EXIT 192 ON US-83. YOU'VE SEEN THE BILLBOARDS. WE'RE REALLY HERE.
UPDATE 6/28: The twine ball gazebo has a new roof. Hail took the old one. The ball is FINE, thank you to everyone who called.
THE TWINE BALL
Let's get this out of the way. Our ball of twine measures 12 feet 4 inches around and weighed in at 8,340 pounds as of the 2026 spring weighing. Yes, Cawker City's is bigger. We've made our peace with it. Second largest means we try harder.
Grandpa Merle started this ball in the winter of 1971 because, in his words, "the TV only got two channels and one of them was snow." Fifty-five years later it's the pride of Jones County, it has its own gazebo, and it gets more Christmas cards than most of the family.
TWINE FACTS
Started by Grandpa Merle Hutmacher in 1971 with a single hay bale's worth of sisal.
You can add twine yourself during Twine Days, the second weekend of June. We hand you the spool, you walk around the ball. It's harder than it sounds and everybody loves it.
The ball lives in its own open-air gazebo, freshly re-roofed (see update above). It has never once been rained on since 1989 and we intend to keep it that way.
Weighing day is the first Saturday in May. Delbert from the co-op brings the cattle scale. It is a whole thing.
If you unwound it, the twine would reach from here to somewhere we have not agreed on as a family. Merle Jr. says Pierre. Wade says Presho. Come see it and vote.
PRAIRIE DOG TOWN
Out behind the trading post is a genuine prairie dog town, going on forty years now. Feed cups are $2 at the register. They are shameless and we love them. They will stand up, put their little paws together, and stare into your soul until you hand over the goods.
THE RULES (WE MEAN THEM)
Feed from the cup. No fingers. They are cute but they are still rodents and they bite like they pay taxes here.
No fries. No chips, no candy, no half a hot dog. The feed cups exist for a reason. A prairie dog with a french fry becomes a problem for everyone.
Stay on the gravel path. The town is theirs, the path is yours.
Dogs on leashes, please, and keep them back from the fence. It gets loud.
THE TRADING POST
People ask what we sell. Honest answer: the good kind of road trip junk, we curate. Here's the rundown.
AUNT RHONDA'S FUDGE, MADE RIGHT HERE, 14 FLAVORS
Rhonda makes it in the copper kettle behind the counter, usually before we open, so the whole store smells like it. Flavors: Chocolate, Chocolate Walnut, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Maple, Maple Nut, Vanilla, Rocky Road, Salted Caramel, Butter Pecan, Cherry, Mint Chocolate, Prairie Fire (cinnamon, hotter than you'd think), and Twine Ball Swirl (chocolate and vanilla wound together, obviously).
EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE SHELVES
Jackalope postcards. Also jackalope mounts, jackalope shirts, and one very large jackalope named Gerald who is not for sale.
Black Hills Gold jewelry. The real kind, from a licensed maker in Rapid City. Ask Cindy at the register, she'll tell you how to spot the fake stuff other places sell.
Moccasins in every size we can get, baby through size 14.
Snow globes with the twine ball in them. Wade designed these and he is very proud.
Twine by the spool, twine keychains, twine ball t-shirts that say I SAW THE SECOND BIGGEST ONE.
Rattlesnake souvenirs, polished rocks by the pound, sunglasses, aspirin, real maps made of paper, and coffee that costs a dime if you're a trucker.
FREE ICE WATER
Since 1978. Still free. Still cold. Come on in.
Grandpa Merle put up the first FREE ICE WATER sign after seeing how well it worked for the folks up at Wall. He figured what works at Wall works at the Gulch. He was right.
HOURS & SEASON
Open May 1 through October 15.
Summer hours (Memorial Day to Labor Day): 7am to 9pm, seven days a week
Spring and fall: 8am to 6pm
Winter: we're closed winters, we're not crazy. The prairie dogs are on their own schedule and the twine ball doesn't mind the cold.
If the flag is up, we're open. If you're standing in the lot at 6:55am and Rhonda sees you, she'll let you in early. She always does.
HOW FAR ARE YOU?
Closer than you think. Set the cruise control and come see us.
Coming from
Drive time
Rapid City, SD
1 hr 15 min
Pierre, SD
1 hr 5 min
Sioux Falls, SD
2 hr 45 min
Valentine, NE
2 hr 10 min
Bismarck, ND
4 hr 15 min
Denver, CO
5 hr 30 min
Minneapolis, MN
6 hr 15 min
Omaha, NE
5 hr 20 min
Wall Drug
45 minutes. Tell them Gopher Gulch says hi.
FROM THE GUESTBOOK
The guestbook sits by the ice water cooler. Here's a few recent ones, spelling preserved.
"We stopped to laugh. We stayed two hours. The fudge is a problem."Deb & Rich, Ohio
"My kids fed the prairie dogs for 45 minutes and did not fight once. Whatever you're charging for those feed cups, it's not enough."Marcus T., Minnesota
"I have now seen the largest AND the second largest ball of twine. This one has a better gift shop and I will die on that hill."Janet P., Kansas
"Bought moccasins here in 1994 on our honeymoon. Came back with the grandkids. Cindy remembered my husband. Unbelievable."Carol & Dean, Iowa
"Prairie Fire fudge should come with a warning. 10/10 would burn again."Tyler, Colorado
THE BILLBOARDS
You've been reading them for 200 miles. Here's a few favorites, painted by hand in the back barn every spring. Wade does the lettering, Merle Jr. holds the ladder.