Visitor Center - Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site was established in 1999 to "interpret the historical role of the Minuteman II missile defense system as a key component of America's strategic commitment to preserve world peace and in the broader context of the Cold War." Two sites, a launch facility and a launch control facility have been preserved under provisions in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to allow for historical interpretation of this one aspect of the Cold War.

The historic site preserves and interprets Launch Control Facility (LCF) Delta-01 and Launch Facility (LF) Delta-09 of the 44th Strategic Missile Wing based at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota from 1962 until 1994. LF Delta-09 is located about 0.7 miles south of Interstate-90 at exit 116. LCF Delta-01 is located about 0.7 miles north of I-90 at exit 127. The new visitor center opened in 2014 and is located 0.3 miles north of I-90 at exit 131. The former visitor center was housed in a pair of trailers located south of I-90 exit 131 on the way to the Northeast Entrance of Badlands National Park.

The visitor center contains an information desk, bookstore, restrooms, museum, and a multi-purpose room that will double as a theater. The 30-minute park film was in post-production and not available for viewing when I visited in August 2017, but should be available sometime in 2018.

Visitor Center

Sun Tzu quote outside

View from the entrance

Information desk

Museum entrance

Missileers

"Duck and Cover"

Fallout shelter supplies

Number of warheads at the beginning of the coldwar (Blue is USA, Orange is USSR, wall column is total)...

...and through the years since

Four days the world almost ended

The end of the Minuteman II program led to the establishment of the historic site

Bookstore

Entry to the historic site is free. A fee of $6 per adult is charged for a guided tour of the Delta-01 Launch Control Facility. Tours usually sell out weeks to months in advance, so advance planning is required.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/mimi.