33 trails · 281 trail miles · Best season: May – October
South Dakota's Black Hills offer pine-forested mountain hiking and granite spire scrambles, while Badlands National Park provides otherworldly eroded landscape exploration.
Best Season
May – October
Terrain
Black Hills, badlands, prairie, granite spires
Top Trail: South Dakota State Forest Bear Creek Trail
South Dakota has 33 hiking trails covering 281 trail miles across 1 national parks and 21 state parks.
The best hiking season in South Dakota is May – October. The terrain includes black hills, badlands, prairie, granite spires.
The top hiking destinations in South Dakota include Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, Black Elk Wilderness.
Notable long-distance and iconic trails in South Dakota include Centennial Trail (111 mi), Cathedral Spires Trail, Notch Trail (Badlands).
The highest-rated trail in South Dakota is South Dakota State Forest Bear Creek Trail. The average trail difficulty across the state is Moderate.