Just a short drive away is Sica Hollow State Park, where you can watch bogs gurgle and experience the wondrous light show created by swamp gas. If you've never seen tree stumps that glow in the dark naturally, make sure to visit Sica Hollow.

In addition to modern camping facilities at Roy Lake, the Roy Lake Resort offers cabins and lodge-style accommodations with full amenities. It's a great headquarters when you visit this part of the state.

Down I-29 a couple of hours from that area is Palisades State Park, just northeast of Sioux Falls. Here's another unique and interesting destination because it offers good stream fishing in Split Rock Creek, which flows through the park. But that's just the beginning.

Legend has it that none other than "the James boys" spent time in a cave along the creek after a bank robbery in Northfield, Minn. The area is one of the few in the nation where pipestone is found. Native Americans considered it sacred; you can still see depressions where it was once quarried.

The park offers modern and primitive campsites, with five cabins available. Even if you show up to find it a really busy time in the park, Sioux Falls is just a few minutes away, with plenty of lodging and dining options.

Nebraska's Lewis and Clark Lake is one of those out-of-the-way spots that don't feel so out of the way, because you'll find plenty of facilities nearby, along with lots of fun things to do.

OK -- we can't leave South Dakota without more information on Lake Oahe. Make the state capital of Pierre your headquarters for a visit to one of the best walleye fisheries in the Great Plains -- or anywhere else, for that matter.

Nearby Oahe Dam -- the second largest dam in North America! -- is one of the top spots in the entire region for families who want to mix more outside activities with their fishing. The state capitol building is here, and you'll also find a cultural heritage center, the South Dakota Discovery Center and Aquarium, and the Oahe Dam Visitors Center.

Nearby parks include the Farm Island Recreation Area, La Framboise Island Nature Area and the Oahe Downstream Recreation Area. There is plenty to do and see, which might make it tough to give Oahe's outstanding fishing the attention it truly deserves.

NEBRASKA
One of Nebraska's unique fishing destinations has to be Calamus Reservoir, which is in the Sandhills 85 miles northwest of Grand Island. It's unique because the reservoir offers a variety of game species, including muskies! They've been stocked there since 2000, and an encounter with a 40-inch-plus specimen is not out of the question. You'll also find black bullheads, black crappie, pike, walleyes, white bass and wipers.

And if that's not enough, nearby Gracie Creek Pond offers rainbow trout. You definitely won't run out of fishing options.

You'll find modern and primitive camping options, and several boat ramps situated around the lake.