June 7. Centennial Trail Day 1.
What is the Centennial Trail?
The Centennial Trail is a 124-mile trail through the Black Hills of South Dakota, running from south to north (or vice versa) from Wind Cave National Park in the south to Bear Butte State Park in the north. It is called the Centennial Trail to commemorate the centennial of South Dakota as it became a state in 1889 and the trail was completed in 1989.
The trail showcases much of what the Black Hills has to offer: stunning scenery, beautiful lakes, classic and historic prairie wildlife, and side adventures to many nearby sites, including Mount Rushmore National Monument and Black Elk Peak, the highest point in South Dakota.
I have a hiking buddy!
My friend Renee agreed to join me on this 10-day adventure, flying from New York to Rapid City, SD. I met Renee on the Ouachita Trail in 2024, both of us on our first day of hiking on the Oklahoma side. We met several times while we were on that road and have stayed in touch ever since. She had never been to this area of the country and was excited to see what it was all about.
I drove to Rapid City and picked up Renee on June 6th. We stayed at a hotel in Sturgis (yes, THAT Sturgis, famous for motorcycle rallies) and prepared to begin our hike the next day, meaning we ate a buffet dinner.
Get to the trail
There are shuttle drivers to hire in the area, but my husband’s coworker lives here. He and his wife graciously agreed to drive us to the trail. We were picked up at 7:00 am at Bear Butte State Park where we parked my vehicle. It costs $15 to keep your vehicle here no matter how many days you will be on the road. It was great to see our final point in person. It will be a stunning backdrop for the final day!
A small opening in the cliff of Wind Cave National Park. Wind is created by differences between atmospheric pressures in the cave and outside. I bet this hole has something to do with it.
They took us to the trailhead, Norbeck Trailhead in Wind Cave National Park. It took us 2 hours to drive here, but eventually it will take us 10 days to walk back, haha! Our carriers were willing to drop off our food resupply at Whispering Pines Campground, the trail’s midpoint, and also at a water reservoir at the Elk Creek Trailhead, further up the trail. I spoke to a ranger at Bear Butte who informed me that Elk Creek was dry and encouraged us to store water there since if we didn’t it would be a dry stretch of about 30 miles. Thanks for that information!!
Holy Buffalo
We took our required initial photo and left around 9:00 a.m. The trail meanders the first 6 miles through Wind Cave National Park. At the beginning there are numerous water crossings, all of them bridged. Almost immediately we almost ran into a bison lying on the road. Renee didn’t notice at first, she thought it was just a big rock! We explored a detoured route and walked around him and another person nearby.
Why is this rock moving?
Shortly after we had to take a detour to surround a herd of about 30 bison! I knew we would likely encounter these massive beasts as we drove through WCNP and also Custer State Park, as both parks allowed good-sized herds to roam freely.
During these detours we saw colonies of prairie dogs, and also two antelope! What a delight to see antelope here too. Also known as the North American pronghorn, the antelope is the fastest land mammal in North America. They seemed curious enough on our part to look cautiously instead of immediately walking away. The prairie dogs sent warning signals to each other as we walked through their colonies.
The damage to the trees took us off course a bit, but we found our way with our Avenza maps. Many of the trail marker posts and thin carsonite signs are broken at WCNP and Custer due to bison using them as scratching posts. Centennial Trail isn’t on FarOut yet, but there are reliable maps on Avenza, particularly the one provided by the Rapid City outfitter called Roamin’ Around. That map turned out to be the most current and accurate, compared to the maps provided by National Geographic.
Centennial Trail markers are indicated by the number «6» while in WCNP.
Just before stopping for lunch under a lone shade tree, we saw a coyote hunting prairie dogs for its own lunch. He looked fat and healthy, probably due to the veritable buffet of these creatures at his disposal.
One more herd of bison to avoid before finishing the WCNP and entering Custer State Park. A herd of Custer was just on the other side of the fenced entrance, but far enough away that we could draw water from Highland Creek. This was a really nice and clear font. In hindsight, I should have gotten more water out of here. The day was incredibly sunny and hot, around 90 degrees, and there has been very little shade.
Just one of several herds of buffalo we surrounded today.
We began our new section through Custer and saw more buffalo and herds of people taking scenic wildlife drives through the park. We reached another water source near another herd of buffalo, but this one was unpleasant. Even filtered it tasted like I was licking a buffalo. I used it sparingly until we reached the French Creek horse camp, where I immediately drank two bottles of drinking water from a tap.
The trail marker changed here to the classic skull with “89”
The camping dilemma
I want to mention the situation in the camp on this first day. Dispersed camping is permitted in Wind Cave NP with a backcountry permit. However, only the first 6 miles pass through WCNP. If you start later in the day, this could be an option. However, once entering Custer State Park, a hiker must reach the “French Creek Natural Area” to camp, which is basically the French Creek Horse Camp 15 miles away. This being our first day, and it was sunny, exposed and hot, we were pretty exhausted when we arrived. Plan this first day accordingly!
French Creek Horse Camp is a beautiful campground obviously intended for horseback campers. It has all the amenities you could ask for: drinking water, showers, bathrooms, shade, picnic tables, etc. A nice camper nearby told us we could set up camp at her paid spot, but after we completed setup, the camp host discovered us and said we had to move. Keeps backpackers in a separate area. Damn, now we have to move! Where was she 15 minutes ago? Well, the area I wanted us to move to wasn’t too far away and it’s free for backpackers. Plus, there are the aforementioned amenities and pretty horses to admire.
Renee and I washed off the day’s sweat and grime before making dinner. Dinner for me was chilaquiles loaded with Itacate. It was ok! Many of my bars and chocolate are melted and warped considering the scorching heat it was today.
15 miles on the books with additional mileage likely for several detours around the multiple buffalo herds. As diligent as we kept our distance today, a huge bison bull walked past our camp while we were eating dinner. Apparently, he’s some sort of camp mascot and wanders around here daily. Exciting day!! I’m erased!
I mean, just look at the size of that beast! It’s true that we are too close to him, it just happened.
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