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South Dakota trails · Paha Sapa Trail

Paha Sapa Trail

A 7.8-mile out-and-back in South Dakota, with 1,120 ft of climbing. Reaches Needle Eye.

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Length
7.8 mi
Elevation gain
1,120 ft
Difficulty
Expert
Max grade
17%
Steepest mile
+521 ft
Tread at ≥10% grade
2.2 mi
Shape
out-and-back
Surface
Dirt
Dogs
yes
Bikes
yes

Elevation profile

5,301 – 6,420 ft1234567

The climbing leans toward the final third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 5.2 and mile 7.8. It gives back about 821 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

3-D terrain view of Paha Sapa Trail

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Heads up

Terrain graded T2 (SAC scale).

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 6:16 a.m. and sets at 7:31 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:01 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 16 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 15.6-mile round trip takes roughly 6 h 55 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:10 p.m. — 6 h 21 min before sunset.

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