The gateway city's salons balance small-town warmth with big-city technique. As South Dakota's cities grow, so does an appetite for rest, recovery and a little polish.

Rapid City salons serve both residents and a steady tourist trade.

What sets it apart

Stylists train in current color and cutting techniques. For those who know the region well, it is a quiet point of pride.

Independent chair-rental salons have multiplied downtown.

Why it matters

What ties it all together is a distinctly South Dakota balance between the wild and the worked-over. For a growing number of South Dakotans, that kind of reset has become part of the routine.