Confluence | Detail

Good Earth State Park at Blood Run

Client

South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks

Size

615 Acres

Collaborators

HDR

;

Good Earth State Park at Blood Run

Lincoln County, South Dakota

Creation of the park ensures preservation of its natural beauty while providing opportunities to educate the public about a former Native American trading and ceremonial center.

Blood Run, designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark in 1970, is considered by archaeologists to be the most significant Oneota cultural site in the Midwest. The Oneota inhabited the site for more than 200 years and the area was commonly recognized as a sacred site to reflect upon their ancestral history and spiritual connections. Several burial mound groupings are still recognizable on the site today.

As part of a multi-disciplinary design team, Confluence was responsible for public facilitation, preliminary master planning, schematic concept plan development and illustrations, and master plan refinement. Phase One improvements include the construction of a new visitor center with parking, amphitheater, Native American living history trail, interpretive areas and overlook, and a day use area. Amenities included bike and hiking trails, nature play areas, an entrance drive with welcome center, park interpretive signage/graphics, and comprehensive landscape enhancements.

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