Rapid City, South Dakota: Dinosaur of Old Ike Murphy
Built by blacksmith Murphy, some say as far back as 1933, to lure travelers to a long-gone general store. 60 feet long, 20 feet tall. Originally painted pink and red. Restored in 1998. His neck is currently cracked; do not approach.
- Address:
- Hwy 44, Rapid City, SD
- Directions:
- From downtown Rapid City -- jct of US Hwy 16 and Hwy 44/Omaha St. -- drive east on Hwy 44 for 30.5 miles. You'll see the blue dinosaur on the north side of the highway. A small road leads to it. Private property; no trespassing.
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In the 1960s a road crew was repairing Highway 44, and on their free time they painted and did some repairs on the dinosaur. I'm looking through my pictures to find the one that has my dad and the other crew members. I would love to find the owner of this lonely dinosaur to see if by any chance I can help fix him.
[Alanna D Turnbaugh, 08/17/2024]
There's a random dinosaur out in the middle of nowhere. It's a pleasant distraction from miles of Badlands.
[Jennifer, 08/01/2020]Road is blocked off with a "private property - no trespassing" sign, so the dinosaur is barely visible. I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see it at this point.
[Erin, 05/27/2019]Stopped to get a closer look. Part of his tail is falling off and there are some cracks, but he looks pretty good otherwise. There is an old bridge to nowhere next to him over a little river.
[C.R., 07/05/2015]
I was driving down Highway 44 when I saw a lonely dinosaur. There is a field entrance near him that I pulled into to take the photo. I didn't get extremely close, but he appeared to still be in good shape.
[Melinda Bryan, 07/02/2011]Page of 2 [Next 1 items]
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Local landmark was attempt by owners of tiny Creston, to get travelers to pull off (Perhaps to see if there were more dinosaurs? There weren't).