For the Centennial Trail in Custer State Park
Go to Centennial Trail Pages

For Trails in the Sylvan Lake and Cathedral Spires Area,
(Adjoining Black Elk Wildnerness)
Go to Custer State Park Trails—North

Stockade Lake Trail

Length—1.5 miles ( 2.4 km)
Low Elevation—5200 ft.
High Elevation—5440 ft.
Change in Elevation—240 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 300 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate
Uses—hikers, bikers
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—The trailhead is a gravel pullout on the east side of Stockage Lake Drive and about 0.3 miles south of highway 16A. That is just across the pavement from the parking lot entrance for the boat ramp. For a short trail, here is a good workout. We would like one like this every day of the week. First is the climb, then on the return trip comes the scenic overlook of the lake. Every backyard needs a trail like this one.

Badger Clark Historic Trail

Length—1 miles ( 1.6 km)
Low Elevation—4960 ft.
High Elevation—5240 ft.
Change in Elevation—about 280 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—about 340 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate
Uses—hikers
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—Designed as a small introduction to the poet's backyard, this trail can accompany a visit to the display at the cabin in which Badger Clark, poet laureate of South Dakota, lived alone for 30 years. The trailhead is located about a half mile southeast of Legion Lake Resort. Hikers may walk along the east shore of Legion Lake from the parking lot at the resort on highway 16A to the trailhead. Round trip, that adds a level mile to the hike. Otherwise, the hiker can drive past Legion Lake on 16A toward the northeast. Drive past the junction with highway 87 at about 0.7 miles from Legion Lake. About a tenth of a mile further is a paved road leading south, the Badger Clark Road. At about 3/4 mile south on that pavement, a narrow road leads back northwest a quarter mile to the Badger Hole trailhead. Here one can trek to the Centennial Trail or walk up to the the cabin and find the Badger Clark Trail. There are two trails here. The Badger Clark Trail is not part of the Centennial Trail.

Legion Lake Trail

Length—1.3 miles (2.1 km)
Low Elevation—5020 ft.
High Elevation—5540 ft.
Change in Elevation—520 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 520 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate to Strenuous
Uses—hikers
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—The Legion Lake Trail is associated with the Legion Lake Campground. Since the trail is not shown at Custer State Park's Web site, we are uncertain of its status. It is shown on the National Geographic Trails Illustrated map of the Southern Hills. Departing from the campground area, the trail climbs north for a scenic vista of the Legion Lake area and then drops down west to join the Centennial Trail for a return to the campground.

Creekside Trail U

Length—2 miles (3.2 km)
Low Elevation—4160 ft.
High Elevation—4280 ft.
Change in Elevation—120 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 130 ft.
Difficulty—Easy
Uses—wheelchairs, hikers, bikers, rollerblades
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—
Accessible to wheelchairs, the Creekside Trail also is announced as appropriate for roller blades. Following Grace Coolidge Creek, this paved trail leads through pine and oak groves, and grassy meadows along the creek. The trail nears three campgrounds, the Park Office, the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center, the Game Lodge, the General Store, and the Old Custer State Park Schoolhouse. At the schoolhouse, the Lover's Leap Trail leads up into the hills. And at the northwest end of the trail, the Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Trail continues up Coolidge Creek to connect the hiker or fisher-person to Center Lake with its swimming beach and fishing areas. Those are within a mile of the Black Hills Playhouse.

Grace Coolidge Walk-In-Fishing-Area Trail

Length—3 miles ( 4.8 km)
Low Elevation—4400 ft.
High Elevation—4700 ft.
Change in Elevation—300 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 300 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate
Uses—hikers
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

 —State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—The trailhead is at a pond across highway 16A from Grace Coolidge Campground. The trail follows, more or less, Grace Coolidge Creek upstream to Center Lake. Here is the Grace Coolidge Creek that motorized travelers don't get to see.

Lovers' Leap Trail

Length—3 miles ( 4.8 km)
Low Elevation—4200 ft.
High Elevation—4780 ft.
Change in Elevation—580 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 640 ft.
Difficulty—Difficult
Uses—hikers, horses, bikes
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—From the trailhead behind the old Custer State Park Schoolhouse along highway 16A, the trail makes an abrupt climb up the hills south of Grace Coolidge Creek, follows the ridge line east above this area to Lovers' Leap, a high granite pinnacle with distant views. The trail then descends to Galena Creek, where it makes several crossings of the rocky stream bed. Where Galena Creek reaches highway 16A, hikers can take the Creekside Trail back to the trailhead.

Prairie Trail

Length—3 miles ( 4.8 km)
Low Elevation—4120 ft.
High Elevation—4400 ft.
Change in Elevation—280 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—About 400 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate
Uses—hikers
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—State Park Trail Description—Printable Trail Map—TopoZone—Aerial—The trailhead is easily overlooked while proceeding along the Wildlife Loop. The only major gravel road in this area, CSP-3, departs at an acute angle from the pavement about 200 yards east of the trailhead. The nearer of two hairpin curves on the Wildlife loop is located about one-half mile northwest.

French Creek Natural Area Trail

Length—12 miles ( 19.3 km)
Low Elevation—3700 ft.
High Elevation—4800 ft.
Change in Elevation—1100 ft.
Accumulated Climb Round Trip—1100 ft.
Difficulty—Moderate
Uses—hikers, horses
Maps and Trails Descriptions:

—French Creek Page-CSP—State Park Trail Description—TopoZone—B.H. Hiking Map—Aerial-West—Aerial-Middle—Aerial-East—The French Creek Trail descends from the west trailhead at the eastern end of the French Creek Horse Camp. The trail from there proceeds downstream to the east trailhead near the Wildlife Loop. Usually it is hiked part-way in from either trailhead or by parking a vehicle at each end. A return trip over the entire length of the trail amounts to a 24-mile hike. There are no shortcuts. The trail is easy to stay with since it follows the stream, but the numerous stream crossings are often precarious. The sign at the trailhead says, "You will get wet." That's not a certainty but a very high probability. The stream is generally shallow—from a few inches to a couple feet—but crossings involve long narrow logs a few feet above the water or rock hopping up to 30 feet or so. Primitive camping in French Creek Natural Area is allowed by permit and fee.

East to west, up to six geologic formations (Spearfish formation, Minnekahta Limestone, Minnelusa Sandstone, Pahasapa LImestone, the Deadwood formation, and Precambrian granite) can be seen within about five miles of the east trailhead. The east trailhead is off the wildlife loop a quarter mile on a dirt road, which is about 2/10 mile north of French Creek's crossing of the Wildlife Loop.