Fun fact: The highest peak east of the Rockies and west of the European Pyrenees is here in South Dakota! I discovered that yesterday when we reached the summit of Black Elk Peak at 7,242 feet / 2,207 meters. A favored hikes in the Black Hills, Black Elk Peak culminates at an old stone fire tower that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939.

We’ve been hearing about this peak since before we moved to South Dakota, and this hike is always in the top handful when people share recommendations for the Black Hills. Despite the unusually warm weather of late, we decided to head out early on a weekday to beat the heat and crowds and finally see why this spot is a fan favorite.

We made our hike into a loop, beginning at Sylvan Lake just inside Custer State Park and hiking the No 9 trail on our way up to the summit. Despite lots of cars at the trailhead, we saw relatively few people until we got closer to the top.

As luck would have it, we reached the summit just as the fog rolled in, slightly obscuring our 360 degree views of the surrounding area.

There were quite a few people resting around the fire tower and exploring some of the rocky outcroppings nearby. We heard that one of our fellow hikers was training for Machu Picchu, and we enjoyed meeting another traveler’s rambunctious lab, Poppy.

We wrapped up our viewing and headed back to the trail split so we could catch the No 3 and No 4 trails back to Sylvan Lake. These trails wound down through the woods with fewer viewpoints than we experienced via the No 9 on the way up, which was fine given the cloud cover.

These trail were surprisingly busy so we didn’t see a ton of wildlife beyond chipmunks. The highlight was spotting a red-naped sapsucker (a type of woodpecker) – and the epic shot Brian took of it launching off a tree!

It was a beautiful hike up and a nice workout at 6.9 miles / 11 km and 1,391 feet / 424 meters of gain.

I’m glad we could finally cross this poplar hike off our list and squeeze it in ahead of the impending 90 degree weather.