South Dakota trails · Summit Divide
Summit Divide
A 10.8-mile out-and-back in South Dakota, with 523 ft of climbing. Reaches Summit Pass and other pass/spring destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 46% of the ascent falls between mile 7.2 and mile 10.8. It gives back about 760 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Summit Pass (pass)
- Hines Spring (spring)
Getting there
SUMMIT DIVIDE access. About 3 h 07 min drive (97 mi, 16 of them unpaved) from Spearfish. 45.33166, -103.00895 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:36 a.m., the sun rises at 7:06 a.m. and sets at 6:08 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:38 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 02 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 21.5-mile round trip takes roughly 8 h 30 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:36 p.m. — 2 h 32 min before sunset.
Loop options
- 31507 + SUMMIT DIVIDE — 3.7 mi loop, 651 ft gain