South Dakota Highway 53 (SD 53) is a state route that runs north to south across south central South Dakota. It consists of two separate segments:

• Junction with Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 83 near Vivian to South Dakota Highway 44 east of Wood. This segment is 33 miles (53 km) in length.
• U.S. Highway 18 west of Winner to the Nebraska border southeast of Keyapaha. This segment is 34 miles (55 km) in length.

South Dakota 53 in 1926 ran from the North Dakota to Nebraska borders. By 1929, when U.S. Highway 83 was first designated, it replaced the segment of SD 53 from Pierre to the North Dakota border. The southern segment was further east than the present route, running from Presho south to the Nebraska border via Winner.

In the early 1930s, U.S. 83 was extended south into Nebraska, and was placed as dual signage along SD 53. (The original route was on what is now U.S. Highway 183; 83 and 183 were reversed from current alignments when first designated.) By 1935, SD 53 was removed from this alignment and placed on a new route extending south from Vivian, on a previously unnumbered road. The southern terminus was at South Dakota Highway 40 (now 44). Also at this time, the northern terminus was pulled back to Vivian.

In the late 1960s, a second segment of SD 53 was added further south, beginning at U.S. Highway 18 just west of the U.S. 183 junction, and extending south to Clearfield.

In 1996, the southern terminus of SD 53 was extended to the Nebraska border.

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Tripp	​	0.000	0.000	End state maintenance at the Nebraska state line
	Clearfield	18.400	29.612	Signed south end of SD 53
	​	34.372	55.316	US 18
Gap in route
Mellette	​	34.372	55.316	SD 44
Lyman	Vivian	67.475	108.590	I-90 / US 83
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

• South Dakota Highways Page: Highways 31-60