Foggy Summit of Black Elk Peak, Black Hills National Forest

Rocky summit of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota's Black Hills, shrouded in fog and surrounded by pine forest.
Rocky summit of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota's Black Hills, shrouded in fog and surrounded by pine forest.

Black Elk Peak reaches 7,242 feet, making it the highest point in South Dakota and the highest peak in the United States east of the Rockies. It sits within Black Elk Wilderness, part of the Black Hills National Forest, and was known as Harney Peak until the U.S. Board on Geographic Names renamed it in 2016 to honor the Lakota holy man Black Elk. The summit's granite outcrops date to the Precambrian era, among the oldest exposed rock in North America. A fire lookout tower built in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps still stands near the top, reachable by several trails from Custer State Park and Sylvan Lake.

Photo taken in July 2019.

Photo Part Of
South Dakota
Badlands, Black Hills, and Custer State Park across multiple trips
26 photos
Black Elk Peak
Trails, fog, and the 1938 CCC stone tower at South Dakota's highest summit in the Black Hills
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Custer State Park
Bison along Wildlife Loop Road, granite spires on the Needles Highway, and trails to Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills
36 photos
Map
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