South Dakota

Centennial Trail

in South Dakota

Centennial Trail is hiking trail in South Dakota. This page summarises what we have from public sources (OpenStreetMap and trail-association data); always verify current conditions and trail status with the maintaining organisation before heading out.

States: South Dakota
Network: Regional (rwn)
Reference: CT
Centroid coords: 44.0290°, -103.4904°
OSM relation: 7330792

From Wikipedia: The South Dakota Centennial Trail, also called the Black Hills Centennial Trail, is a long-distance trail in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. It runs 123 miles (198 km) south to north from Wind Cave National Park to Bear Butte State Park. The trail is blazed by a white diamond with a black "89" on the top half and a bison skull on the bottom half. It is one of two long-distance hiking trails in Western South Dakota, the other being the nearby George S. Mickelson Trail, which is generally considered easier than the Centennial Trail. The trail has 21 official trailheads. In addition to hiking, the trail is open to mountain biking and horseback riding in most areas. The Centennial Trail was certified as a National Recreation Trail in 2005. Excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Centennial Trail (South Dakota), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Centennial Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.