Custer County High Point Trip Report

Date: June 9, 2003
Author: Jerry Brekhus

We climbed this one the day after running the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon. Peering at maps, we noticed Forest Road 352 on the west side of 7000-foot Sylvan Peak, the county high point. The topo map shows a gentler slope on this approach compared to the approach from the Needles Highway.

FR 352 starts 1 mile north of the Custer-Pennington County Line. The inconspicuous junction is very near M.P. 77 on SD 87 (Needles Highway) just south of Horse Thief Resort.

We drove in on FR 352, which is an improved gravel road and parked at 2.1 miles where the road was heading downhill again. The elevation at the start of our hike was approx. 6100 ft. We followed an abandoned road to the left of FR 352 headed south and uphill. Where the old road began to descend we turned toward the east and climbed on moderate slopes across grassy ground in open forest. After a brief excursion toward a rock castle we noticed the true summit and headed up it, finding a cairn at the top.

Harney Peak was prominently visible. In the opposite direction, I looked for Crazy Horse and at first didn't see the monumental statue. Thanks to Dave Covill's trip report, I knew that Crazy Horse should be visible. Moving a few steps got me to a spot where trees did not block the view and I was surprised to see how big/close the face appeared. Binoculars were unnecessary for a view of the huge face.

On our descent, we saw a cow elk. Later we came to an old road grade and followed it down. It joined FR 352 roughly a mile south of our vehicle. Had we parked here, we could have cut a half hour off our hike each way. If we go back for another visit, we will likely climb up the way we came down.

Instructions for that approach would be as follows:

Drive on FR 352.
At 2.1 miles the road bears right and goes downhill.
Beyond this point odometer readings are not available, because we were afoot. However, guesstimates are given.
At 2.5 miles the gravel ends. Two dirt roads continue. FR 352-2B goes right. FR 352 continues straight. Take FR 352 straight.
At 3 miles (more or less) take FR 352-2D left.

You may choose to hike or drive about a quarter mile on FR 352-2D at which point you should see an abandoned road to the left blocked off by logs/tree branches. You are now only 0.4 miles from the high point. Hike uphill on the abandoned road, using your navigational skills to determine when to head cross-country to the summit.

Ascent took 1 hour five minutes, descent 1 hour ten minutes.

summit GPS-derived coordinates in zone 13 (613674 easting, 4855380 northing) - WGS84 datum