Saturday, October 16, 2021

Black Hills National Forest: Buzzards Roost

Over four seasons at Wind Cave National Park, Noelle and I have explored a large portion of the Black Hills. At this point its pretty difficult for us to find an adventure that we haven't done before. However, in doing some research about hiking trails in the area, I found an interesting hike that we hadn't done before; the short hike up to Buzzards Roost, just west of Rapid City.

This morning we awoke to cold temperatures in Hill City. We ate breakfast and hit the road, driving north on US-385 past Sheridan Lake and east on SD Highway 44 to the trailhead. It had warmed up a bit by the time we hit the trail 


and the snow and mud were starting to melt a bit. There's a whole network on trails at Buzzards Roost. They primarily cater to mountain bikers, but hikers are allowed to use them also. For the quickest ascent up to the overlook, we hiked primarily on the Jack's Trail. There is a section of switchbacks at about the halfway point. After that the trail levels out for a bit before the final ascent up to the overlook.


Once we reached the overlook, we hung out at the summit area for a bit. There are views out to Black Elk Peak. 


Many other areas of the Black Hills are visible as well. We took a few photos up there,




and watched a bald eagle soar overhead.


Then, we descended the increasingly sloppy trail back to the car for the drive into Rapid City.


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