Hiking in Wind Cave National Park: Lookout Point Loop Trail
If you’re looking for a hike in Wind Cave National Park to supplement your time exploring the cave, then the Lookout Point-Centennial Loop Trail is one to put on your radar. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about this Wind Cave trail, as well as some general tips for hiking in Wind Cave National Park!
While you might come to Wind Cave National Park to go underground and explore the cave, there is actually a whole above ground world that’s worthy of exploring! People often find themselves asking, “Can I hike at Wind Cave National Park outside of the cave?”.
And the answer is a resounding yes! This large mixed-grass prairie, grassland, and forest landscape is the perfect place to find not only cool wildlife like bison, prairie dogs, elk, and pronghorn, but also something that’s very rare to find in National Parks these days…solitude! Not many people venture beyond the cave itself and hike in Wind Cave National Park, so if you decide to, you’ll likely have the trails to yourself! That was definitely enough reason for us to stick around and hit the trails here!
There is actually a good number of hiking trails in Wind Cave National Park to choose from. During our visit, we chose to hike the Lookout Point – Centennial Loop Trail (or the Lookout Point Loop Trail – we say it both ways in this post), which combines two of the park’s trails into a relatively easy and short 4.5 mile hike. This Wind Cave trail gives a good representation of the park’s rolling prairies, and also will give you a pretty good chance at spotting some of the park’s typical wildlife.
In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about this Wind Cave National Park hike, and include some general tips for hiking in Wind Cave, such as the best time to hike, what to bring, what to look out for, and more.
In this Wind Cave hiking guide:
Wind Cave National Park Trail Map
As you can see from the Wind Cave trail map below, there are actually many hikes in Wind Cave National Park to choose from!
The map of Wind Cave National Park trails taken from the park brochure. The blue trail is the Lookout Point Trail and the yellow trail is Centennial Trail - the two Wind Cave hikes we’ll talk about in this guide.
We highlighted the main trails in Wind Cave National Park that we will be talking about in this post. We chose this particular Lookout Point Loop hike in Wind Cave because we thought it would be a good trail to experience what this park is known for- prairie- and thought we would have a good chance of seeing some wildlife here, particularly bison.
One half of the trail consists of the Lookout Point Trail. This part of the Wind Cave hike takes you across minor ups and down as you trek across the rolling prairie of Wind Cave National Park. Often, people spot bison and prairie dogs along the way!
The second half of this Wind Cave hike goes along the Centennial Trail. You’ll be walking along the beginning portion of a 111 mile trail that connects Wind Cave to Bear Butte State Park, showcasing the diversity of South Dakota. Along this part of the hike, you’ll follow Beaver Creek along a flat trail between limestone cliffs.
How to Get to the Lookout Point Loop Trailhead
The trailhead for the Lookout Point hike in Wind Cave National Park is found on the southern portion of route 87, which connects Wind Cave to Custer State Park. This road is right off route 385, just north of the turnoff for the Wind Cave visitor center, so it’s not far from any cave tours you’re probably there for. You can find it by typing in “Lookout Point Trail Custer SD” in Google Maps, but it’s also pretty easy to find after grabbing a park map.
The trailhead for the Lookout Point hike is on a hairpin turn off the road. It’s a small parking area that can only fit a handful of cars, but we guarantee that you won’t have any problems finding a spot! In fact, you’ll likely be the only one here!
The tiny parking area for the Lookout Point hike in Wind Cave National Park
Both the Lookout Point and Centennial trails begin here. They have distinct trailheads marked by clear signs, but it’s easy to form a loop from here since they can both be accessed from this same parking lot.
How Long is the Lookout Point - Centennial Loop Trail?
Here is some info about the length and difficulty of the Lookout Point Loop Trail in Wind Cave National Park.
Distance: 4.87 miles
Elevation Gain: 495 feet
Trail Profile:
This trail profile is based on hiking counterclockwise, starting on Lookout Point Trail and ending on the Centennial Trail
Lookout Point-Centennial Loop Trail Map
A satellite view of the Lookout Point Loop trail in Wind Cave, taken from our Garmin watch
Is the Lookout Point Loop Trail hard?
This Wind Cave National Park hike isn’t hard at all! There are some minor ups and downs through the prairie on the Lookout Point half of the trail, and then one short stepper section about half way through. But this is a pretty minimal effort trail to get a good taste of what Wind Cave National Park has to offer above ground!
Which direction should you hike the Lookout Point – Centennial Loop Trail?
It really doesn’t matter! We hiked the Lookout Point Trail counter clockwise and liked it because as we mentioned above, there’s one steeper section half way through the hike, and we were able to hike down this, with all of our elevation gain being very gradual. If you hike clockwise (starting with the Centennial Trail), you’ll be hiking up this steep part. But really, it’s short and not bad. If you hike clockwise, you’ll also be able to save what we think is the best part of this Wind Cave trail (Lookout Point Trail) for last.
Hiking in Wind Cave National Park: On the Lookout Point Loop Trail
We did this Wind Cave hike in the counterclockwise direction, which is how we’ll be describing it here, but regardless, we hope this encourages you to take some time to hike in Wind Cave National Park and experience more than just the park’s underground world!
Lookout Point Trail in Wind Cave National Park
Once on the trails in Wind Cave National Park, you’ll be following wooden posts with trail numbers indicating the trail you’re on. This was a bit confusing at first since there was nothing on the brochure or trailhead signs matching trail numbers with trail names, so definitely make sure you look at and have a map with you on the trail. And for your reference, the Lookout Point Trail is Trail #4!
Keep an eye out for the trail markers with corresponding trail numbers along hikes in Wind Cave National Park
From the Lookout Point trailhead, make sure you take the right path to the Lookout Point trail (rather than to the Centennial Trail)…this will be the trailhead sign to the right. You’ll pretty much immediately enter prairie land right from the get-go. You’ll go over a few small ups and downs but overall you’ll be gradually climbing uphill until you reach the upper open portions of the prairie landscape. On the way, you’ll be treated to lots of colorful wildflowers. There’s some overgrowth here but it’s not too bad.
From the top of the prairie ridge, you’ll have expansive views of the park on this Wind Cave hike. Make sure to keep your eyes out for bison along this trail. According to nearly every account we’ve read of this trail, bison have been out and about here. We weren’t so lucky. We didn’t see any…but we saw a lot of their evidence left behind!
Plenty of evidence of bison along the trails in Wind Cave!
View of the prairie from the Lookout Point Trail in Wind Cave National Park
What we didn’t see in terms of bison was more than made up for with another, smaller, and much cuter critter…prairie dogs! We had first seen these guys in Badlands National Park not too far away, but we could never get enough of them! About ¾ mi into the Lookout Point hike, we walked right though our first prairie dog town! Their burrows were right beside, or sometimes right on, the trail. Their little heads would pop in and out of their burrows, and we could hear their calls. They were literally everywhere!
You’ll see plenty of these guys on the hikes in Wind Cave!
Often times, their burrows are right along the trails in Wind Cave!
Can you see the prairie dog?
At about 1.5 miles into the hike, we hit another one. So cute! These prairie dog towns were definitely the highlight for us on our hike in Wind Cave National Park.
Keep a very careful eye out for these guys along hikes in Wind Cave National Park
Apparently when you’re up in the prairie on this Wind Cave hike, there is a point called Lookout Point which is the highest vantage point along the trail. I’ve read that there’s a small spur trail up to this point, however when we were on the trail we didn’t even notice a spur trail anywhere. So to be perfectly honest, we’re not sure if we just passed over this point right on the trail or if we missed a side trail, but we didn’t see it. But, I think we still got the best views over the prairie we could have gotten regardless!
Just before you reach the end of the prairie section of the hike at about 2.3 miles in, you’ll come to a junction. This is where the Highline Trail joins up with the Lookout Point Trail. If you take a right here, you’ll be on the Highline Trail, which is Trail #7. You want to head straight at this junction, and follow trails posts that say #4/7 (the two trails are combined for a short distance).
Now on trail #4/7 as it leaves the prairie
Shortly after this junction, you’ll head into a forested part of the trail and make a steady down climb to the Centennial Trail via a rocky and gravelly path. At the bottom, you’ll come to this wooden post (this will be about a half mile after the previous junction). Keep going straight, following the sign towards the Centennial Trail (which is Trail #6).
Centennial Trail in Wind Cave National Park
Once you’re on the Centennial Trail in Wind Cave National Park, the trail is pretty flat and will consist of a lot of the same scenery for the remaining two miles of the hike. You’ll have short bridge crossings over Beaver Creek as you follow it back to the trailhead, with limestone cliffs and forest surrounding you. Compared with the previous Lookout Point portion of the hike, this is more of a meadow walk through a very wide limestone canyon.
On the Centennial Trail in Wind Cave National Park
There’s one point where the creek seems to disappear into a cave in the limestone cliff.
Here, this portion of the Wind Cave hike becomes very overgrown. Sometimes it will feel like you are almost bushwacking your way down the trail. It’s definitely important here to keep your eye out for poison ivy along the trail.
While the trail is never too hard to follow, there is this one point in the trail worth mentioning where it seemed like there were two paths through the brush with no indication of which way to go. We each followed one for a bit and seemed like the one to the right was better so that’s the way we took and it got us back to the trailhead…so not sure where the left one goes!
A split in the path on the Centennial Trail hike. We took the path to the right and made it back to the trailhead.
After a long meadow crossing, you’ll have one final short uphill climb back up to the parking lot to complete your Wind Cave hike.
Our opinion on the Lookout Point Loop Hike in Wind Cave
The first half of the trail along Lookout Point Trail was definitely my favorite part of this Wind Cave hike and what I expected…rolling prairies with lots of talking prairie dogs! No bison…but we think that it’s probably uncommon to not see them.
The Centennial Trail was just meh for us. The scenery got a bit boring for us, and it’s a lot of “bushwacking” through tall grasses and overgrowth. In this section particularly, ticks are prevalent, so at the end of this hike, and any hike in Wind Cave National Park, be sure to check for ticks! I picked three off of me in the parking lot!
If you don’t want to deal with this but just want to experience the prairie and maybe see a few bison and lots of prairie dogs, then doing the Lookout Point Trail out and back is a good option for a hike in Wind Cave National Park. When you get to the junction with the Highline Trail, just turn back and retrace your steps. Since this doesn’t really cut down on the distance too much versus just continuing on and doing the loop, we just decided to complete the loop.
Another great thing we loved about this Wind Cave hike was the solitude! We only saw four other people during the entire hike! Like we mentioned above, the trails in Wind Cave National Park are not commonly traveled. We found that many people leave the park after grabbing their cave tour tickets and then come back just to tour the cave, so it’s well worth getting out there to feel some true solitude in a National Park, which is certainly rare these days!
Best Time to Hike in Wind Cave National Park
You can hike in Wind Cave National Park year round, but keep in mind that roads may close in winter until snow is cleared.
Summers at Wind Cave can get pretty hot, and summer afternoon storms that can produce hail are common, so just always check the forecast before you hike in Wind Cave National Park!
Spring and fall are good times to hike in Wind Cave National Park when temperatures are moderate. Spring is the wettest season and fall is pretty dry. Plus, in the fall, around September and October, this is the best time to hear the bugling calls of male elk as they try to attract females!
Check average monthly temperatures here to help you decide when to go hiking in Wind Cave National Park.
Tips for Hiking in Wind Cave National Park
How much does it cost to visit Wind Cave National Park? The good news is that you can hike in Wind Cave National Park for free! There’s no entrance fee to the park to hike the trails and tour the scenic drives. Note that you will have to pay a separate fee if you want to tour the cave (which is not covered by the America the Beautiful Annual Pass).
Check the forecast: Summer storms are common. Pack rain gear for your Wind Cave hike just in case! And skip your hike if there are thunderstorms in the forecast.
Bring lots of water. It can get quite hot in the summer months.
Wear a hat, sunscreen, and bug spray.
Wear long sleeve and good closed-toe hiking shoes. Poison ivy and ticks are common on Wind Cave hiking trails.
Remember to check for ticks! I pulled off three ticks in the parking lot after our hike!
Watch out for rattlesnakes! Be sure to stay on trail where they are a bit more obvious to spot. Be particularly vigilant near prairie dog towns, where they tend to linger.
Keep at least 25 yards away from wildlife, especially bison. If they are on the trail, keep your space and turn around or make a wide path around them. These guys can be particularly unpredictable and become more aggressive May through August in the mating season.
Drive slowly and watch out for animals on the road! – especially near dawn and dusk.
Don’t feed any of the wildlife.
Have a trail map. Even the map from the visitor center will do, or have this post handy and refer to this map and trail guide. It might get confusing since the Wind Cave trails are marked with numbers rather than trail names.
Are You Planning a South Dakota Road Trip?
Then you’re in luck! We have lots of guides and helpful tips to help you plan a visit to other top spots in South Dakota that are near Wind Cave National Park!
Here are just some of the awesome places near Wind Cave National Park that you can add to your South Dakota itinerary:
MOUNT RUSHMORE– Check out our complete guide to things to do at and near Mount Rushmore!
CUSTER STATE PARK– Check out what to do, best time to visit, and more in our Custer State Park guide.
HIKING BLACK ELK PEAK – Read all about the hike to Black Elk Peak if you want to stand on the tallest point in South Dakota!
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK – Our Badlands Guide has everything you need to know about this amazing National Park!
HOW TO HIKE THE NOTCH TRAIL– Learn all about the Notch Trail, our favorite hike in the Badlands!
DEVILS TOWER – Not in South Dakota, but Devils Tower is close enough to add onto your South Dakota road trip!
SOUTH DAKOTA ITINERARIES - Want to put all these places and more on a South Dakota itinerary? Check out these guides to help you plan a perfect road trip whether you have one day or one week in South Dakota!
Are you ready to hit the trails in Wind Cave National Park? We hope this helps you prepare for Wind Cave hiking no matter which trail you choose. Let us know if you have any questions!