"I drove in to the location where I started my climb. I drove South from Pactola Lake until I reached Victoria Lake Rd. After driving a ways on Victoria Lake Rd. I drove on a couple of Forest Service Roads until the road wasn't fit for driving on. From there I followed along the edge of 2 power-line clearings as far as I could. Then I made my own trail up to the summit; there was some challenge to it. Near the summit I ran into loose break-away rock, so I followed a line of trees through the rocks until I reached grass again. I figured if the rocks gave way I could hang onto the trees. Someone had arranged a stack of stones at the top as some sort of small monument with a sign on it. Near the top were a few excellent viewing locations allowing me to see for a long ways, especially to the West. However, I was also able to catch some views to the East, Northwest, and South. For me this hike was definitely worth it! If you do hike it, I suggest hiking it with someone else as I should've done. I didn't see any trace of another person until I made it to the top and was able to look down on the town of Johnson Siding." — montemickley • Jul 5, 2018

"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

"We parked off the fork in road, 1.25 mile from summit, followed trail. 1 hour hike up. Temperature 65F, Low humidity, light breeze, kept the bugs away. Wind picked up, time to leave. Great pine smells up and back" — BadlandsBill • May 6, 2017

"Hiked up on a cold winter day after a fresh snow. It was 8 degrees at the trailhead and made for a very comfortable hike. The trek took four hours and when we got back to the trailhead the temperature was 29 degrees. That's Black Hills weather for you. " — ACDelco • Nov 27, 2015

"A day of heavy fog, that was even thicker at the summit. The road was damp and the bushwhacking was even wetter. Zoe and I were both soaked by the time we got back to the pickup. Literally no view what-so-ever. I enjoyed the landscape at the top though. A good hike!" — ACDelco • Nov 4, 2015