Jason Gaston

In this thrilling installment of Travels With Jason, I journey to Belle Fourche, South Dakota — home of the Center of the Nation Monument! …Well, a center. Kind of. Sort of. Not really.

You see, Belle Fourche proudly claims to be the geographic heart of America — and they even built a nice little monument downtown for tourists like me to stand on and pretend it’s important.

But plot twist: the actual center of the nation is about 20 miles north, chilling in a random field, marked by a hand painted sign, a flagpole, and the crushing realization that truth is sometimes less convenient than tourism.

Join me as I explore both “centers,” try not to get lost in cow pastures, and question why America has a central geographical identity crisis. Come for the patriotic vibes, stay for the GPS confusion.

And remember: in America, every town can be the center of something if you just fib hard enough.