Parking
Use the limited roadside pull-off at the signed Cathedral Spires trailhead on the Needles Highway hairpin, about a mile east of Needles Eye Tunnel. Park admission is required.
Overview
About Cathedral Spires Trail
Why go
- A close-up walk into a basin of striking granite pinnacles.
- A memorable landscape payoff in a short outing.
Heads up
- A steep, rough boulder scramble near the end makes it strenuous.
- The small roadside trailhead has limited parking.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Custer map
Full mapElevation6,243–6,522 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Custer Tour Guide
Your drive to Cathedral Spires Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Custer State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Custer audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Cathedral Spires: Roadside or on Foot0:00 / 0:32
“You're nearing the Cathedral Spires area, named for granite pillars that resemble a row of organ pipes. For a quick look, choose the roadside viewing pullout, where the towers rise above a pine-covered valley.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Needle’s Eye: The Rock and the Tunnel
- Little Devils Tower: The Summit Scramble
- The Pine That Smells Sweet
- Sylvan Lake: Rocks and Water
- 82 audio storiesacross Custer’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Bison, Wapiti, Bighorn Sheep, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 40 trails, 49 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“We recently toured Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and more! We learned so much from this app as we toured each of these sites. The audio tours are worth the money.”
Trail guide
Hiking Cathedral Spires Trail
A short hike with a big finishCathedral Spires Trail is a 1.
Cathedral Spires Trail is a 1.2-mile out-and-back from the Needles Highway hairpin into a basin ringed by granite pinnacles. The current signed route usually takes one to two hours. Most of the walk is a forest approach; the last stretch climbs steeply over boulders into the spires. An older 2.3-mile figure also circulates, but it does not match the shorter, currently mapped trail to the basin.
The climb comes lateThe first part is mostly gentle walking through ponderosa pine and spruce, with the rock towers…
The first part is mostly gentle walking through ponderosa pine and spruce, with the rock towers coming into view between the trees. Switchbacks lead toward the final, much steeper section. Expect large, uneven boulders underfoot and take your time here. Follow the trail markers: the paths connect into longer hikes near the basin.
Walk among the granite towersThe payoff is getting close to the tall, narrow rock pillars rather than viewing them only from…
The payoff is getting close to the tall, narrow rock pillars rather than viewing them only from the highway. They were shaped by erosion over millions of years and are protected as a National Natural Landmark. Their organ-pipe profile is what gave the Cathedral Spires their name. Late-afternoon light brings out the texture in the granite.
Know where to turn aroundThe Cathedral Spires route meets Black Elk Trail 4 and the Little Devils Tower trail.
The Cathedral Spires route meets Black Elk Trail #4 and the Little Devils Tower trail. Those connections make longer outings possible, but they are extensions, not part of this short basin hike. For the route described here, turn around at the marked junction and return the way you came.
Getting to the trailheadStart at the signed pull-off on Needles Highway at the sharp hairpin, about a mile east of…
Start at the signed pull-off on Needles Highway at the sharp hairpin, about a mile east of Needles Eye Tunnel. Parking is limited. Park admission is required. Dogs are allowed in the park on a leash no longer than 10 feet.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Custer
993 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
91 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
260 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
85 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
259 sightingsBurroMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
711 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Custer. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
