Rapid City: Harney Peak
Backpack under tall Ponderosa pines to the highest peak east of the Rockies then continue to a landscape littered with needle-nose spires on this isolated 6.8-mile loop.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 11.0
Waypoints
HPT001
Location: 43.8470344543457, -103.560386657715
Trailhead: Head NE, following Trail #9 (Harney Sylvan Lake Trail) marked with orange blazes
HPT002
Location: 43.8538818359375, -103.553565979004
Turn R
HPT003
Location: 43.85205078125, -103.55069732666
Vast SW views
HPT004
Location: 43.8549003601074, -103.538063049316
Veer R, keeping with Harney Sylvan
HPT005
Location: 43.8617515563965, -103.527549743652
Turn L to Harney Peak
HPT006
Location: 43.8625335693359, -103.526916503906
Fine views to the N, then in a few hundred yards to the W
HPT007
Location: 43.8645820617676, -103.528884887695
Turn L; climb switchbacks on granite steps to S. Dakota?s high point
HPT008
Location: 43.8658676147461, -103.532447814941
Summit: Harney Peak, 7,242 ft., marked by a USGS benchmark S of the stone lookout tower; return to WPT 5 and head S on Cathedral Spires Trail (Trail #4)
HPT009
Location: 43.8577842712402, -103.5263671875
Turn R
HPT010
Location: 43.8535995483398, -103.528564453125
Stay straight; Cathedral Spires Trail meets up with Norbeck Trail; ahead, watch for several trad and mixed pro climbing route
HPT011
Location: 43.8471984863281, -103.537696838379
Soft, flat bed of pine needles offers a great campsite with a fine view of needlelike spires (bring lots of water)
HPT012
Location: 43.8474655151367, -103.54443359375
Swing L to Sylvan Lake
HPT013
Location: 43.8435668945312, -103.551948547363
Continue across parking lot, then bear R and hike .6 mi. to trailhead
Trailhead
Location: 43.8470420837402, -103.560546875
Harney Sylvan Lake Trail trailhead
© Shannon Davis