It is part of a triple state highway serving South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado.

SD 71's southern terminus is at the Nebraska border in Black Hills National Forest where it has the same number.

[2] In the forest, the route meets the terminus of South Dakota Highway 471.

[3] The road was originally commissioned in 1936 as part of South Dakota Highway 87.

Media related to South Dakota Highway 71 at Wikimedia Commons