Parking
Roadside pullout on Wildlife Loop Road beside the mapped Devil Dog access. A Custer State Park entrance license is required before entering or parking.
Overview
About Devil Dog Trail
Why go
- Quick stair climb to an open prairie view
Heads up
- Very short; route distance and endpoint are approximate
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Custer map
Full mapElevation4,028–4,065 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 Devil Dog 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.
Recorded for this trailhead
Devil Dog Trail: A Quick Prairie View0:00 / 0:19
“Devil Dog Trail is coming up beside Wildlife Loop Road. It's a short climb to an open prairie ridge, worth fifteen to twenty minutes if you'd like a quick view across the grassland.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Coyote's Mouse Pounce
- Bison Chew It Twice
- The Elk You Hear First
- Wildlife Station: The Herdsman's House
- 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 Devil Dog Trail
A quick stop on Wildlife Loop RoadDevil Dog Trail is a short out-and-back from roadside parking, climbing from the road to an…
Devil Dog Trail is a short out-and-back from roadside parking, climbing from the road to an open prairie ridge. The park map lists 0.3 miles; a nearby description of a newer, unnamed walk in the same corridor puts it at about a quarter mile total. The access and route details match, but that account never uses the Devil Dog name, so treat the exact endpoint and distance as approximate. The mapped route measures about 0.2 miles round trip. Allow 15 to 20 minutes. It is a useful leg stretch while driving the loop, not a hike to build the day around.
Stairs, gravel, then grassStart at the pullout on Wildlife Loop Road.
Start at the pullout on Wildlife Loop Road. The walk begins with a short climb on stairs, then follows a gravel path across open ground to a narrower, rougher tread along the ridge. The mapped line ends at the high point; return the same way. The stairs are the main effort, and the surface becomes less even after the gravel ends. The park map shows parking at the access, but no trailhead facilities are confirmed.
Look over the prairieThe payoff is a quick view across the grassland, with pines framing the open slope.
The payoff is a quick view across the grassland, with pines framing the open slope. A visitor on the likely matching walk saw bison in the distance, though wildlife moves around and is never guaranteed. Keep well back if bison are nearby. Dogs are allowed on park trails with a leash or strict voice control, and an entrance license is required before entering or parking in Custer State Park.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Custer
993 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
91 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
258 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
85 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
256 sightingsBurroMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
707 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Custer. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
