Abandoned Towns
The weathered wooden Longhorn Store and other old buildings in Scenic, seen across the highway from a gas pump

Railroad and road town

Scenic

A railroad town on the edge of the Badlands that was put up for sale whole in 2011. A church from the Philippines bought it and has said little since.

43°46′47″N 102°33′13″W · ≈2,810 ft

Photo: Pi3.124, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Private · 2019 photos

The Iglesia ni Cristo bought the town in 2011, so the old buildings are private property. The newest dated report on its use, from 2015, says a church minister had begun services for 10 to 15 people living nearby. Photos from September 2019 show the Old Longhorn Saloon and the Longhorn Store still standing. We found no word from the church on whether visitors are welcome. View the buildings from the public road and don't go inside.

Overview

The town that was sold

The Old Longhorn Saloon and its neighbors across the road from a gravel lot, 2017
The Old Longhorn Saloon and its neighbors across the road from a gravel lot, 2017 · Photo: Pi3.124, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Scenic sits on SD 44 about 43 miles by road southeast of Rapid City, next to Badlands National Park. It was named for its setting. Its depot stands on the abandoned Milwaukee Road line, which once ran between Rapid City and Kadoka.

Twila Merrill, a rodeo rider, arrived in 1963 and over the years bought up most of the town as business faded. In July 2011 she listed it, about 46 acres in all, for $799,000. The sale included the post office, the Longhorn Saloon, a dance hall, a bunkhouse, a museum, two stores and the depot. The next month the Iglesia ni Cristo, a church based in the Philippines, bought it for nearly $800,000. It has never said publicly why.

Three years later the Rapid City Journal found the church had done little with the town. In 2015 a minister moved nearby and began services for 10 to 15 people. Scenic Township had 58 residents in the 2010 census.

Timeline

A town for sale

  1. Scenic has a depot on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific line between Rapid City and Kadoka. The line is later abandoned.
  2. Twila Merrill, a former rodeo bronc rider, comes to Scenic. Over the following decades she buys up most of the town as it declines.
  3. About 46 acres, including the 12-acre town, are listed for sale at $799,000: the post office, the Longhorn Saloon, a dance hall, a bunkhouse, a museum, two stores and the depot.
  4. The Iglesia ni Cristo, a church based in the Philippines, buys the property for nearly $800,000. It doesn't say why.
  5. The Rapid City Journal reports the church has done little with the town.
  6. A church minister moves to the area and begins services for 10 to 15 people living near Scenic.

What's left

What you'll see

The Old Longhorn Saloon, its sign topped with cattle skulls, 2019
The Old Longhorn Saloon, its sign topped with cattle skulls, 2019 · Photo: Direwolf73, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Longhorn Store, 2019
The Longhorn Store, 2019 · Photo: Direwolf73, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Weathered wooden buildings line the highway through town. The 2011 sale took in the post office, the Longhorn Saloon, a dance hall, a bunkhouse, a museum, two stores and the depot. That year South Dakota Magazine called the saloon little changed since the 1960s, and noted that the 1913 Catholic church stood abandoned. The sale agent said the central buildings on Main Street, saloon included, would stay. Photos from 2017 and 2019 show the Old Longhorn Saloon, its sign reading 1906, and the Longhorn Store still standing. All of it is private property.

  • Old Longhorn Saloon (2019 photo)
  • Longhorn Store (2019 photo)
  • Railroad depot
  • Catholic church, 1913 (abandoned by 2011)
USGS topographic map of Scenic on SD 44
USGS The National Map, topo. Scenic's small street grid sits just southwest of SD 44.
Aerial view of Scenic: a few blocks of buildings on open prairie, with SD 44 curving past
Aerial imagery, same area. A few blocks of buildings on the open prairie, with SD 44 curving past to the northeast.

Historic maps

Scenic on USGS maps, 1954–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Scenic, 1954
Scenic sheet, 1954, 1:24,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

From Rapid City, paved SD 44 runs east straight to Scenic. From Wall, the shortest way runs southwest through Badlands National Park on Sage Creek Road, which is dirt and gravel and slower.

Topographic map of the Badlands from Wall to Scenic, with the routes drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Wall30.4 miabout 1 h 08 min
  1. From downtown Wall, take Glenn Street onto SD 240 south.1.9 mi
  2. Turn right on Sage Creek Road (CR 590), dirt and gravel, and follow it southwest through the national park.27.6 mi
  3. At the end of the road, turn right on SD 44, then left on 2nd Street into Scenic.0.9 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • SD 44 from Rapid City is the paved, direct route.
  • The Wall route crosses Badlands National Park on Sage Creek Road, which the Park Service describes as a dirt and gravel road through the Sage Creek Wilderness Area. Check road conditions with the park before you go.

Photos

Scenic in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Scenic?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Scenic

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our South Dakota index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Wikipedia, "Scenic, South Dakota", retrieved October 2026: location, name, Twila Merrill, the 2011 listing and sale, the depot and rail line, the 2014 Rapid City Journal report, 2015 services, the 2010 township population.
  2. NBC News / AP, "Ghost town bought — by Philippines church", October 8, 2011: the buyer and price, Twila Merrill buying land from 1963, the agent on keeping the Main Street buildings.
  3. South Dakota Magazine, "Scenic", July 28, 2011: Twila Merrill's arrival in 1963, the Longhorn Saloon little changed since the 1960s, the abandoned 1913 Catholic church.
  4. Wikimedia Commons, Direwolf73, photos taken September 20, 2019: the Old Longhorn Saloon and the Longhorn Store still standing.
  5. National Park Service, Badlands "Scenic Driving": Sage Creek Rim Road (590) is dirt and gravel.
  6. ghosttowns.com, "Scenic": fact-sheet check (county, 2WD, many original buildings).
  7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits