A pine-covered island rising out of the Great Plains: 1.2 million acres of granite spires, canyon waterfalls, mountain lakes, and more trail miles than most people could cover in a summer.
Black Hills National Forest covers 1.2 million acres of pine-covered mountains, clear lakes, and granite spires across western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. Seen from out on the plains, the dense ponderosa forests look nearly black, which is how the Lakota name Paha Sapa, hills that are black, became the name on the map. Up close, the island in the plains turns out to be green.
The variety is the point. Within a single day here you can summit Black Elk Peak, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains, wind through the tunnels of Iron Mountain Road, stand in the spray of a waterfall in Spearfish Canyon, and watch elk move through a meadow at dusk. The forest has been doing this for a long time: protected since 1897, it is one of America’s earliest protected forests, older than the Forest Service that manages it.
One clarification worth making early: despite what some visitors call it, there is no Black Hills National Park. This is a national forest, run by the US Forest Service, and managed entirely separately from neighbors like Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument. That difference works in your favor: no entrance fee, camping freedom the parks cannot offer, and room to spread out. This page is the overview, and it points to the guides that go deeper on trails, lodging, wildlife, history, and conservation.
Black Hills National Forest is a 1.2 million acre national forest, roughly 110 miles long and 70 miles wide, rising out of the grasslands of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. It surrounds well-known destinations like Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Custer State Park, and its pine hills hold the region together: nearly every scenic drive, trailhead, and mountain lake in the Black Hills sits on or beside forest land.
It is a national forest, not a national park, and the distinction matters beyond trivia. National forests belong to the US Department of Agriculture and are managed for multiple uses: recreation, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and sustainable timber harvest all at once. National parks belong to the Department of the Interior. In practice, the forest gives you no entrance fee, dispersed camping, and 24-hour access, year-round.
Getting here is easy. Rapid City anchors the eastern edge, Spearfish the north, and Newcastle, Wyoming the west. Interstate 90 runs along the forest’s northern edge, and US Highways 16, 385, and 85 carry you through the interior.
With over 450 miles of trails, this is the hiking and mountain biking heart of the region. The 111-mile Centennial Trail runs the length of the forest from north to south, while the 109-mile George S. Mickelson Trail follows an old railroad grade on crushed limestone, ideal for bikes, walkers, and horseback riders. Shorter routes like the Flume Trail near Sheridan Lake trace the historic water flumes that once supplied gold mines. The full rundown is in the trails guide.
Two National Scenic Byways wind through the forest. The Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway includes Iron Mountain Road, with its narrow tunnels and pigtail bridges, and the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway follows limestone cliffs and waterfalls up the northern hills. Beyond the pavement, hundreds of miles of forest roads reach the quiet corners; grab a free Motor Vehicle Use Map from any forest office before you explore, and know that some roads want a high-clearance vehicle. Riders on motorized trails need a permit, covered in the OHV and ATV permits guide.
Pactola Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the Black Hills, and Sheridan Lake are the boating hubs, with ramps and rentals. Anglers work the mountain streams for trout or target pike and perch in the reservoirs. Designated beaches allow swimming, and the calmer waters are increasingly busy with kayaks and paddleboards.
Winter flips the forest over to a different crowd. Over 350 miles of groomed snowmobile trails make this one of the Midwest’s premier snowmobiling destinations, and ungroomed forest roads and summer trails become cross-country ski and snowshoe routes. Terry Peak and Deer Mountain, both nearby, cover the downhill side.
The forest hosts over 30 developed campgrounds, with Sheridan Lake, Pactola Reservoir, and Horsethief Lake among the favorites for water access. Dispersed camping is permitted in many areas outside developed sites, and several historic cabins from the early days of forest management rent through the Forest Service. The where-to-stay guide compares all the options.
Black Elk Peak, formerly known as Harney Peak, stands at 7,244 feet, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains, with summit views that reach into four states. The stone fire tower at the top was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and the most popular route up starts from Sylvan Lake in adjacent Custer State Park.
In the northern hills, Spearfish Canyon runs between limestone cliffs a thousand feet high, with Bridal Veil Falls and Roughlock Falls both a short walk from the byway, and trout water running the canyon floor the whole way.
Between the high points, the lakes: Pactola, Sheridan, Deerfield, and Sylvan each have their own character, from full-service boating to quiet paddling. The scenery guide maps the highlights.
The forest is a habitat island, a mountain range surrounded by plains, and that geography makes it a biological crossroads where eastern and western species overlap. The dominant cover is ponderosa pine, growing in open, park-like stands with grassy understories; white spruce, quaking aspen, birch, and bur oak fill the moister draws and north-facing slopes, and meadows thread through it all.
White-tailed and mule deer, elk, and pronghorn are the large mammals you are most likely to meet. Bighorn sheep work the rocky outcrops, and mountain goats, introduced in the 1920s rather than native, have made the high granite their own. Mountain lions keep a healthy population here but are rarely seen. Wild turkeys are a common sight along forest roads, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles hunt overhead, and spring fills the hills with songbirds, from western tanagers to mountain bluebirds. The streams run cold and clear enough for brook, brown, and rainbow trout.
Go out in the early morning or evening, when animals are most active. The meadows along Deerfield Road, the lake margins, and the open country along Highway 385 are reliable viewing spots. Keep a safe distance, and never feed wild animals; it is dangerous for you and harmful to them. The wildlife-watching guide breaks it down season by season.
The Black Hills hold profound cultural significance for Native American tribes, particularly the Lakota, who know this land as Paha Sapa, a sacred place central to their spiritual beliefs and traditional lifeways. For centuries before European settlement, Indigenous peoples hunted, gathered plants, and held ceremonies in these hills. That story belongs to the Lakota and their own tellers, so rather than retell it here, we point you to the history guide and the interpretive resources it draws on.
The discovery of gold in 1874, during an expedition led by George Armstrong Custer, changed the region’s trajectory. Despite treaties guaranteeing the Black Hills to the Lakota, a gold rush followed, boomtowns like Deadwood and Lead sprang up overnight, and the forests were cut hard for mine timber and buildings. By the 1890s, unregulated logging and wildfire had taken a severe toll.
The response came early. President Grover Cleveland designated the Black Hills Forest Reserve on February 22, 1897, making this one of America’s earliest protected forests, eight years before the US Forest Service existed. When the agency arrived in 1905, the Black Hills became its testing ground for scientific forest management under conservationists like Gifford Pinchot. The forest’s first timber sale in 1899, known as Case No. 1, was the first federally managed timber harvest in the nation, and the sustainable-use principles it established still guide management today.
You can still read that history on the land: mining ruins, old cabins, and the remnants of flumes that once carried water to the diggings are scattered through the hills, many of them alongside today’s trails.
The Forest Service manages the land under a multiple-use mandate, balancing recreation, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and sustainable timber harvest. The current challenges are real: mountain pine beetle outbreaks, changing climate conditions, and steadily growing recreational use all press on the same acres, and shared-stewardship efforts between the Forest Service, state agencies, tribal nations, and private landowners work those problems together.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association supports that work by operating bookstores at visitor centers and raising funds for the forest’s educational and interpretive programs. Volunteer groups add thousands of hours a year, from the Black Hills Trail Volunteers keeping the trail system in shape to campground hosts and citizen scientists monitoring wildlife and forest health.
Your part is the easy one: stay on designated trails, pack out what you pack in, keep campfires legal and dead out, give wildlife room, and be considerate of the next visitor. The conservation guide covers the partnerships in depth.
The forest is open year-round, 24 hours a day, with no entrance fee; some roads, campgrounds, and facilities close seasonally for snow. Ranger district offices in Custer, Rapid City, and Spearfish, South Dakota, and Newcastle, Wyoming provide maps, permits, and local advice, typically from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm with extended summer hours. Each season plays differently:
Elevation here runs from 3,000 to over 7,000 feet, so weather changes fast. Summer days in the 70s and 80s can turn cool at night; pack layers and rain gear in any month, stay hydrated, and give yourself time to acclimate if you are coming from lower ground. Cell service is spotty, so download offline maps and carry a paper one. Fire danger can run high in late summer; check restrictions before planning a campfire. And if your dates land on the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in early August, book everything well in advance.
The Veterans Point Trail near Pactola Reservoir offers a paved path to scenic overlooks, and the Roughlock Falls Trail in Spearfish Canyon runs on boardwalks suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. Several campgrounds have accessible sites with paved pads and adapted facilities, and the Mickelson Trail’s gentle railroad grade suits adaptive cycling. Forest offices can point you to more; helps you build the itinerary around it.
Hiking, biking, and scenic drives, from the Centennial Trail to Iron Mountain Road.
Campgrounds, dispersed sites, and historic Forest Service cabins.
Black Elk Peak, Spearfish Canyon, and the lakes.
Seasonal adventures, from elk in the meadows to trout in the creeks.
The people and events that shaped the forest, from Paha Sapa to Case No. 1.
How BHNF stays wild: partnerships, stewardship, and forest health.
What you need before riding the forest’s motorized trail system.
One more for the pack: Smokey Bear has been teaching wildfire prevention since 1944, and the park store carries a licensed Smokey Bear collection alongside the full Black Hills National Forest shop.
This guide stays focused on Black Hills National Forest. For Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands, Devils Tower, nearby towns, and multi-site itineraries, use our Black Hills trip planner.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association is the nonprofit cooperating association at Black Hills National Forest. The visitor center bookstores, the online park store, and memberships fund interpretation and education here, and proceeds support education, conservation, and visitor services at BHPFA partner parks and forests.
You can also donate or volunteer.
Every purchase supports this place
We run the bookstores inside the visitor centers. Field guides, maps, and gear, with proceeds going back into education, interpretation, and visitor services.
Where we work
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