Sd Trail Guides

Black Hills Playgrounds Trail

📍 Custer State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 4.0 Loop

The Black Hills Playgrounds Trail, often accessed via the Cathedral Spires trailhead, winds through the most dramatic gr…

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Boland Ridge Trail

📍 Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Moderate 📏 3.4 Out-and-Back

The Boland Ridge Trail is one of Wind Cave National Park's most satisfying longer day hikes, climbing through ponderosa …

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Castle Trail

📍 Castle Trailhead, Interior

Moderate 📏 10.0 Point-to-Point

Castle Trail is the longest maintained hiking trail in Badlands National Park, traversing 10 miles across the upper prai…

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Centennial Trail Wind Cave Section

📍 Highland Creek Trailhead, Hot Springs

Moderate 📏 6.0 Out-and-Back

The Centennial Trail is a 111-mile long-distance trail crossing the entire length of the Black Hills from north to south…

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Ceremonial Trail

📍 Bear Butte State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 1.5 Loop

The Ceremonial Trail encircles the lower slopes of Bear Butte, providing access to the base of the sacred mountain's mos…

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Coteau des Prairies Trail

📍 Newton Hills State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 5.0 Loop

The Coteau des Prairies Trail traverses the highest terrain in southeastern South Dakota, climbing across the rolling oa…

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Creek Bottom Trail

📍 Palisades State Park, SD

Easy 📏 3.0 Loop

The Creek Bottom Trail follows Split Rock Creek through the wooded bottomlands of Palisades State Park, offering a gentl…

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Door Trail

📍 Door and Window Trailhead, Interior

Easy 📏 0.75 Out-and-Back

The Door Trail leads through a literal gap in the badlands wall — an opening in the eroded buttes that acts as a gateway…

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Elk Mountain Trail

📍 Elk Mountain Campground, Hot Springs

Moderate 📏 4.5 Loop

Elk Mountain Trail loops through a representative cross-section of Wind Cave National Park's surface ecosystem -- the mi…

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Lake Loop

📍 Bear Butte State Park, SD

Easy 📏 1.5 Loop

The Lake Loop at Bear Butte State Park circles Bear Butte Lake, a shallow prairie reservoir at the base of the sacred bu…

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Lake Loop Trail

📍 Newton Hills State Park, SD

Easy 📏 3.0 Loop

The Lake Loop Trail at Newton Hills State Park circles Lakewood Lake, a small but ecologically productive impoundment ne…

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Medicine Root Loop

📍 Castle Trail Trailhead, Interior

Moderate 📏 4.0 Loop

The Medicine Root Loop traverses the open mixed-grass prairie atop the badlands wall, offering a completely different pe…

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Notch Trail

📍 Door and Window Trailhead, Interior

Strenuous 📏 1.5 Out-and-Back

Notch Trail is the most adventurous maintained trail in Badlands National Park, climbing a log ladder up a steep clay wa…

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Prairie Vista Trail

📍 Wind Cave Visitor Center, Hot Springs

Easy 📏 2.3 Loop

Prairie Vista Trail loops through the mixed-grass prairie surrounding the Wind Cave visitor center, providing direct acc…

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Prairie Vista Trail

📍 Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Easy 📏 1.0 Loop

The Prairie Vista Trail is a flat, easy loop through the open mixed-grass prairie section of Wind Cave National Park, on…

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Quartzite Canyon Trail

📍 Palisades State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 2.0 Loop

The Quartzite Canyon Trail at Palisades State Park navigates one of the most geologically extraordinary landscapes in th…

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Rankin Ridge Nature Trail

📍 Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Moderate 📏 1.4 Loop

Rankin Ridge is the highest point in Wind Cave National Park at 5,013 feet, and the loop trail to its summit provides th…

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Rankin Ridge Trail

📍 Rankin Ridge Lookout, Hot Springs

Moderate 📏 1.0 Loop

Rankin Ridge Trail climbs to the highest point in Wind Cave National Park at 5,013 feet, topped by a historic fire looko…

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Rankin Ridge Trail

📍 Rankin Ridge Lookout, Hot Springs

Moderate 📏 1.0 Loop

Rankin Ridge Trail climbs to the highest point in Wind Cave National Park at 5,013 feet, topped by a historic fire looko…

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Rock Climbing Area Loop

📍 Palisades State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 1.0 Loop

The Rock Climbing Area Loop at Palisades State Park provides a short but engaging circuit around the concentrated area o…

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Saddle Pass Trail

📍 Saddle Pass Trailhead, Interior

Strenuous 📏 0.6 Out-and-Back

Saddle Pass Trail is the shortest strenuous hike in Badlands National Park, climbing 200 feet in just 0.3 miles up a ste…

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Summit Trail

📍 Bear Butte State Park, SD

Strenuous 📏 4.0 Out-and-Back

The Summit Trail ascends to the 4,426-foot summit of Bear Butte, a solitary laccolith rising dramatically from the surro…

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Sunday Gulch Trail

📍 Custer State Park, SD

Strenuous 📏 3.0 Loop

Sunday Gulch Trail is widely regarded as the most thrilling and physically demanding short hike in Custer State Park, de…

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Wildlife Loop Road Hike

📍 Custer State Park, SD

Moderate 📏 8.0 Loop

The Wildlife Loop Road Hike follows informal trails and park roads through the open prairie and ponderosa savanna of Cus…

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Woodland Trail

📍 Newton Hills State Park, SD

Easy 📏 2.0 Loop

The Woodland Trail at Newton Hills State Park offers an intimate loop through the park's mature bur oak forest, providin…

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Badlands Loop Road Cycling

📍 Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Interior

Strenuous 📏 30.0 Loop

Badlands Loop Road is one of the most dramatic bike rides in the national park system, circling through 30 miles of othe…

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Wind Cave to Hot Springs Cycling

📍 Wind Cave Visitor Center, Hot Springs

Moderate 📏 20.0 Out-and-Back

Highway 385 connecting Wind Cave National Park to the city of Hot Springs provides a 10-mile cycling route through the s…

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