Custer State Park, located near the city of Custer, is one of the most beautiful areas in the Black Hills. The 71,000-plus acre park offers visitors a rare opportunity to view nature at its finest. The eighteen-mile Wildlife Loop Road was designed to get visitors as close to the animals as possible.
The Park is home to one of the largest publicly owned buffalo herds in the world. The buffalo are wild, deceptively quick, and sometimes dangerous. Although it is possible to get very close to the animals when they are resting or grazing, people are warned to be very cautious. One of the most exciting events of the fall/winter season is the annual buffalo roundup at the park. Other wildlife in the park includes elk, mountain sheep, pronghorn antelope, whitetail and blacktail deer, mountain goats, wild burros, and prairie dogs.
If you want to learn more about Custer State Park and the region, you can stop into the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center. Displays and educational programs feature geologic, biological, historical and cultural information about the Park and surrounding area. Four well-equipped resorts and seven campgrounds provide a variety of visitor options. The state maintains the Park primarily with funds from user and entrance fees. All cars are stopped at the entrances, where a 7-day pass can be purchased for $20 per car. An annual vehicle pass is $30.
Blue Bell Lodge
Phone: (605) 255-4531
Toll Free: (888) 875-0001
Legion Lake Lodge
Phone: (605) 255-4521
Toll Free: (888) 875-0001
State Game Lodge
Phone: (605) 255-4541
Toll Free: (888) 875-0001
Sylvan Lake Lodge
Phone: (605) 574-2561
Toll Free: (888) 875-0001