Custer, SD

6 days ago

3 min read

From 17-21 September, 2026 we are in Custer, SD

A note about this AirBnB. This AirBnB was SO small (how small was it?) that I had to unpack outside

and there were not hangers, shelves or drawers, so my stuff was either draped on the bannister, or stuffed onto a small window sill.

18th - Hike 1: Black Elk Peak (a.k.a. Harney Peak Lookout) - 6.91 miles with 1600' elevation gain. Coddiwomple score: 8/10 (no wildlife, overheated). Weather - hot and sunny. This trail goes to the Harney Peak fire lookout.

The lookout was built in 1939 by the CCC and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Harney Peak is 7242'. Maybe that's to the top of the lookout? Mine had us a bit below that (7209')

and the highest point East of the Rocky Mountains and West of the Pyrenees (in Europe).

I didn't know all this before we started as the trail was mentioned to us as a "must do" by someone we randomly walked by on another hike in Yellowstone. It was hot when we started. I lost my sense of humor early in the trail and especially when we got to the stairs at the top.

That said, it was a very beautiful trail. The Black Hills were beautiful.

There were some interesting walk-throughs and windows to views as we neared the top

At the top we were above the helicopter flying around and level with the clouds (take my word for it - the photo doesn't show the clouds well).

Supposedly we could see five states: S. Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana.

The weather was nice and we decided to have dinner on the deck. The deck added a nice amount of space to the tiny house.

19th - Hike 2 Lover's Leap - 4 miles with 870' elevation gain. Coddiwomple score: was 5/10 until we saw the wildlife - now is 7/10. Weather: cloudy and cool. This hike went up to a ridge and a rocky outcrop where two Native American lovers were said to have leapt to their death.

We decided not to take the leap that day.

The track was quite churned up with plenty of rocks to trip over.

After the cliff edge, the trail meandered down to a canyon valley and there became quite beautiful.

The trees were a bit more diverse and included pine, bur oak and beech. We saw a herd of white tail deer.

Walking on was a beautiful experience. We got visited by a red squirrel

and then we stopped to watch a herd of bighorn sheep come down the canyon wall

with their babies

and proceed to come over to where we were standing. It was a pleasure to watch.

After this walk we decided to take the Wildlife Loop - an 18 mile drive through Custer State Park - known for its wildlife viewing. We will just miss the annual "buffalo round-up", where the buffalo (that's what they're called locally), are rounded up and herded into corrals for counting, medical, sale, and culling. The current herd numbers about 1500.

We decided not to take the buffalo safari (thank goodness).

There were a number of bison near the road as we drove the loop.

And donkeys.

We also saw prairie dogs.

We tried to make it to Jewel Cave, but had to take a miss because they were sold out on tours.

The best part of the day was when a local bunny came by to visit.

20th - rainy day. We originally planned to go to Mt. Rushmore and The Badlands today. Feeling optimistic, we took highway 16A to Mt. Rushmore in order to see the view of the monument through the CCC constructed tunnels.