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Cathedral Spires, a cluster of tall granite pinnacles in Custer State Park

Things to see

Things to see and do around Custer

Bison on the prairie, granite spires, mountain lakes, two great carvings and two of the longest caves on Earth, all within an hour of Custer. Here are the places worth your time, and how to fit them together.

Custer State Park

About 71,000 acres of granite spires, pine forest and prairie on Custer’s doorstep, home to one of the largest public bison herds in the country.

A bison cow and calf in a grassy clearing among pines in Custer State Park State park

Custer State Park

Bison, lakes and granite peaks

South Dakota’s largest state park, with free-roaming bison, scenic drives, mountain lakes and historic lodges, starting five minutes east of Custer.

The narrow Needles Eye tunnel cut through a granite wall on the Needles Highway Scenic drive

Needles Highway

Granite spires and one-lane tunnels

A 14-mile road that twists between towering granite needles and squeezes through tunnels cut in the rock. One of the great drives in America.

Granite boulders and small islands in the still water of Sylvan Lake Lake

Sylvan Lake

The jewel of the Black Hills

A small mountain lake ringed by granite boulders, with an easy shoreline trail, kayaks and the trailhead for Black Elk Peak, the highest point in South Dakota.

Pronghorn grazing beside the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park Wildlife

Wildlife Loop Road

Bison, pronghorn and burros

An 18-mile drive through the prairie and foothills of Custer State Park, the best place to see bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs and the famous begging burros.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse

The Black Hills’ two great mountain carvings, the scenic road between them and the little towns of Hill City and Keystone.

The carved faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln on Mount Rushmore National memorial

Mount Rushmore

Four presidents in granite

The 60-foot faces of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln, carved between 1927 and 1941, about 45 minutes from Custer.

The carved face and outstretched arm of the Crazy Horse Memorial above the pines Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial

The world’s largest mountain carving in progress

A colossal carving of the Lakota leader Crazy Horse, begun in 1948 and still in progress, with a museum of Native American culture, just north of Custer.

A wooden pigtail bridge looping over the Iron Mountain Road among pines Scenic drive

Iron Mountain Road

Pigtail bridges and framed views

A winding road between Custer State Park and Keystone, with corkscrew pigtail bridges and tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore in the distance.

A vintage steam train at the station in Hill City in the Black Hills Small town

Hill City

Galleries, wineries and the 1880 Train

A friendly small town 15 miles north of Custer, with art galleries, wine tasting rooms, the Mickelson Trail and the station for the 1880 Train.

Custer, the caves and the south

Custer’s own main street, two very different cave parks and the fossil-rich town of Hot Springs.

The red-brick 1881 Courthouse Museum in Custer, South Dakota Town

Downtown Custer

A gold-rush town on Mount Rushmore Road

Custer’s wide main street, with painted bison statues, cafés, outfitters and the 1881 Courthouse Museum, which tells the story of the 1874 gold discovery.

Glittering calcite crystals covering the wall of Jewel Cave National monument

Jewel Cave

One of the longest caves in the world

More than 200 miles of mapped passages lined with sparkling calcite crystals, explored on ranger-led tours 13 miles west of Custer.

The honeycomb pattern of boxwork formations on the ceiling of Wind Cave National park

Wind Cave

Boxwork below, bison above

One of America’s oldest national parks, famous for rare boxwork formations underground and bison, elk and prairie dogs on the prairie above.

Mammoth bones and tusks exposed in the dig at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs Fossil site

The Mammoth Site

Mammoths in Hot Springs

A working fossil dig under a roof in Hot Springs, where the bones of dozens of Ice Age mammoths lie where they fell into an ancient sinkhole.

Planning your days

Custer sits at the centre of the southern Black Hills, so most sights are an easy drive away. Plan each day around one area and leave time for wildlife stops, which always take longer than you think.

One day

  1. Drive the Wildlife Loop Road early in the morning to see the bison.
  2. Continue to the Needles Highway and stop for lunch at Sylvan Lake.
  3. Visit the Crazy Horse Memorial in the afternoon, ten minutes from Custer.

Two days

Add a day for Mount Rushmore, driving there over the Iron Mountain Road. Stop in Keystone or Hill City, ride the 1880 Train if you have time, and return to the memorial for the evening lighting in summer.

Three days or more

Spend a day underground at Jewel Cave or Wind Cave, adding Hot Springs and the Mammoth Site. With four or five days, take a day trip to the Badlands or to Deadwood and Spearfish Canyon. Our three-day itinerary has the details.

Good to know

Many attractions open only from about May to October, and some keep shorter hours in spring and autumn. Check opening times before you plan your route.

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