Black Hills National Forest Horseback Riding Overview

Black Hills National Forest Horses and Riding Travel Tips

• The popular, 109-mile Mickelson Trail is open to horseback riders, who share the crushed-rock former railroad with hikers and quite a few bikers. Some commercial campgrounds and lodging along the way have corrals, but the forest's official horse camps (Sundance, Iron Creek, and Willow Creek) are all rather distant.
• A small horse camp on the east side of Bear Butte Lake in Bear Butte State Park marks the north end of the 111-mile Centennial Trail for riders (hikers can continue north to the butte). Multiple horse camps and ten miles of trail through the wildlife-rich Black Elk Wilderness are highlights.
• Head north of Custer State Park to find a 50-mile trail network in and around the Harney Range. Because many miles of these trails are inside the Black Elk Wilderness, horseback riders do not share space with mountain bikers. Trot the dry, flat Willow Creek Loop for views of South Dakota's highest point, Harney Peak.
• In the Spearfish area, horseback riders explore the Rim Rock and Little Spearfish Loops, setting out from either the Timon or Rod and Gun campgrounds on Highway 222. Both routes meander through stands of pine and aspen in Little Spearfish Canyon and its peripheral gulches.
• From Jewel Cave, go just one mile west to find Hell Canyon trailhead on Forest Road # 284.2, where a 5.5-mile trail leads riders above and into the deeply eroded canyon. The area is prolific with ghost trees and eerily beautiful as it begins to recover from one the Black Hills' largest fires in 2000.