Black Hills Parks & Forests Association
Caves, granite monuments, bison, gold-rush towns, and prairie badlands, most of them within an hour or two of one another. Here is how to plan a Black Hills trip, starting with the public lands we know best.
The Black Hills are a small region with an outsized list of places to see. From a single base you can tour a cave in the morning, watch bison from your car in the afternoon, and stand under a granite monument at dusk, most of it within an hour or two of driving. This page is the trip-planning companion to our Black Hills National Forest guide. It steps back from the forest itself and looks at the whole region, and it starts with the public lands we know best.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association supports public lands in the Black Hills and in western Nebraska. This page plans a Black Hills trip around Black Hills National Forest, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument. Scotts Bluff, Agate Fossil Beds, and the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands are separate western Nebraska destinations worth their own trip; they are included below as BHPFA partner sites, not as part of the Black Hills.
The other famous stops, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower, and Bear Butte, each have their own operators. We include them here because they pair well with a Black Hills visit, not because we run them.
Most of the region sits within about a hundred miles of Hill City, near the center of the hills, which makes day trips easy. Pick a base, and the rest opens up from there.
These are the public lands BHPFA works with every day, so they are the ones we can tell you the most about, and any of them makes a strong first stop.
The forest is the green center of the whole region: 1.2 million acres of pine country, mountain lakes, and scenic byways, with no entrance fee. Almost every trailhead, overlook, and drive in the Hills sits on or beside forest land, so it is the piece that ties the trip together. The forest guide covers trails, camping, wildlife, and history in depth.
About 45 minutes south of Hill City, Wind Cave protects one of the world’s oldest and most complex caves, known for its rare boxwork, the delicate honeycomb calcite that lines its passages. Above ground, the park holds 33,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and a nationally important conservation bison herd, along with elk, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. Cave tours are ranger-led and can sell out by mid-morning in summer. See the Wind Cave guide.
Just west of Custer, Jewel Cave is currently the fifth-longest cave in the world, with more than 220 miles of mapped passages and exploration continuing. It takes its name from the calcite crystals that sparkle along its walls. The Scenic Tour is the classic way in, a guided walk of about half a mile with a fair number of stairs, so bring a light jacket for the steady 49 degrees below ground. See the Jewel Cave guide.
Two more of our sites sit out in western Nebraska: Scotts Bluff National Monument, an 800-foot bluff that guided wagons along the Oregon Trail, and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, one of the richest Miocene mammal fossil sites in the world. The Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands round out the set. They are a few hours south of the Black Hills, so most visitors give them a separate day rather than a quick hop.
Shopping the park stores or becoming a member supports the sites BHPFA works with: the forest, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Scotts Bluff, Agate Fossil Beds, and the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. It does not fund Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, or the privately run memorials. Those have their own operators and their own stores.
Two mountain carvings draw most of the region’s visitors. Neither is a BHPFA site, but both are easy add-ons from a forest base, so here is what to expect.
The four presidents are about 20 minutes from Hill City, just outside the forest’s eastern edge, and run by the National Park Service. Entrance is free, though there is a parking fee. Walk the half-mile Presidential Trail for the closest views, and stop at the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center and the Sculptor’s Studio. In summer an evening lighting ceremony runs after dark. Crowds are heaviest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., so early morning or late afternoon is the calmer visit. Plan on two to three hours.
About 15 minutes from Hill City, Crazy Horse is a much larger carving still in progress, begun in 1948 at the invitation of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear and carried on by the Ziolkowski family. It is a private memorial, funded by admission and donations rather than the government, so it is not a federal site and the America the Beautiful pass does not apply. The complex includes the Indian Museum of North America and a cultural center with Native artists and performers. The face was finished in 1998, and work continues on the arm and the horse.
Beyond our sites and the carvings, a handful of state and federal areas fill out a trip. Each is run by someone other than BHPFA.
Right against the forest’s eastern boundary, Custer State Park is South Dakota’s largest state park at 71,000 acres, run by the state. Its herd of about 1,400 bison is the headline: they roam freely and often stop traffic on the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road, best driven early or late. The Needles Highway threads through granite spires and narrow tunnels, and Sylvan Lake is the trailhead for Black Elk Peak. A state park entrance pass is required, and it is separate from any federal pass.
Over in Wyoming, about two hours from Hill City or 1.5 hours from Spearfish, Devils Tower rises 867 feet in a column of stone that is one of the most recognizable formations in the country. The paved Tower Trail loops the base in a little over a mile. The tower is sacred to many Plains tribes and is a well-known climbing destination; June is its busiest month.
Just east of Sturgis, Bear Butte, Mato Paha in Lakota, is a sacred site and an active ceremonial place for the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Plains nations. If you hike the Summit Trail, treat it as the living religious site it is: stay on the trail, do not disturb the prayer cloths and tobacco ties tied along it, and do not photograph anyone taking part in a ceremony. It is quieter than most Black Hills stops, which suits it.
About an hour east of the hills on Interstate 90, the Badlands trade pine and granite for eroded buttes, spires, and open mixed-grass prairie, with bison, bighorn sheep, and some of the darkest night skies in the region. The 39-mile Badlands Loop Road strings together the overlooks and short trails. It is run by the National Park Service, charges its own entrance fee, and gets very hot with little shade in summer, so go early or late and carry water.
The gold rush left a string of towns that are easy stops between the parks, each with its own character.
The best known of the lot, Deadwood boomed after the 1876 gold strike and earned its Wild West reputation from figures like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, both buried up the hill at Mount Moriah Cemetery. The whole district is a National Historic Landmark, with restored Main Street buildings, small museums, casinos, and free street reenactments through the day. It is about 45 minutes from Hill City.
A few miles from Deadwood, Lead (say “leed”) grew around the Homestake Mine, once the largest and deepest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere, which ran from 1876 to 2002. Today the same tunnels house the Sanford Underground Research Facility, where physicists study dark matter and neutrinos nearly a mile down. The visitor center overlooks the enormous Open Cut and explains both the mining and the science.
The oldest town in the Black Hills, founded during the 1874 expedition that confirmed the gold, Custer keeps a relaxed, family-friendly feel. Its wide main street and painted buffalo sculptures make it an easy walk, and its central location puts Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, and Custer State Park all within a short drive.
Billed as the “Heart of the Hills,” Hill City sits near the center of the region with galleries, wineries, and the 1880 Train, a vintage steam line that runs to Keystone. It also sits on the George S. Mickelson Trail, which makes it a natural base for both drivers and cyclists.
The region is compact enough to string several stops into one day. A few routes that work well:
These assume good weather and moderate traffic; in peak summer, add time for parking near Mount Rushmore and on the Needles Highway.
Cooler air, better wildlife viewing, and open parking at the popular stops before the mid-morning rush.
An America the Beautiful pass covers entrance fees at federal fee sites such as Badlands National Park and Devils Tower National Monument. Wind Cave has no entrance fee, and its cave tours are separate and not covered. State parks such as Custer and Bear Butte need a South Dakota park pass.
Services thin out toward the Badlands and the Nebraska sites, so top off the tank and bring extra water.
Cell service is spotty across much of the region, so save your maps and carry a paper one as backup.
Many attractions run seasonal schedules, and some scenic roads close in winter. Confirm before you build the day around them.
The pine-covered center of the region: trails, lakes, scenic byways, and no entrance fee.
A rare boxwork cave below, mixed-grass prairie and a nationally important conservation bison herd above.
Currently the fifth-longest cave in the world, with more than 220 miles of mapped passages.
Scotts Bluff National Monument, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, and the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands round out the sites BHPFA supports, a few hours south in Nebraska. Every purchase in the park store goes back into programs at these public lands.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association is the nonprofit cooperating association for the forest, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Scotts Bluff, Agate Fossil Beds, and the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. Memberships and park-store sales fund interpretation, education, and visitor services at the sites we support.
You can also donate or volunteer.
