Region
Highlights
- Black Elk Peak is the highest peak in South Dakota.
- It is also the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.
- Black Elk Peak is located within the Black Elk Wilderness area within Black Hills National Forest.
- The summit can be reached by following the trails either from Sylvan Lake, Camp Remington, Highway 244, Palmer Creek Road, Mount Rushmore, or Horse Thief Lake.
- An abandoned fire lookout tower is on the summit.
Routes
67 climbs • 7.3 mi • 1,370 ft gain • 4 hr 9 min
5 climbs • 6.9 mi • 1,193 ft gain • 3 hr 59 min
2 climbs • 10.1 mi • 2,126 ft gain
Latest climbs
"It's definitely a good idea to pack those protein bars and bring plenty of water! It's a decently long hike with some spots with respectable elevation gain. Some rocky parts of the trail may require longer strides or a walking stick if you need it. The trail does afford you plenty of breathtaking views as well as spots to rest and appreciate them, which rewards a challenging yet equally satisfying work out! My friend and I had an out and back total time of 3 hours on the trail, so make sure that you plan accordingly. All that said, and enjoyable experience I could see myself coming oack for many more times!" — HillClimbsMountains813 • Sep 15, 2025
"Quick three day road trip, Iowa Hawkeye Point , along with both the Dakota's Black Elk Peak and White Butte. almost 3 thousand miles round trip. Was a long one but beautiful. Drove up from Black Elk, and was able to knock this one and the same day, nice little hike to the top. Took us some time to find the actual trail head and car park, but in the end was great to have these three completed. " — CravinoCrew • Jul 26, 2025
"Climbed all 10 mountains in the Rapid City 10 peaks challenge in 24 hours
Buzzards Roost 3/28 10:50;
Boulder Hill 3/28 11:50;
Little Devils Tower 3/28 13:13;
Black Elk Peak 3/28 14:15;
Custer Peak 3/28 17:20;
Terry Peak 3/28 18:30;
Mount Theodore Roosevelt 3/28 19:31;
Cowboy Hill 3/28 21:16;
Crow Peak 3/29 07:50;
Bear Butte 3/29 10:03" — SchlongsPeak • Mar 28, 2025
"Hadn't been to Black Elk since its name was changed. Saw a goat around the summit and talked with three fellas that had ridden up on horseback. All and all a pretty good day for a hike." — StoneMan • Jul 21, 2024
"Got a later start than Friday.. go figure. 2nd attempt on this one, only this time from the south. Weather was great.. more like an early fall day. During my attempt to locate a USGS marker, I went over to the obviously higher area than where the lookout tower is, about a 1/10 mile away, where a mountain goat was keeping watch! The 3 markers (2 reference and the summit one) are all marked with the original name Harney. Since the name change refers to the lookout tower area, why the name of the actual summit, now called McGillicuddy Peak, was changed to this is beyond me." — SteveM_StickMan • Jul 21, 2024
"My first 7ker and State High Point summit ever as me and my friends climbed up Black Elk Peak. From the summit and lookout tower we could only see 3 miles out because of the canadian wildfire smoke. Roundtrip was 7 miles, 4 hours 45 minutes. The Black Elk Peak Trail aka Trail 9 is mostly easy but moderate at the end. Be careful walking over loose rocks, slippery rocks, or logs other than that it's a great hike overall." — timothywittrock1 • May 18, 2023
"Very hungover hike with Danny from Sylvan Lake. We opted for the loop. Lots of people out hiking Black Elk. Trails were easy to navigate. It was a very hot an humid day. We were happy to get back to the car when we were done. " — LGH-Tom • Aug 3, 2022
"It was 42 degrees when I started. I expected rain, so I packed my rain gear- just in case. I made it up to the summit in just under two hours taking trail #9. The tread was good with few rocks as I'm used to. The work that went into making the tower on the summit is really incredible. Anyway, I had the summit for about 10 minutes before a group of kids appeared. One of them immediately put his empty water bottle on the wall and watched it blow away. I decided to loop around on trails #3 and #4 instead of going back down #9. Soon it started to rain. Then the rain turned to snow. Fortunately I was prepared so it wasn't that bad, although it was pretty windy. " — Hillary • May 22, 2017
"Left the Sylvan Lake Lodge at 6am......made it to the top at 9am.....awesome weather, great views and a real blast climbing over rocks to get to the marker......the watchtower was a thrill and met a local named Craig who we had some enjoyable dialogue with......it's on to ND now and our next summit....bye....
Walter & Tracey Oddo" — walteroddo • Sep 27, 2015
"Hiked up to the top with my wife to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was a great hike both up and down. The weather was fabulous and the top was quite cool and really windy. The views were amazing and mind blowing. The skies were clear and the view went on forever. There were four horses with riders at the top and how they did that I'll never know. I would have loved to have seen that happen. I barely made it in several places. I was an interesting assortment of people that made this climb...from the hardcore couple that spent the night on the peak to a lady hiking this difficult trail in flip flops and a sundress. If you are near here take the time and do this peak. You will not be sorry. " — lasttofallthedogs • Sep 17, 2015
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.