Road Trip April - Day 24

April 5th 2026 (Easter Sunday)

This morning I wanted to go on a hike that I'd found at Sylvan Lake in Custer, SD. The sun was shining and it was a little warmer than of late. So off we set.

The lake itself is beautiful with some interesting rock formations and was surprisingly busy - this is the most people we've seen this whole week! We arrived at the entrance to our hike route only to find it was closed - on investigation it turns out that parts of the route are covered in solid ice and are unsafe. Disappointed we walked around the whole of the lake instead, which is very pretty, but only a short walk (for me) and I needed more of a hike.

So back at the RV we studied the map again, there are several hiking routes in this area, each of various lengths and difficulties, but we found one that we liked the sound of, 'Little Devil's Tower', so off we went again.

The start of the route was beautiful, easy, with well maintained gravel footpath weaving through trees and impressive views of the big rocks that litter the surrounding area. Then we started to climb....

Part of the hiking route to Little Devil's Tower near Sylvan Lake, Custer,SD

One of the stunning views on the hiking route to Little Devil's Tower near Sylvan Lake, Custer,SD

The footpath got more rocky and towards the end it was just solid rock, with just blue diamonds & arrows marking our route no path to be seen as such. It was great fun scrambling up, over & through the rocks to the top.

The rocky hiking route on the little devil's tower hike

Fred walking the rocky hiking route on the little devil's tower hike

There's a footpatch here somewhere? Part of the rocky hiking route on the little devil's tower hike

The views at the top didn't disappoint!! 360° panoramic vista and the weather was perfect. At the start of our hike we were at an elevation of 6,200ft, by the time we finished we'd pretty much hit 7,000ft!!

View from the top of the hike of Little Devil's tower, Custer, SD

Another view from the top of the hike of Little Devil's tower, Custer, SD

We stopped for a rest at the top to take in the view and have a bite to eat and was kept company with a Least Chipmunk, these are the smallest chipmunks in the US, but very abundant even in what would appear quite harsh environments. Can you spot it here in the picture?

Then it was our time to return, this involved a few moments of going down on my bottom to avoid slipping as I was somewhat handicapped with my finger from the injury sustained yesterday. But the hike was such a lot of fun, we would love to do more in this area, as it is so very pretty. 

Safely back at the RV it was time for a well earned cuppa and a bit of cake before our drive back to the RV park. For our return drive Fred took a different road to the one we came in on. We had tried to drive on this road earlier in the week but it had been closed so it was nice to see it open. Once again we had to stop & watch the bison that were beside the road, we even saw a big horn sheep and then came across a pasture of Texas Longhorn cows, these are amazing to watch, the way they move around with their impressive horn lengths!!

Bison staring right at us at Black Hills, South Dakota

A big horn sheep in Black Hills, South Dakota

A Texas Longhorn cow in a pasture in the Black Hills, South Dakota

Back to the campsite and tonights fun... laundry and re-dressing the injured finger, I've made quite a mess of it when I cut it! Then a well deserved treat for the evening, when I unveiled an imported Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Easter Egg treat from the UK, Fred hadn't realised I'd secretly stashed it on board, so we had a little taste of home on this Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! 

Road Trip Day 24 - we've driven approximately 88 Miles today.