Horses on Black Elk Peak in South Dakota

Horseback riders navigate a mist-covered trail near the summit of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The fog clings to the ponderosa pines, softening the rugged landscape that rises above Custer State Park. This peak—renamed in 2016 to honor Lakota spiritual leader Black Elk—has long served as both a place of pilgrimage and a vantage point over the vast granite formations and pine forests of the region.

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