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.
Elevation profile
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
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Needle Eye (arch)
Heads up
Getting there
Paha Sapa Trail access. About 1 h 12 min drive (33 mi, 2 of them unpaved) from Rapid City. 43.79727, -103.50137 · 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 05 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 2:01 p.m. — 4 h 11 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- Grizzly #7 — 3.4 mi
- Little Devil's Tower — 4.4 mi
- Harney # 9 North — 4.8 mi
- Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area — 5.1 mi