World's Largest Smokey the Bear

Standing guard on Main Street in Hill City is the World's Largest Smokey Bear, a record-holding wooden sculpture that's as much a piece of local history as it is a jaw-dropping photo op. The statue stands 30 feet tall and 25 feet wide, completed in just 10 days by seven wood artists from around the country. The story behind it is uniquely Hill City. In 1939, 25 students from the Hill City School District helped battle a wildfire, and the U.S. Forest Service honored them by making Hill City the only school in the nation permitted to use Smokey Bear as its mascot. The sculpture, created by chainsaw artist Jordan Dahl, was welcomed as a permanent resident on May 10, 2021. Smokey is seated, so visitors can pose for photos on his leg or in front of a giant paw. The statue anchors Dahl's Chainsaw Art, an award-winning gallery where Jarrett and Jordan Dahl carve bears, eagles, and other detailed works from Black Hills pine.