Custer County: Caves, Trails and History

Custer County offers a range of options for a trip: caves, prairie, pine forests, hiking trails, and regional history. Information about landscapes and trail lengths can help you organize your itinerary based on your interests and preferred scale. Nature experiences sit alongside places that explore the history of the Black Hills and Dakota Territory.

Cave Landscapes and Hiking Trails

Jewel Cave National Monument is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in Custer County. The Canyons Trail at Jewel Cave is 3.5 miles long and passes through Lithograph and Hell Canyons. Another distinctive feature is Wind Cave National Park: it is home to the third-longest cave system in the United States and the seventh-longest in the world. The park also has more than 30 miles of trails through mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest. Together, the cave system and trails offer two different ways to experience the nature of these places.

The French Creek Natural Area covers around 2,200 acres around the French Creek gorge. When hiking, you follow the stream on unmarked or existing trails and cross it several times. This trail description is useful for planning: be prepared for repeated stream crossings and trails that are not marked throughout.

The George S. Mickelson Trail offers a larger scale. It is 109 miles long and has 15 trailheads between Edgemont and Deadwood. In Custer, the Harbach Park trailhead is at mile marker 44.5. This offers both a long trail with multiple starting points and a specific trailhead in Custer. By contrast, the Canyons Trail at Jewel Cave, at 3.5 miles, provides a much shorter option for planning your hike.

Prairie, Forest, and Wildlife

The landscapes along the roads also vary. The Needles Highway passes through ponderosa pine and Black Hills spruce forests, across meadows lined with birch and aspen trees, and past rugged granite mountains. The Wildlife Loop Road runs through prairie and over hills dotted with ponderosa pines, where many of the Custer State Park’s wildlife species can be found. Activities at Custer State Park include camping, hiking, biking, swimming, and fishing. This gives you a choice of both scenic routes and a variety of outdoor activities.

Culture, History, and Regional Cuisine

The Crazy Horse Memorial features a monumental depiction of a Lakota leader. The Crazy Horse Volksmarch is an organized hike there: the route passes through forested areas to the Crazy Horse Mountain Carving and is 5 or 10 kilometers long. If you plan to include the Volksmarch in your trip, check the event dates when planning your travel days.

The 1881 Courthouse Museum is housed in the original courthouse of Dakota Territory. It preserves and presents the history of Custer County and covers the history of the Black Hills and Dakota Territory from 1874 to the present. The Indian Museum of North America offers another perspective, with its extensive collection of artworks and artifacts reflecting the diverse stories and cultures of Indigenous peoples in the United States.

Laughing Water Restaurant serves homemade Indian fry bread topped with taco meat, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, salsa, and sour cream. If you specifically want to try this dish, check what is available before your visit: the menu may change.

When looking for a hotel in Custer County, you can use your travel interests as a starting point: hiking trails and landscapes, the history of the Black Hills, or cultural sites such as the Crazy Horse Memorial. The different trail lengths and themes can help you decide what to focus on during your stay.

Discover more destinations: Custer, Hermosa, Fall River County, Dewey County, Tripp County, Lyman County, Butte and McCook County.

For the broader travel guide: South Dakota.