| Rapid Creek | |
| Image Alt: | The creek in Rapid City's Founders Park |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA South Dakota#USA |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Rapid Creek mouth |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Map of Rapid Creek mouth location |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | South Dakota |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Pennington |
| Subdivision Type4: | City |
| Subdivision Name4: | Rapid City |
| Length: | 117.89miles[1] |
| Discharge1 Location: | Cheyenne River |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 93.07cuft/s at mouth with Cheyenne River[2] |
| Source1: | confluence of North Fork and South Fork of Rapid Creek |
| Source1 Location: | about 2 miles east-southeast of Hausle Ranch, South Dakota |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 44.1311°N -103.736°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 5364feet |
| Mouth: | Cheyenne River |
| Mouth Location: | about 8 miles southeast of Farmingdale, South Dakota |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 43.9046°N -102.629°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 2441feet |
| Progression: | Cheyenne River → Missouri River → Mississippi River |
| River System: | Cheyenne |
| Tributaries Left: | North Fork Rapid Creek, Irish Gulch, Moonshine Gulch, Silver Creek, Blind Gulch, Benner Gulch, Minnesota Gulch, Gimlet Creek, Fall Draw, Spurgeon Gulch, Post Draw, Goose Pasture Draw, Gorman Gulch, Sunnyside Gulch, Boarding House Gulch, Deer Creek, Irishman Gulch |
| Tributaries Right: | South Fork Rapid Creek, Smith Gulch, Poverty Gulch, Bearcat Gulch, Cluder Gulch, Castle Creek, Slate Creek, Stewart Gulch, Nugget Gulch, Empress Gulch, Magpie Gulch, Bear Gulch, Custer Gulch, McCurdy Gulch, Tamarack Gulch, Powerhouse Gulch, Prairie Creek, Victoria Creek, Dry Creek, Lindsey Draw, |
| Waterbodies: | Pactula Reservoir, Canyon Lake |
Rapid Creek is a tributary of the Cheyenne River, approximately 86 mi (138 km) long, in South Dakota in the United States. The creek's name comes from the Sioux Indians of the area, for the many rapids in the stream.[3]
It rises in southwestern South Dakota, in the Black Hills National Forest in the Black Hills in Pennington County. It flows east, is joined by Castle Creek, past Silver City and through the Pactola Reservoir. Emerging from the Black Hills, it flows through Rapid City, past Farmingdale, and joins the Cheyenne River approximately 13 mi (21 km) southwest of Wasta.
The Rapid Creek is most noted for the Black Hills flood of 1972, in which 238 people perished in Rapid City and in the Black Hills.[4] Since the flood, a flood plain has been established throughout the city making development along the banks inconsiderable.