Trails › United States of America › South Dakota › Bear Butte

Summit Trail

On Bear Butte

Trail2.5 km · 1.6 miBest Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

Next nearby hike: Bear Butte Lake Loop Trail 0.8 mi · 1.3 kmExplore Bear Butte →

South Dakota, United States of AmericaSouth DakotaBear Butte Lake Loop Trail · South DakotaCentennial Trail · South DakotaEndStart5 kmN ↑

Summit Trail other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)

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USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain) · OpenStreetMap · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).

7-day forecast

Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)

Best time to hike

Best months: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct · highs 14–25 °C (57–77 °F)

  1. J3°-8°13
  2. F4°-7°17
  3. M8°-4°34
  4. A14°1°60
  5. M19°7°100
  6. J25°12°82
  7. J29°16°61
  8. A29°15°42
  9. S23°10°38
  10. O16°4°44
  11. N7°-3°23
  12. D2°-8°15

Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.

How we pick months

Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.

Trail facts

Length
2.5 km · 1.6 mi (agency length field)
Source
USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain)
Managed by
State agency
Data from
South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks
Designation
National Recreation Trail
Mountain
Bear Butte (mountain, 1,344 m; GeoNames)
Nearest town
9.6 km NE of Sturgis (Meade County, South Dakota) · GeoNames
Connects to
Centennial Trail (National Recreation Trail) (at its start or end)
Best months
Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
Country
United States of America
Region
South Dakota
Continent
North America
Route centre
44.4683, -103.4209
How it’s scored

Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.

Nearest trails

distance from the trail centre

Bear Butte Lake Loop Trail

0.8 mi · 1.3 km · South Dakota

Centennial Trail

1.4 mi · 2.2 km · South Dakota

Hal Johns 8042

11 mi · 18 km · Black Hills National Forest

Calamity Canyon 8043

12 mi · 20 km · Black Hills National Forest

Centennial On Northern Hills

14 mi · 23 km · Black Hills National Forest

Piedmont Fire Trail 144

17 mi · 27 km · Black Hills National Forest

All trails in South Dakota → · All 36,834 trails in United States of America →