When You Only Have Half A Day In Custer State Park

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Definitely spending half a day in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota is not enough, but sometimes that’s what you have during your travel trip. The question is, what can you do when you only have half a day in Custer State Park? Is it even worth the visit? The answer to the last question is absolutely, and you must continue reading this article for finding answers for the first question.

One July, our family had a chance to visit Custer State Park after we visited Mount Rushmore in the morning. We weren’t really prepared for the trip to Custer SP on the same day we visited Mount Rushmore. After we learned they are located right next to each other, it didn’t make sense to make another visit the next day to Custer SP from where we stayed an hour away in Hot Springs.

So, from Mount Rushmore we took SD Hwy 244 towards Hill City. When you go our way, stay here until you see a left turn sign to SD Hwy 87 to Custer State Park and Needles Hwy. The entrance to the park located not too far from the turn. After you pay the admission fee, the Park Ranger will give you a brochure and a newspaper filled with information about the park.

The 2021 admission to the park is as follows:

Temporary 1-7 days: $10 per motorcycle, $20 per vehicle

Annual: $36 first vehicle, $18 for 2nd vehicle (with coupon), $80 transferable license

Motorcoach license: $3 per person per visit

You might think $20 for half a day in a state park is too much, but it’s so worth it. Trust me. 

Once you enter the park, this is where all the things you will do in half a day in Custer State Park begins.

When You Only Have Half A Day In Custer State Park

Driving on Needles Highway is a must when you make a day visit to Custer State Park. It is one of the four scenic drives in the park that runs 14 miles long on SD 87. So, you start your visit on the right track.

Just a few yards after the entrance you will see needle-like granite formations in a distance. As we got closer to the needles I said to myself, “So, this is it. The needles of the Black Hills.” But, this is only the beginning. The more spectacular needles await you further inside the park.

An information in the newspaper said to expect travel time on Needles Highway about 45 to 60 minutes, but you will make lots of stop along the way. Our family started around noon and left the park closer to 6 p.m. Approximately half a day.

Driving through tunnels is another unique things in Custer State Park for your day visit. Tunnels are found on three highways in and near Custer State Park. Since you enter from SD 87, north of Sylvan Lake, you will drive into your first tunnel in the park: Hood Tunnel. It is 8’9” wide and 9’8” high, so make sure your vehicle will be able to pass this tunnel.

Not long after the tunnel, after the road goes up a bit and you make a sharps turn, you will see rock formations that makes you want to stop. Fortunately there’s a space to park your vehicle on the left side of the road. Follow the path and you will be amazed by the needle-like granite formations here. If you walk further down, you will see a huge rock in a distance where rock climbers prefer to enjoy the beauty of the park from the top. We spent around 20 minutes here and our dog Snoopy enjoyed his walked here as well.

Next stop is Sylvan Lake. It is a very beautiful area with part of the lake use for swimming, fishing, and canoeing or SUP, besides walking or hiking around the lakeshore. Rugged granite formations piercing from the water and you can see needles surrounding the area. It is incredibly beautiful! No wonder it became one of the most iconic lakes in the park.

However, parking can become challenging in the summer season since Sylvan Lake is one of the busiest lakes in the park. We were shocked to see numbers of people and cars by the time we got here. Parking was full, even the one on the other side of the lake. I asked my husband to dropped me off somewhere between the two parking areas before he made another round to find a parking spot. I didn’t want to leave without taking pictures and walking on the lakeshore a bit. When I found him, our van was finally securely parking in front of the General Store.

Custer State Park is open year round. If you want to experience summer in the lake, visit at the end of summer, during the week, after schools are back in session. Parking won’t be a problem anymore. Best time for visitors without children or school age children to homeschooler and road schooling family.

As I mentioned above, there are hiking trails surrounding Sylvan Lake. Sylvan Lake Shore Trail is an easy 1 mile (loop) that can be accessed at various points along the lakeshore. The trail connects to Sunday Gulch Trail behind the lake dam, a strenuous 2.8 miles (loop). It also connects to Trail #9 that will take you to Black Elk Peak (3.3 miles, one-way) in the Black Hills National Forest. Another one is Trail #4, 3.5 miles (one-way), that will also take you to Black Elk Peak.

Our family only did part of the Sylvan Lake Shore Trail because of the limited time we had. We walked all the way to behind the lake dam, passing a gap, one of the most selfie spots in the lake area. Snoopy had fun meeting people and other dogs here.

Your Half A Day In Custer State Park Is Getting Awesome!

After an hour in the lake area, we continued driving on Needles Highway. The views along the road is getting more beautiful and the road is getting narrow, too. A little over one mile you will see your second tunnel, Needles Eye Tunnel. I suggest you to get off of your vehicle and takes pictures and or videos of cars or motorcycles coming from the opposite direction.

Needles Eye Tunnel is the smallest tunnel (width and height) in Custer State Park. With 8’0” wide and 9’9” high you must drive carefully through this tunnel. Lots of people making a video when they drive through this tunnel, and we saw heads popping out from the car roof. Time spent here was around 5 minutes.

Remember when I told you that the needles you see after the entrance is just the beginning? So, yeah, once you pass the Needles Eye Tunnel, expect to see spectacular views of the needle-like granite formations in this area. It’s ah-mazing! You might wonder why Custer is not a National Park or at least a National Monument. And, you might want to stop at every lookout. Seriously!

Another activity that you must do while visiting Custer State Park is hiking, and Cathedral Spires Trail is a favorite for many people. It is a strenuous 1.5 miles (one-way) trail, but all I can say it’s a beautiful trail and we weren’t disappointed at all.

Part of the trail is rocky and there’s an incline that is rocky as well. I guess this is why the trail fell on strenuous difficulty. Once you pass this, you will come to a wide open area and the spires look breathtaking! Stay as long as you want because going back is faster as usual. We spent 1.5 hours in this area and our dog Snoopy was happy with his walking time on the trail.

Since it is a favorite spot, parking area gets full fast. There is another parking area just a little further down the road, but visitors who come from the opposite direction might fill this spot first. So, cross your fingers you will get a parking spot here. Otherwise, you will just have to come back. Cathedral Spires Trail is 2.5 miles east of Sylvan Lake, still on SD 87.

After this you will pass several lookout and another tunnel, Iron Creek Tunnel. It is 8’9” wide and 10’10” tall. Views along the way are still amazing! When you get to T-intersection, turn east to US Hwy 16A.  

Your Half A Day in Custer State Park is Almost End

Normally you begin your visit to a park by stopping at the Visitor Center to gather information. Since you start your visit on the other end of the Visitor Center, now it’s the time to hit the place, and it’s totally fine.

Custer State Park Visitor Center is located at the junction of US Hwy 16A and Wildlife Loop Road. It’s opened in 2016, and it’s the best place to learn about the park’s iconic wild animal on the prairie, the bison. You can also watch a 20 minute movie that plays every half hour in the theater, narrated by Kevin Costner. Or, attending a Park Ranger Program right before the entrance. Custer State Park Visitor Center open year-round and depending on your time of arrival, expect to spend around 45 minutes in this place.

What I like most about the Visitor Center is an interactive map that shows real time location of bison in the Wildlife Loop Road. That’s where you are going next, which is also the end of your visit in Custer State Park.

Wildlife Loop Road is 18 miles long and the expected travel time is 1 hour and 30 minutes, depending on wildlife jams. I’m not kidding you. We were driving for miles and was lucky enough to see one lonely bison in the prairie, until we arrived at the ponderosa woods and suddenly hundreds of them coming out from the woods. They were moving fast like a flash flood. I’ve never even seen bison like these in Yellowstone National Park. The closest one is at Caprock Canyons State Park in the Texas Panhandle, and it’s less than this.  

Fortunately there wasn’t any bison thinking about scratching his head on our car, or any other cars that day. We were just taking pictures and making videos of the herd, trying to figure out if the one that just passed by the window was bigger than the one that was coming our way. Or, watching the calf walking with his momma. How cute!

 

Snoopy wasn’t comfortable at the back of the van though. He was breathing heavily the whole time we stopped there, and we parked like that for almost 30 minutes! Good thing there were only 4 cars ahead of us, so we could move slowly when the bison stream was slowing down. The traffic from the opposite direction was another story. I think the car line was almost a mile long. Some of them weren’t happy at all.

Other wildlife animals we got to see that afternoon was a pronghorns and the park’s begging burros. These burros are famous because they like to approach the vehicles and expect you to give them food. If you have your window open, they will put their heads in and you get to take a selfie with them. Haha… I saw people parked their car and got out from the car to pet and feed the burros. Park Ranger was there at the time, but I don’t know if they are always there. 

The burros are not native to the Black Hills. They are descendants from the herd that once hauled visitors to the top of Black Elk Peak. Years ago the rides were discontinued and the burros were released into the park.

We spent about an hour in the Wildlife Loop Road, and we didn’t even drive the whole loop. We left the park from Blue Bell Entrance where SD 87 turns to US Hwy 385 that took us back to where we stayed in Hot Springs. 

When I checked the clock, it’s just a couple of minutes away from six. It means we’ve spent about six hours in the park that includes the drive and the stops, from SD 87 entrance on the northwest to SD 87 entrance on the south. We’ve seen and done a lot in six hours!

Now that you’ve read our half a day in Custer State Park experience, you know that you must visit this park even though you don’t have a day to spend there. So much to do and see, and you can always stay longer at the place you preferred. Say you prefer canoeing in the lake than hiking, than you spend more time in Sylvan Lake. And that $20 entrance fee is worth it, isn’t it?

Good To Know About Custer State Park

• One of the largest state parks in the U.S. (71,000 acres)
• Enjoyed by almost 2 million visitors from around the world every year
• Established in 1919
• Open year-round
• Best family travel destination in South Dakota
• It has 4 scenic drives (Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road, Wildlife Loop Road, and Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway)
• There are 4 lakes in the park (Sylvan Lake, Stockade Lake, Legion Lake, and Center Lake)
• It offers 9 campgrounds and 4 private historic lodges for its visitors
• You can enjoy the plays at the Black Hills Playhouse from June to August
• One annual event not to miss: Buffalo Roundup (last year they had over 15,000 people attended the roundup despite the cold weather and the season’s first snowfall in the Black Hills)

For more information about the Buffalo Roundup, accommodations in the park, and other things you want to know about Custer State Park, visit the park’s website.