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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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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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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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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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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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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