Mount Coolidge Fire Tower

Mount Coolidge Fire Tower is a stone lookout on 6,023-foot Mount Coolidge, the highest point in central Custer State Park. It remains an active fire lookout and dispatch center. This is a summit stop for a wide Black Hills panorama; on a clear day, you can pick out Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Needles, with the Badlands roughly 60 miles to the east.

From SD 87, about three miles south of US 16A, a 1.2-mile gravel road climbs to the summit. It is narrow and winding, and many visitors find the tight bends and passing traffic stressful. Oversized vehicles and campers are not allowed. Vehicle access usually runs from Memorial Day into late September when the gate is open; the park says visitors may hike the road to the summit in winter. Custer State Park admission applies.

Parking is at the summit, then exterior steps lead up to the observation deck. The working tower is not an interior tour. Exhibits on the outside deck tell the story of the 1988 Galena Fire, which burned about 16,000 acres in the park.

The deck opens onto a broad view of the Black Hills and, when visibility cooperates, distant landmarks from Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to the Needles and Badlands. For a photo that shows the summit as well as the view, include part of the stone tower or terrace in the foreground; a distant landmark alone can look small on a phone.

The summit was first called Sheep Mountain. A log tower and caretaker's quarters went up in 1923, and the mountain became Lookout Mountain. It took the name Mount Coolidge in 1927, the summer President Calvin Coolidge stayed at the State Game Lodge. In 1939 the Civilian Conservation Corps replaced the log structures with the stone tower and quarters that still stand here.