A Bark In The Park: The 10 Best Places To Hike With Your Dog In The Black Hills

Blue Ribbon – Alkali Creek Trailhead

This trailhead connects to rugged Centennial Trail and leads into the backcountry of Fort Mead Recreation Area where there is plenty of running for your dog on the rolling grounds of the one-time cavalry post. You can choose from rambles through wooded lowlands or hill climbing through Ponderosa pine forests.

#2 – Mirror Lakes and Cox Lake

A great place for canine hikers who chaff at the confinement of formal trails. Wide open fields and meadows are playgrounds for your dog and there is superb dog paddling in the spring-fed lakes.

#3 – Rapid City Off-Leash Parks

The biggest city in the Black Hills maintains 1500 acres of parkland and several locations – Wilderness Park, the Braeburn Addition, and Robbinsdale Park – permit dogs to run off-leash.

#4 – Harney Range Trails

Harney Peak is the highest point in America between the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean and dogs can make the climb to the summit. Dogs aren’t allowed on Mount Rushmore but you can the see the back of national monument from here.

#5 – Flume Trail

This National Recreation Trail has a bit of everything for the canine hiker: scenic views, a variety of routes, a bit of history and lots of swimming available (at Sheridan Lake and Spring Creek). Dogs are allowed to hike the Flume Trail off-leash on National Forest lands.

#6 – Swede Gulch Non-Motorized Use Area

This is a timber production area in the Black hills National Forest where the canine hiking is easy along the old dirt roads. Dogs can get out and run these trails where vehicle use is banned and few people come.

#7 – Rapid City Recreation Path

This serpentine cement path connects five separate city parks in the course of its 13.5 miles. Several trail loops and spurs radiate away from the main trail stem providing a variety of canine hiking opportunities. As the route hugs Rapid Creek, your dog may spend as much water time as trail time here.

#8 – Deerfield Lake Loop

Four trailheads provide access around the 10-mile Lake Loop Trail. A circumnavigation of Deerfield Lake serves up a rich variety of Black Hills habitat. The mile-high hiking at Deerfield Lake is gently rolling and suitable for any level of athletic dog.

#9 – Black Hills Experimental Forest

Any length of outing with your dog can be conjured up from spider-web of easy-to-travel gravel roads and dirt logging trails in the Black Hills Experimental Forest. This is also a good place to bring your dog in the winter when taking to the trails on cross-country skis or snowshoes.

#10 – Carson Draw and Sundance Trail System

There is something for all level of canine hiker on the 17 footpaths that cover 47.3 miles in the Sundance Trail System. The routes dip into densely forested, rugged canyons and explore scenic ridgetops. Some of the routes will test even the most energetic of trail dogs.

I am the author of over 20 books, including 8 on hiking with your dog, including the
widely praised The Canine Hiker’s Bible. As publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we
produce the innovative A Bark In The Park series of canine hiking books found at
http://www.hikewithyourdog.com During the warm months I lead canine hikes as
tour leader for hikewithyourdog.com tours, leading packs of dogs and humans on
day and overnight trips. My lead dog is Katie, a German Shepherd-Border Collie mix,
who has hiked in all of the Lower 48 states and is on a quest to swim in all the great
waters of North America – http://web.mac.com/crudbay/iWeb/Katies%20Blog/Katies%20Quest.html I am currently building a hikewithyourdog.com tours trailer to use on our expeditions and its progress can be viewed at http://web.mac.com/crudbay/iWeb/Teardrop%20Trailer/Building%20A%20Tour%20Trailer.html