South Dakota trails · Deerfield Lake Loop
Deerfield Lake Loop
A 11.1-mile loop in South Dakota, with 461 ft of climbing. Reaches Deerfield Lake. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 1,271 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Deerfield Lake (lake)
Getting there
CUSTER TRAIL — parking nearby, restroom, water. About 1 h 14 min drive (48 mi) from Rapid City. 44.02808, -103.79995 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:39 a.m., the sun rises at 7:08 a.m. and sets at 6:13 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:42 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 05 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 11.1-mile route takes roughly 4 h 20 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 11:28 a.m. — 6 h 45 min before sunset.
Loop options
- DEERFIELD LAKE LOOP + Deerfield Lake Loop — 11.2 mi loop, 1,870 ft gain
- DEERFIELD LAKE LOOP + Deerfield Lake Loop — 11.2 mi loop, 1,870 ft gain
- Deerfield Lake Loop + DEERFIELD LAKE LOOP — 5.7 mi loop, 952 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Deerfield — 2.2 mi
- Snow-2 — 2.3 mi
- Newton 36 — 6.2 mi
- Ditch Creek 58 — 6.5 mi