit 31 (Hwy 46), ½ mile west, ½ mile south. Open: the day after Thanksgiving and every weekend until Christmas; 9 am to 5 pm.
  Christmas tree varieties: U-Choose and Cut your own: Scotch Pine

Lincoln County

• Beaver Creek Plantation - Cut your own and precut Christmas trees, snack bar, Santa Claus, free cider and hay rides, gift shop, custom made wreaths.
  27873 SD HWY 115, Worthing, SD 57077. Phone: 605-372-4558. Toll Free: 1-866-973-2841. Fax: 605-372-4897. Email: info@beavercreektrees.net. Directions: Located 10 miles south of 69th and Minnesota (Sioux Falls) or two miles east and one and one-half miles north of Worthing. Open: 10am to 4pm Weekends from mid November to mid December. Click here to download and print a $3.00 off Tree Dollar Bill!!!
  Christmas tree varieties:
  U-Choose and Cut your own: Scotch pine, White pine, Colorado spruce, Fraser fir, (u cut)
  Pre cut varieties: Scotch pine, White pine, Fraser fir.
• Christmas Tree Acres - choose and cut your own Christmas tree
  27269 State Highway 115, Harrisburg, SD 57032. Phone: (605) 743-5883. Open: 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, and from 4 pm to 6 pm on weekdays.
• Johnson's Christmas Tree Farm - choose and cut your own Christmas tree, fresh and artificial wreaths, wood crafts, Santa visits, tree stands and Christmas items available.
  480th Avenue, Harrisburg, IA 52620. Phone: 605-743-2604. Directions: from Harrisburg: two miles east, three miles south on Hwy 11, two miles east on Hwy. 116 and half-mile north (480th Ave.). From Sioux Falls: Hwy. 11 and E. 26th St. Junction, go 10 miles south to Hwy. 116, two miles east, half-mile north. Open: starting November 24, from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and  noon to 5 pm on Sundays.  Trees range in size from 4'-10'.  Bring the family for fresh popcorn, hot apple cider, coloring contest for kids. Santa visits some Saturdays - call to confirm.
• Riverview Christmas Tree Farm - Santa Claus, gift shop, hay rides, Nativity stable with live animals. Music is played over speakers outdoors, tree shaking & wrapping, a sleigh is used for family picture-taking, hay bales for kids to play on, saws provided.
  48392 278th Street, Canton, SD, 57013. Phone: 605-987-5171. Directions: From Canton, 4 miles north on Route 135, then 3 miles east. Open: November 20 to 21 and 26 to 28; December 1 to 15; Monday to Thursday 2 to 5 pm; Friday and Saturday 10 to 5, Sunday 12 to 5.
  Christmas tree varieties:
  U-Choose and Cut your own: Scotch Pine, White Pine, Black Hills Spruce, Colorado Blue Spruce, Balsam Fir, Fraser Fir, Concolor Fir

Minnehaha County

• Emerald Forest at Stonegate - Christmas trees-you choose and you cut,
  1801 West 70th Street North, Sioux Falls, SD 57107. Phone: 605-338-7483. Open: 3 pm to 5 pm Monday through Friday, 9 am; to 5 pm on Saturday, and 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Payment: Cash, only.
  Christmas tree varieties:
  U-Choose and Cut varieties: call!
• Tannenbaum Tree Farm - Choose and cut Christmas Trees, saws are provided.
  46989 W 57th St, Sioux Falls, SD 57106, Phone: (605) 362-0998. Directions: Tea-Ellis Road is .9 miles west of South Sertoma Avenue. Travel a half mile south past 41st Street on Tea-Ellis Road watching for a low wooden sign on the left, before the "T" in the roadway. Open: 2 to 5 pm, Monday trough Friday, 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and 2:30 to 5 pm on Sunday. Five varieties of trees.

 

Do you know of any Christmas tree farms or other special Christmas and winter events in South Dakota? Please tell me about them - Click here to write to me!

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Want to cut your own from a national forest in South Dakota?

You'll need a permit.  Here are the conditions: (for more information see the Black Hills National Forest website)

• Cost: $10 (for Christmas 2006).
• Varieties: Ponderosa pine, western juniper, and white spruce trees
• Size: maximum height is 20 feet and the whole tree must be cut, not just the top! Additionally, any branches that you do not take with you must be cut so they lie flat on the ground with a stump of no more than six inches in height.
• The permit must be attached to each tree before you remove the tree from the woods; you may receive a citation otherwise - EVEN if the tag is in your car.
• Trees are for your personal use only and you may not resell them.
• Of course, there are no refunds for uncut trees, unused permits, and the permits expire on December 31.
• Permits to cut up to five trees are allowed per person.
• Trees may not be cut in developed recreation sites, on Forest Service administrative sites, at active timber sites, the Black Hills Experimental Forest near Rochford, the Black Elk Wilderness, the Beaver Park area near Sturgis, or within Spearfish Canyon.

Where to buy Christmas Tree cutting permits:

At these Forest Service offices:
Contact: Rick Hudson (605) 673-9239 or Karen Lloyd (605) 673-9335,
or email r2 blackhills webinfo@fs.fed.us
Contact: Gary C. Chancey, Phone: (605) 673-9289,
Randy Jost (605) 673-9200,

• Spearfish - Northern Hills District Office, 2014 North Main Street, Monday-Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
• Sundance - Bearlodge District Office, Highway 14 East, Monday-Friday 7:30 am to 5 pm
• Custer - Forest Supervisor's Office, Highway 16 North, Monday-Friday 7:30 am to 5 pm
• Hill City - Mystic District Office, Highway 16 East, Monday-Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
• Hot Springs - Fall River District Office, 1801 Highway 18 Truck Bypass, Monday-Friday 7:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Newcastle - Hell Canyon District Office, 1225 Washington Blvd., Monday-Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm
• Rapid City - Mystic District Office, 803 Soo San Dr., Monday-Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm

Permits are also available by mail from the Forest Supervisor's Office, 25041 North Highway 16, Custer, SD 57730. Enclose a check or money order in the amount of $8 for each tree up to a maximum of five trees per individual. The Forest Service will mail permit tags and cutting instructions.