From May 21st through the 28th, Carolyn and I had the privilege to thru-hike the Centennial Trail in South Dakota. This trail traverses 124 miles through the Black Hills National Forest from Wind Cave National Park in the south, to Bear Butte State Park in the north, passing through Custer State Park, Black Elk Wilderness, and Forte Meade Recreation Area. The trail transitions from rolling hills that are dominated by beautiful ponderosa pine to sporadic prairie land with expansive views. We saw a plethora of wildlife including bison, antelope, prairie dogs, a hedge hog, deer and even a rattlesnake. If you are like us, you probably didn’t even know this awesome trail existed. Below are some pictures and comments on what the hike was like and what you need to know to plan to hike the Centennial Trail.
Where and what is the Centennial Trail?
The Black Hills National forest is located between the city of Rapid City, SD and the state of Wyoming. The national forest is 1.25 million acres of hills, exposed granite, grassland, canyons, lakes and streams. The name Black Hills is derived from the Lakota word Paha Sapa, which means “the hills that are black.” The landscape is dominated by ponderosa pine which are a dark green color giving the impression of black hills.
South Dakota become a state in 1889 and to celebrate it’s 100th birthday, the Centennial Trail was established in 1989 as a hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trail that would traverse the length of this beautiful national forest. Dubbed Trail 89, one can experience a wonderful backpacking experience with great solitude. During our 8 day adventure we only passed 3 other hikers on trail.
Resources to hike the Centennial Trail
The main guidebook is called Hiking Centennial Trail by Cheryl Whetham and Jukka. It is a good resource to plan your hike for both section hiking and thru-hiking. The guidebook has map inlets, elevation profiles, water source information, and campground and service details.
It’s worth a visit to the Hiking Centennial Trail Facebook page, which is the primary storefront of the guidebook. There, you can also find a link to purchase the Avenza maps for use on smart devices. Prior to going on the trip I traced the route in CalTopo and imported into Gaia on my smartphone to help in navigation.
We also purchased and brought along the National Geographic Maps for the Black Hills (South & North). I never used it, but it was nice to have. If exploring other areas in the Black Hills, especially Elk Creek Wilderness, it has a good map of all the trail systems.
Getting to the Trail
Rapid City is the closest major city to the Black Hills. We drove a car from Michigan, but they also have a small airport.
For shuttles, we used John at Roam’N Around. He has a beautiful outfitter in Rapid City and he provides shuttling to many locations along the Centennial Trail. We met him at Bear Butte, the northern terminus, and he shuttled us to the Southern Terminus at Wind Cave. You can park your car at Bear Butte overnight with just an $8 parking pass.
I would recommend hiking South to North. The final day is a walk through high prairie with a view of Bear Butte guiding your way. At the end, you ascend Bear Butte for a fantastic finish.
What to Expect
The trail is 124 miles and I would rate is as moderately challenging. I didn’t know what to expect initially, but I found the Black Hills to be a very beautiful hike. The trail is a bit newer, and I don’t think it has been fully discovered yet as a great longer-distance backpacking trail.
The trail is well marked with Trail 89 markers guiding the way. It is almost exclusively on single track with the exception of a 15 mile ATV road walking section. Water sources appeared to be plenty and we never had to carry more than 2 liters, perhaps a result of hiking early in the season. I have heard it can be a drier hike later summer.
This is very much a wild-camping type of trip. There are very few dedicated campsites or campgrounds, so the ability to seek out good areas to camp is a valuable skill. That said, we were able to find some great camp spots along the way.
In terms of timing, John told us most people take 7-10 days to hike the trail (we finished in 7.5 days – about 16.5 miles per day).
Whispering Pines Campground is located close to the trail at the 67 mile marker, so about half way. We drove a food box to this location before starting to split our food carry. The campground also has a small selection of snacks (chips, soda, ice-cream, etc.) as well as showers. We put some travel sized soap and shampoo in our food drop and it was well worth it. Call Whispering Pines first before mailing or dropping of a food drop.
There is a spur trail in the Elk Creek Wilderness that takes you up to Mount Rushmore, and I would definitely recommend taking the 1.4 mile detour. Along with the beautiful sculpture, there is a restaurant along with restrooms, water fountain and trashcans – maybe even better than the view!
If I were to plan this hike again, I would budget just one more day and hike an alternate route to Black Elk Peak in the Black Elk Wilderness. This would probably add another 10 or so miles. The standard route through the wilderness area is fine, but there are some great sights to behold on the western edge.
In terms of weather, May was generally cool with some warmer days. The trail can get quite hot in the summer, especially in exposed prairie.
The terrain is rolling hills with few moderately difficult climbs. Only thing to watch out for are Bison (only found in Wind Cave, Custer and Bear Butte State Park- about 25 miles of trail), and rattle snakes. Keep your distance from the Bison (25 yards is recommended) and hike around them if they are in the middle of the trail. Recently some woman in Yellowstone got too close and was gored by a bison – knocking her 10 feet into the air – so they will attack if you get too close. There are also wood ticks, especially in grasslands. We found a few on our pants during the hike.
Last Minute Thoughts
This is a really great trail and would be a terrific training trip if you are preparing for a longer trail in the future. It has beautiful scenery, few people, great wildlife, and presents a moderate challenge. Rapid City is a neat town to explore for an afternoon, and Band Lands National Park is close offering a cool side trip opportunity after the hike.
Enjoy some more photos of the hike!
