Pioneer Auto Show

The Pioneer Auto Show grew from one family's love of old machines and the country that produced them. It started modestly and expanded over the years as the collection outgrew each building, until it filled a whole complex of connected structures, each stuffed with vehicles and memorabilia. It has stayed in the same family across generations, which gives it a personal, handmade character no corporate museum can match.

Its rise mirrors the rise of the American road trip itself. In the era when families crossed the country by car on the new highways, roadside attractions like this one flourished, luring travelers off the road with promises of wonders inside. Many have since vanished, which makes the survival of this one, still growing, still cared for by the same family, a small treasure of its own.

At its heart the collection is about vehicles, with rows of vintage and classic automobiles spanning the decades of American car making, from brass-era machines to muscle cars, alongside antique motorcycles and old tractors that recall the farm country all around. Some pieces carry ties to famous names and Hollywood, adding a dash of celebrity to the small-town setting.

But the vehicles are only the beginning. Wander further and you find restored storefronts and a recreated old-time street, cases of toys and household relics, a rock and mineral shop, farm and ranch gear, and a genuine hodgepodge of the odd and the antique. Half the fun is the discovery, turning a corner into yet another room you did not expect.

Murdo sits at a natural pause point on the long drive across South Dakota, out on the open ranch country between the Missouri River and the Black Hills. For travelers heading west toward the Badlands, Wall Drug, and Mount Rushmore, or east toward the Missouri and beyond, it is a welcome place to break the miles.

The Pioneer Auto Show has thrived in that role for decades, its billboards long a familiar sight along the interstate. Part of its charm is exactly that context, a rich and rambling attraction found in an unassuming small town, the kind of place the road trip was invented to discover.

Summer is the peak season, when cross-state travel is heaviest and the museum is at its liveliest with families breaking their journey to the Black Hills. It is the easiest time to visit, with the fullest access and the most going on.

Spring and fall are quieter and pleasant, good times to wander the buildings without the summer rush. Winter slows the interstate traffic and the town alike, so anyone stopping in the cold months should check the schedule ahead, but the collection's indoor sprawl makes it a welcome refuge from the wind whatever the season.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.