Parking
Use Center Lake beach parking and start at the Lower Loop access at the south end of the lot. A Custer State Park entrance license is required.
Overview
About Lost Trails: Lower Loop
Why go
- Lake views and a waterfall on a compact loop
- Restored CCC stonework and stairs
Heads up
- Rocky, narrow tread with short climbs
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Custer map
Full mapElevation4,649–4,843 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 Lost Trails: Lower Loop, 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
Center Lake: A Lake Day and Lost Stone Paths0:00 / 0:27
“You're nearing Center Lake, a good place to spend an afternoon swimming or fishing beside the pines. Boats run at no-wake speed, and the swimming beach has no lifeguard.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Seven Centuries in a Pine
- Black Hills Playhouse: A Summer Show
- The Tunnels Beneath Pine Bark
- Ice in the Granite Cracks
- 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 Lost Trails: Lower Loop
A short loop around Center LakeLost Trails: Lower Loop is a roughly 1.
Lost Trails: Lower Loop is a roughly 1.5-mile circuit around Center Lake, separate from the Upper Loop to the overlook. Allow about an hour. Shoreline views and forest make the walk varied, but narrow, rocky tread and short climbs make it more of a moderate hike than an easy lakeside stroll.
Start at the south end of Center Lake beach parking and follow the lower route around the lake. At the north end, a brief stretch of Center Lake Road joins the boat-dock and beach-side trail access so you can close the loop. Watch for the shoreline trail to rejoin near the campground.
Rocky tread and open shoreThe route alternates between narrow, rocky path in the trees and openings right beside the…
The route alternates between narrow, rocky path in the trees and openings right beside the water. Expect repeated ups and downs, with uneven footing that can take more attention than the distance suggests. A granite staircase and stone-lined sections are part of the old trailwork; this is not a smooth path for wheels or strollers.
Waterfall and old stoneworkBelow Center Lake’s spillway, the route passes a small waterfall and creek.
Below Center Lake’s spillway, the route passes a small waterfall and creek. The Lost Trails are believed to have been built by Civilian Conservation Corps crews in the 1930s, then forgotten; park staff rediscovered remnants in 2017 and restored sections. The CCC also built Center Lake’s dam and some of the buildings at the Black Hills Playhouse.
Before you startPoison ivy is common along the trail, so long pants and boots are sensible.
Poison ivy is common along the trail, so long pants and boots are sensible. Dogs must stay on a leash no longer than 10 feet and are not allowed on the designated swim beach. A Custer State Park entrance license is required. No food service was found along the route.
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.
