Parking
Use the marked Galena Trailhead parking area beside Badger Clark Road (CSP 9).
Overview
About Galena Trail
Why go
- A clearly mapped 3.2-mile corridor makes a substantial half-day walk.
- The marked trailhead has adjacent parking.
Heads up
- Shared use with cyclists and horseback riders.
- No restrooms along the trail system.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Custer map
Full mapElevation4,557–5,138 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 Galena 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
Galena Trail: A Longer Shared-Use Walk0:00 / 0:20
“You're approaching Galena Trailhead on Badger Clark Road. This is a moderate route toward the Game Lodge trail network, with hikers, cyclists and horses using the same trail.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Barnes Canyon: A One-Way Backcountry Walk
- Badger Hole: The Poet’s Cabin
- Why Turtles Share a Sunny Log
- Legion Lake: A Short Walk and Lakeside Lunch
- 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 Galena Trail
The routeGalena is a marked multi-use trail in Custer State Park’s northern network.
Galena is a marked multi-use trail in Custer State Park’s northern network. The mapped corridor is 3.2 miles one way; returning the same way makes an out-and-back of about 6.4 miles. The route is considered moderate, and a steady outing takes about 2.5 hours.
Where it goesBegin at Galena Trailhead beside Badger Clark Road (CSP 9).
Begin at Galena Trailhead beside Badger Clark Road (CSP 9). The corridor runs northeast toward the Game Lodge trail network; turn around at its junction and retrace the route. The trail is shared with hikers, cyclists and horseback riders.
Before you goA park entrance license is required.
A park entrance license is required. There are no restrooms along the trail system, so carry water. Dogs are allowed on leashes no longer than 10 feet.
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.
