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Ideal South Dakota Map

Explore Ideal, South Dakota, with this interactive street and satellite map.

This page also offers TOPO MAPS — the official USGS topographic sheets — plus USGS aerial imagery, a labelled USNG grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below.

Interactive Map of Ideal, South Dakota

How to Use This Ideal, South Dakota Map

This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Ideal, South Dakota. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture. Drag the map to pan to any area of South Dakota or beyond.

Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).

TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the official USGS topographic maps from The National Map — contours, hydrography, land cover and shaded relief, the same mapping used for hiking, hunting and back-country navigation in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. Imagery shows USGS aerial photography, mostly 1-metre NAIP. The search box finds any US town, county or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Ideal.

Reading the map like a paper quad. Click Grid to overlay the U.S. National Grid (USNG), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.

Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as a USNG grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — USNG being the format FEMA and US search and rescue teams work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need cell coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load.

City	Ideal
State	South Dakota (SD)
County	Tripp County
Country	United States of America
Timezone	Central Time (America/Chicago)

Latitude	43.54333
Longitude	-99.92151
Population	86
Density	65.5 /km²
Incorporated	N/A
ZIP Code	57541
Area Code	605
County Seat	Winner
School District	Winner School District 59-2

🌦 Goto Ideal Weather Page: Ideal, South Dakota — Weather Warnings, Forecast, Radar, Satellite & Current Conditions

About Ideal, South Dakota

Ideal is a locality in Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. It is a small community with a population of 86. The population density is 65.5 people per km². Ideal is located at 43.5433°N, 99.9215°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. ZIP code: 57541.

Ideal maintains a quiet vigil over the expansive prairie, where the horizon stretches in an unbroken, pale arc that seems to swallow the very notion of distance. It lies 60.9 miles south-southeast of Pierre, SD (from Pierre, SD: bearing 159°T), and is situated 11.9 miles north-northwest of Winner. The land here acts as a vast, sun-bleached canvas, punctuated by the persistent, rhythmic swaying of native grasses that bow to the prevailing winds. To the west, the faint, jagged silhouette of the Red Hills creates a jagged ink-stroke against the evening sky, while the muted, earthy tones of the terrain shift from ochre to deep charcoal as the light fades. Just two miles away, Dog Ear Creek carves a slender, wandering path through the soil, offering a vital, narrow ribbon of moisture that sustains the local flora. Five miles out, the Ideal Wetland serves as a sanctuary where the silence is broken only by the sudden, percussive flight of waterfowl, grounding the landscape in a stillness that feels ancient and undisturbed.

Agriculture remains the pulse of Ideal, dictating the seasonal cadence of life as tractors trace deliberate, dusty patterns across the fields. The economy is inextricably linked to the yield of the soil and the resilience of the livestock that graze upon the plains, a cycle that has defined the inhabitants’ relationship with the earth for generations. Residents find a particular resonance in the proximity of King Dam, a site six miles distant that holds the quiet weight of human intervention upon the natural topography. Life here proceeds with a deliberate, unadorned momentum, far removed from the frantic pace of larger centers, favoring the slow accumulation of hours spent working under the immense, shifting sky. In the cool air of dusk, when the heat of the day finally retreats, Ideal reveals a character forged by the solitary nature of the plains, where the simple act of persistence becomes a quiet, daily triumph.

Nearby Outdoor Places

Ideal Wetland (State Conservation Area) — 5.2 mi, 270° W
King Dam (State Conservation Area) — 5.5 mi, 085° E
Tripp County Veteran's Memorial (Monument) — 12.1 mi, 164° S
Baileys Park (Local Park) — 12.4 mi, 168° S
Beaulieu Lake (State Recreation Area) — 16.8 mi, 161° S
Francis Case Recreation Area (Recreation Area) — 22.3 mi, 065° NE
Lake Francis Case (Recreation Area) — 22.9 mi, 065° NE
Dog Ear Lake (State Recreation Area) — 25.4 mi, 179° S
Grandview School (Historic Ruins) — 27.0 mi, 064° NE
Fort Pierre National Grassland (National Grassland) — 33.2 mi, 335° NW · 116k acres
Scenic Overlook (Viewpoint) — 33.7 mi, 060° NE
South Dakota Hall of Fame (Museum) — 33.9 mi, 059° NE
South Dakota Veterans Park (Monument) — 33.9 mi, 059° NE
Girl Scouts Rock (Monument) — 34.5 mi, 058° NE
State Theatre and Video (Cinema) — 34.8 mi, 058° NE
Saint Joseph (Public Artwork) — 35.5 mi, 057° NE
Millette County Historical Society & Museum (Museum) — 41.4 mi, 273° W
Crow Creek Site (Registered Battlefield) — 42.2 mi, 044° NE
Fort Thompson Mounds (Historic Ruins) — 43.3 mi, 039° NE
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 48.5 mi, 210° SW · 38k acres
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge_Wilderness Area (Wilderness Area) — 48.5 mi, 210° SW · 4,631 acres
South Dakota Tractor Museum (Museum) — 49.9 mi, 074° E
Cultural Heritage Center (Museum) — 60.9 mi, 340° N
Sellors-Barton Museum (Museum) — 68.7 mi, 178° S
Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest (National Forest) — 71.4 mi, 223° SW · 116k acres
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge (National Wildlife Refuge) — 74.2 mi, 202° S · 145k acres
Snake River Falls (Attraction) — 76.3 mi, 218° SW

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