Surrounded by Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore, and other national parks and monuments, Custer State Park is both a treat and unique compared to these other locations. After our visit, these are hands-down our family’s picks for the 4 best things to do in Custer State Park!
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For many visitors to the Black Hills, South Dakota area, Custer State Park will dominate their time and it should! With an abundance of activities including the Wildlife Loop Road, Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road, and Sylvan Lake hike, you can spend a few days in the park and still have more to enjoy! We stayed right in Custer at a wonderful VRBO home rental and would stay there again!
The 4 Best Things to Do in Custer State Park
Wildlife Loop Road
The Wildlife Loop Road is an 18 mile, semi-circular route through the southern heart of the park. As one of the most popular activities in the park you should plan on hitting stop and go traffic as people feed the burros from their car windows, gaze at the bison herd or wait for them to cross the road, and see prairie dogs, coyotes, and elk.
For bison, the best spot to see them is near the Buffalo Corrals, in the southeastern part of the park. It was also near here (where the wildlife loop road intersects with the dirt NPS 6 road that heads into Wind Cave National Park) that we encountered the burros and their nosy heads poking into our windows looking for food! The squealing from the backseat (and I suppose front as well!) as they stuck their whole head into the car was fun for a bit, then we hit our limit and moved along. If that whole thing creeps you out, just keep your windows up!
Purists, myself included, view Custer as more touristy than the pure nature of the Badlands and Wind Cave parks with their wild bison and animals. Custer State Park has a maintained herd of bison that are placed in corrals and annually the population is kept to about 1,300 to prevent overgrazing of the parklands. We all have our opinions, but this is still the largest herd of bison I’ve seen in one spot and for that it is a must see!
Needles Highway
The second of the 4 best things to do in Custer State Park is without any hesitation the Needles Highway! At 14 miles long, this narrow road between highway 16A and the fantastic Sylvan Lake is a stunning drive through pine and spruce forests and granite mountains that poke up from the ground like needles. Beyond simply a drive, you also have a few spots along the route that will give you great vistas over the Black Hills and make this a great way to spend an hour or two.
Built in 1922 and part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, you should expect a slow go and one portion in particular is extremely tight for vehicles to pass through (one at a time). The road does close over the winter and includes 2 tunnels that are just 8′ 9″ wide and 9′ 8″ high, so don’t bring the trailer or RV on this one and be careful what you have on the roof!
Iron Mountain Road
While the Needles Highway gets all the attention, portions of the Iron Mountain Road are remarkable and include one of my favorite views of Mount Rushmore at the far north end as you come north through the Doane Robinson Tunnel. This is simply the best way to approach Mount Rushmore and while parts of the route are isolated and others are slow switchbacks the views are worth it!
Also setting this route (completed in 1933) apart are the 3 tunnels, 3 separate spots where the road makes a complete 360 degree loop to change elevation, and 314 curves in just 17 miles! So, I suppose if you get carsick this won’t be the best route for you, but despite my family typically checking that box we took it slow and had a great time. For obvious reasons this route is also closed in the winter and not recommended if you have a trailer or are in an RV.
Syvlan Lake
Our final of the 4 best things to do in Custer State Park is to hike the loop at Sylvan Lake. This hike is easy as it is primarily flat and, at 1.6 miles round trip, short. You won’t think about the length because so much of it is looking out over this beautiful (man made) lake! For kids there is a portion where you get to do some scrambling, cross over a series of boulders, walk along the river, climb a few stairs, and walk between two granite slabs.
We loved this hike and it was easy to do on the way back from Wind Cave National Park, Mount Rushmore, Jewel Cave, or in combination with either the obvious choice of the Needles Highway, or the Wildlife, or Iron Mountain roads.
Custer State Park was better than we expected and presented some fun and interesting places to explore! Get on out there and adventure beyond!
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