South Dakota trails · Highland Creek Trail
Highland Creek Trail
A 8.5-mile out-and-back in South Dakota, with 456 ft of climbing.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the middle third: 45% of the ascent falls between mile 2.8 and mile 5.7. It gives back about 627 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Heads up
Getting there
Highland Creek Trail access. About 1 h 31 min drive (55 mi, 11 of them unpaved) from Rapid City. 43.62246, -103.42114 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:37 a.m., the sun rises at 7:06 a.m. and sets at 6:12 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:41 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 06 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 17.1-mile round trip takes roughly 6 h 46 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:52 p.m. — 4 h 19 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Lookout Point Trail + Highland Creek Trail + Unnamed trail — 4.9 mi loop, 581 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Centennial Trail — 1.1 mi
- French Creek and Mt. Coolidge Trail — 7.1 mi
- Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area — 10.8 mi
- Paha Sapa Trail — 12.7 mi