Front Plate Required: Yes
Area Codes: 605
License Plates:
Windshield Stickers:
Road and Highway Signs:
County Roads:
Highways:
Highway Adoption:
Historical:
None
South Dakota has a fairly identifiable license plate and a state-wide area code, 605. In more recent coverage, signs posted by the state have a sticker on the back with a green state shape, similar to the design of the state highway symbol, and a white number.
Standard license plate
605 Area Code
White sticker with green state shape
Except for the Native American reservations in the southwest, street signs at rural crossroads have a white border and a noticeable gap between border and text. Numbered cross streets will be labeled by a number (without the "TH" suffix) and either "st" or "ave". State and US highways will usually be marked with their symbols, but the associated green street signs use either a "US" or "SD" prefix. In North Dakota, US highways use the prefix "Hwy" or "US Hwy".
White border and gap around text
Typical numbered crossroad street sign
"SD" and "US" prefixes
US highways use white diamond bollards at regular intervals and many important signposts and edge markers have thick white rings. Mile markers on state and US highways are smaller than standard, and bridges usually have one at either or both ends. Drainage on state and US highways are marked by yellow bollards. The Lewis and Clark trail runs through many states, but the Native American Scenic Byway is largely in South Dakota, though a small part of it runs up into North Dakota.
White diamond bollard
Intersection marked with thick white rings
SD standard mile marker
Mile marker on bridge
Drainage marked with yellow bollard
Native American Scenic Byway
Florida also marks drainage with a yellow bollard.
South Dakota
North Dakota also uses rings to mark major intersections, but its rings usually appear in pairs and are thinner than the ones used in South Dakota.
South Dakota
Iowa and Michigan also have some letter-number combinations in county road designations, but the order is reversed.
White square county road signs can also be found in Minnesota and occasionally in Ohio and in older coverage of Michigan, especially in the north and upper peninsula. It is also used in Apache County, Arizona, but the landscape of the American southwest is very different from the heavily wooded upper midwest.
