Tonka - Nov 30, 2020 8:00 am Date Climbed: Sep 3, 2020
You can't get there from here.
Upon entrance to Sylvan Lake we were told the trail was closed just below the summit for trail work and we could not get there from Sylvan Lakes but we tried anyway and were turned around not to far from where Sylvan and Willow meet. We tried a more direct, off trail, route but the trail boss saw us and guilted us in to turning around.
Sylvan was open the following day but since we had done almost all of it we did the peak from the Willow Creek side and glad we did. The Sylvan lake trail would have been a non stop conga line while we were one of a maybe 4 groups taking the longer route. Fun, nice day.
themnkid - Oct 18, 2020 4:23 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2020
October Climb
Utilized trail #9 up and trail #4 down. 28 degrees and colder than expected in October. Great hike.
tehbea5t - Oct 3, 2020 5:39 pm Date Climbed: Oct 3, 2020
#9 RT
Goes quick
Kyle Van Vleet - Sep 15, 2020 3:23 pm Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2014
Gotta love the Blackhills.
Did this one along time ago on a whim. Great views of the entire Blackhills from up top!
Snow began at 6,700', spent two hours in rain and six hours in falling snow and the final 45 minutes in the dark, it was a great time. Last person to leave the TH parking lot. I used the south trail up (Trail 4) and north trail (Trail 9S) down.
Slippery but beautiful. Did not attempt to find the USGS marker in the falling snow.
Was surprised to find masked hikers at 6,500' hiding on side of trail. I was not expecting people with a serious respiratory disease to be hiking at high elevations, in thinner air, where it is naturally more difficult to breathe. The hills and wilderness are where I find pandemic safety.
Four times in June 2000, while at a family reunion.
Kristalea - Jan 26, 2020 9:49 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2018
Holy Mountain
My dog Maci had a little bit of a challenge at the end trying to climb the grate staircase but she's not a quitter and we made the HP
hgrapid - Dec 17, 2019 2:46 pm Date Climbed: Aug 12, 2001
My first State high point
This was my first State high point. It was very enjoyable and pretty. It is a very popular trail.
triyoda - Oct 12, 2019 8:00 am Date Climbed: Sep 18, 2019
The long way
Made a 14 mile loop by ascending the #9 trail from Willow Creek campground and descending #2 (Lost Cabin) trail. Avoided all the crowds on the main (Sylvan Lakes) trail. Met another state HPer on the summit,
radbb - Oct 7, 2019 10:15 am Date Climbed: Sep 27, 2019
Black Hill Summit
This is South Dakota.
FACTS: I flew into Bismarck, ND. I then proceeded on a 909-mile road trip through the badlands to bag the highpoints in ND and SD. Here is SD, highpoint number 27/51 for me and ranked 15/51.
TRAILHEAD / HIKE:
I parked at the Sylvan Lake Trailhead. I was the only soul there. It happened to be the day they were doing a buffalo roundup, so they were no parking fees for the day. My plan was to take trail #9 up and trail #4 back down. Just as I reached the top of the fire tower, it started to rain. So, I decided to take trail #9 back down. It rained on me the entire way back down. But, after a successful summit, those things don’t matter.
The hike is stunning and beautiful. The trail is straightforward and well marked. I was the only person going up and was alone at the top. Coming back down, I did see several groups. It took me two hours up and 80 minutes back down. .
DINING:
Kol: This place is in downtown Rapid City. This is Rapid City’s version of a pretentious “small plates, tapas” kind of place. I had a bourbon cocktail which was incredibly well made, even using bordeaux cherries. The service was warm and friendly and truly welcoming. The food was good but the portion sizes are ridiculously small. I just can not see how this type of restaurant can survive in Rapid City. I truly hope this place finds a niche and makes it.
Black Hills Bagels: After my climb to Black Elk Peak, I stopped in here. I unhesitatingly recommend this place. The service, the people, the food, and the atmosphere all excellent.
IMPRESSIONS:
The Black Hills area is truly wonderful to behold. In addition to Black Elk Peak, Crazy Horse sculpture is nearby to the west, and Mount Rushmore is nearby to the east. Just like ND, be prepared for roads that are straight N/S or E/W for miles on end.
Fr8train - Sep 6, 2019 12:12 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2019
Black Elk Peak - my first highpoint!
Did a road trip on my own thru SD, WY, MT, & ND. Looking to start my highpointing journey. This hike was fun and challenging. I stopped for pics on the way up and down. That being said, I still made it up in an 1 hr and 8 minutes and down in 1 hr and 13 minutes. While enjoying a delicious SD brew at the top in between.
Gorgeous views and lots of people on the trail that afternoon made for a fun hike. Lots of smiles on that sunny clear sky day!
Scrambling Man - Aug 27, 2019 6:26 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2019
Fun Hike
Hiked in from Sylvan Lake. This was a surprisingly neat area with lots of cool rock spires.
larkbythelee - Aug 26, 2019 8:13 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2019
Black Elk Peak first timer
My wife and I did our first summit today. We are fulltime RVers and we decided to do something outside our comfort zone. It was a great challenge. Not sure if the wife will do more climbing but I can see myself summiting more. Great day!
cascadescrambler - Aug 14, 2019 11:29 pm Date Climbed: Sep 4, 1963
From Sylvan Lake
Hiked while on a family vacation
islandborn11 - Aug 13, 2019 11:26 pm Date Climbed: Aug 7, 2019
Awesome three hour hike from Sylvan #9
Part of a five day, two peak trip through the Dakotas, combined with some national parks. Came down from North Dakota the day before and found great camping in Black Hills National Forest just outside Custer State Park.
Was on the trail by 7am and several groups were already on their way. This a beautiful hike with amazing views at several points, culminating with outstanding vistas from the fire tower at the top.
Saw plenty of little chipmunks and squirrels and woodpeckers and enjoyed some beautiful weather that got hot at the end coming down. Met plenty of friendly people on this popular hike and would recommmend it to anyone.
Cattails040 - Jun 5, 2019 4:35 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 1973
Harney Peak. Here I come again
This was probably the first time I hiked Harney Peak and the 2nd time, I took my brother to the top, I didn’t tell my parents we were going but I’m glad I did it when we were teens because he died 4 years ago. The 3rd time, I took my kids when they were young hiking up there for a great hike. I hope to it again sometime soon.
Bluebell08 - Mar 23, 2019 12:18 am Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2017
Highpoint #31
Fantastic day hike after a fun drive through the Black Hills and visit to Mt. Rushmore! Not too crowded but some horsepackers thus lots of horse poop on the trail.
mgriffis - Feb 12, 2019 3:26 pm Date Climbed: Sep 8, 2017
HP #13
Ran to the top from Sylvan Lake on a hot summer afternoon. Summit was a little crowded.
Tonka - Nov 30, 2020 8:00 am Date Climbed: Sep 3, 2020
You can't get there from here.Upon entrance to Sylvan Lake we were told the trail was closed just below the summit for trail work and we could not get there from Sylvan Lakes but we tried anyway and were turned around not to far from where Sylvan and Willow meet. We tried a more direct, off trail, route but the trail boss saw us and guilted us in to turning around.
Sylvan was open the following day but since we had done almost all of it we did the peak from the Willow Creek side and glad we did. The Sylvan lake trail would have been a non stop conga line while we were one of a maybe 4 groups taking the longer route. Fun, nice day.
themnkid - Oct 18, 2020 4:23 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2020
October ClimbUtilized trail #9 up and trail #4 down. 28 degrees and colder than expected in October. Great hike.
tehbea5t - Oct 3, 2020 5:39 pm Date Climbed: Oct 3, 2020
#9 RTGoes quick
Kyle Van Vleet - Sep 15, 2020 3:23 pm Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2014
Gotta love the Blackhills.Did this one along time ago on a whim. Great views of the entire Blackhills from up top!
WIHighPointer - Sep 7, 2020 5:07 pm Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2020
HP #10, Black Elk Peak, SD, 1st HP in SnowSnow began at 6,700', spent two hours in rain and six hours in falling snow and the final 45 minutes in the dark, it was a great time. Last person to leave the TH parking lot. I used the south trail up (Trail 4) and north trail (Trail 9S) down.
Slippery but beautiful. Did not attempt to find the USGS marker in the falling snow.
Was surprised to find masked hikers at 6,500' hiding on side of trail. I was not expecting people with a serious respiratory disease to be hiking at high elevations, in thinner air, where it is naturally more difficult to breathe. The hills and wilderness are where I find pandemic safety.
hightinerary - May 26, 2020 11:25 am
Relatively FunFour times in June 2000, while at a family reunion.
Kristalea - Jan 26, 2020 9:49 pm Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2018
Holy MountainMy dog Maci had a little bit of a challenge at the end trying to climb the grate staircase but she's not a quitter and we made the HP
hgrapid - Dec 17, 2019 2:46 pm Date Climbed: Aug 12, 2001
My first State high pointThis was my first State high point. It was very enjoyable and pretty. It is a very popular trail.
triyoda - Oct 12, 2019 8:00 am Date Climbed: Sep 18, 2019
The long wayMade a 14 mile loop by ascending the #9 trail from Willow Creek campground and descending #2 (Lost Cabin) trail. Avoided all the crowds on the main (Sylvan Lakes) trail. Met another state HPer on the summit,
radbb - Oct 7, 2019 10:15 am Date Climbed: Sep 27, 2019
Black Hill SummitThis is South Dakota.
FACTS: I flew into Bismarck, ND. I then proceeded on a 909-mile road trip through the badlands to bag the highpoints in ND and SD. Here is SD, highpoint number 27/51 for me and ranked 15/51.
TRAILHEAD / HIKE:
I parked at the Sylvan Lake Trailhead. I was the only soul there. It happened to be the day they were doing a buffalo roundup, so they were no parking fees for the day. My plan was to take trail #9 up and trail #4 back down. Just as I reached the top of the fire tower, it started to rain. So, I decided to take trail #9 back down. It rained on me the entire way back down. But, after a successful summit, those things don’t matter.
The hike is stunning and beautiful. The trail is straightforward and well marked. I was the only person going up and was alone at the top. Coming back down, I did see several groups. It took me two hours up and 80 minutes back down. .
DINING:
Kol: This place is in downtown Rapid City. This is Rapid City’s version of a pretentious “small plates, tapas” kind of place. I had a bourbon cocktail which was incredibly well made, even using bordeaux cherries. The service was warm and friendly and truly welcoming. The food was good but the portion sizes are ridiculously small. I just can not see how this type of restaurant can survive in Rapid City. I truly hope this place finds a niche and makes it.
Black Hills Bagels: After my climb to Black Elk Peak, I stopped in here. I unhesitatingly recommend this place. The service, the people, the food, and the atmosphere all excellent.
IMPRESSIONS:
The Black Hills area is truly wonderful to behold. In addition to Black Elk Peak, Crazy Horse sculpture is nearby to the west, and Mount Rushmore is nearby to the east. Just like ND, be prepared for roads that are straight N/S or E/W for miles on end.
Fr8train - Sep 6, 2019 12:12 pm Date Climbed: Aug 29, 2019
Black Elk Peak - my first highpoint!Did a road trip on my own thru SD, WY, MT, & ND. Looking to start my highpointing journey. This hike was fun and challenging. I stopped for pics on the way up and down. That being said, I still made it up in an 1 hr and 8 minutes and down in 1 hr and 13 minutes. While enjoying a delicious SD brew at the top in between.
Gorgeous views and lots of people on the trail that afternoon made for a fun hike. Lots of smiles on that sunny clear sky day!
Scrambling Man - Aug 27, 2019 6:26 pm Date Climbed: Jun 4, 2019
Fun HikeHiked in from Sylvan Lake. This was a surprisingly neat area with lots of cool rock spires.
larkbythelee - Aug 26, 2019 8:13 pm Date Climbed: Aug 26, 2019
Black Elk Peak first timerMy wife and I did our first summit today. We are fulltime RVers and we decided to do something outside our comfort zone. It was a great challenge. Not sure if the wife will do more climbing but I can see myself summiting more. Great day!
cascadescrambler - Aug 14, 2019 11:29 pm Date Climbed: Sep 4, 1963
From Sylvan LakeHiked while on a family vacation
islandborn11 - Aug 13, 2019 11:26 pm Date Climbed: Aug 7, 2019
Awesome three hour hike from Sylvan #9Part of a five day, two peak trip through the Dakotas, combined with some national parks. Came down from North Dakota the day before and found great camping in Black Hills National Forest just outside Custer State Park.
Was on the trail by 7am and several groups were already on their way. This a beautiful hike with amazing views at several points, culminating with outstanding vistas from the fire tower at the top.
Saw plenty of little chipmunks and squirrels and woodpeckers and enjoyed some beautiful weather that got hot at the end coming down. Met plenty of friendly people on this popular hike and would recommmend it to anyone.
funnyfarm - Jul 20, 2019 1:40 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2019
Beautiful day to climbGreat day to hike. Temperatures in the 80s with low humidity. This was high point number 27 for me.
adventureharder - Jul 6, 2019 12:30 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2019
State Highpoint #08 | SDwww.adventureharder.life
Cattails040 - Jun 5, 2019 4:35 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 1973
Harney Peak. Here I come againThis was probably the first time I hiked Harney Peak and the 2nd time, I took my brother to the top, I didn’t tell my parents we were going but I’m glad I did it when we were teens because he died 4 years ago. The 3rd time, I took my kids when they were young hiking up there for a great hike. I hope to it again sometime soon.
Bluebell08 - Mar 23, 2019 12:18 am Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2017
Highpoint #31Fantastic day hike after a fun drive through the Black Hills and visit to Mt. Rushmore! Not too crowded but some horsepackers thus lots of horse poop on the trail.
mgriffis - Feb 12, 2019 3:26 pm Date Climbed: Sep 8, 2017
HP #13Ran to the top from Sylvan Lake on a hot summer afternoon. Summit was a little crowded.