Up Close & Personal

Create memories as you discover encounters with free-roaming wildlife in an outdoor enthusiast’s haven of new adventures.

Custer State Park is a 71,000-acre vacation paradise located in the southern part of the Black Hills, loaded with picturesque views and family activities.

Jeep tours are a great family adventure

They will bring you close up to the magnificent wildlife. Visit in late spring and early summer and you may be able to see the baby buffalo prancing around the pastures.

Open year-round

The park boasts nine campgrounds filled with a variety of setup options from tents, RVs and motorhomes to cabins and resorts. Take in the fun around you and hike a nearby trail, kayak at Sylvan Lake, or go for a horseback ride.

A great hike to find is the Lover’s Leap Trail

A four-mile loop that has views of the spires and Black Elk Peak. Take a photo with the famous sign reading, “Custer State Park is a place where one can still be an unworried and unregimented individual and wear any old clothes and sit on a log and get his sanity back again.”

The Visitor Center

The Visitor Center offers an array of features that include a large, interactive map; a 20-foot-tall scale model of the Cathedral Spires; and numerous displays depicting the natural world of Custer State Park. It also has a 100-seat theater where a 20-minute film, narrated by Kevin Costner, immerses viewers in many different aspects of the park so they can enjoy all there is to offer during their visit.

Whether you are an outdoor enthusiast or simply traveling through to see the scenic views, Custer State Park has something special for every Black Hills adventurer and visitor.

Trek through the park in an open-air Jeep in search of pronghorns, elk, and the noble buffalo. Tours depart daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ride takes about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

A temporary entrance license for Custer State Park = $20 per vehicle

Several hiking trails in the park lead to Black Elk Peak, which rises to 7,242 feet (2,207 metres) and is the highest point in North America east of the Rocky Mountains.

Did you know?

Educational opportunities

Take a guided nature walk led by park naturalists, participate in a canoeing class, or try your luck catching fish. For the kids, the Junior Naturalist Program teaches outdoor learning through hands-on activities.

Wildlife

Over the past 100 years, the park has become a model of conservancy and land use with the reintroduction of elk, bison, pronghorn antelope, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and goats into the preserve. Remember, all of these creatures are wild and should not be approached; view them from a safe distance.