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. 43.62246, -103.42114 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:46 a.m., the sun rises at 6:15 a.m. and sets at 7:31 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:00 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 15 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 1:02 p.m. — 6 h 29 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- Centennial Trail — 1.1 mi
- French Creek and Mt. Coolidge Trail — 7.3 mi
- Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area — 10.8 mi
- Paha Sapa Trail — 12.7 mi