Bear Creek, South Dakota
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the North Dewey unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57636. It stands on Elm Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lantry quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS McIntosh quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS McIntosh quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Lantry quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Timber Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
103 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 103 fires within 5 miles of Bear Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 305 acres in total. 10 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 31 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 13 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Natural | 10 |
| Fireworks | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Other causes | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | H-D |
| 5 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | AREICHART |
| 24 September 2009 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | OVERFLOW |
| 22 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | CLIFF HANGER |
| 20 September 1997 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2.5 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | BEARCREEK |
| 2 September 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | BEAR CREEK |
| 18 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | KIRBY |
| 15 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | JOCHIM |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bear Creek: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
37 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bear Creek in 37 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 22 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 5 flood, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Bear Creek | $100,000 | Very heavy rains of 4 to 7 inches caused flash flooding in several areas along Highway 212 from west of Lantry to Eagle Butte. Several homes and businesses along with most roads in Eagle Butte were flooded with quite a bit of damage received. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | A peak wind gust of 73 mph was recorded at the South Dakota State University mesonet station six miles north-northwest of Lantry. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | A public caller stated that thunderstorm wind gusts uprooted trees. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | Sixty mph winds were estimated. |
| June 2014 | Flood | Bear Creek | - | The Moreau River near Whitehorse went above flood stage rising to 22.3 feet on the June 21st. The flood stage near Whitehorse is 21 feet. The river flooded a few roads on the Cheyenne River Reservation. |
| March 2011 | Flood | Bear Creek | - | Snowmelt runoff caused the Moreau River to rise above the flood stage of 21 feet on March 17th. The river rose to near 27 feet on March 20th before falling quickly back to below flood stage on March 21st. Pasture and agricultural land along with a few roads were flooded as a result. Some homes were also threatened by the river. The ice on the river also broke several power poles leaving some people without power. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | One hundred mph winds overturned and severely damaged a mobile home north of Lantry. The occupants in the mobile home received only minor injuries. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | Golfball size hail broke the windshield on a vehicle. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | Winds gusting to near 110 mph were measured near Bear Creek. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| March 2019 | Flood | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| March 2014 | Flood | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Flood | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bear Creek | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lantry | 3.4 miles | 7 | |
| North Eagle Butte | 11.9 miles | 7 | |
| Eagle Butte | 12.0 miles | 7 | |
| Green Grass | 13.0 miles | 8 | |
| Parade | 18.3 miles | 7 | |
| Isabel | 22.9 miles | 7 | |
| Firesteel | 26.4 miles | 7 | |
| Thatcher | 27.6 miles | 7 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikidata item Q141614661 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1253809. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.



