Mount Coolidge Trail

The Mount Coolidge Trail is a 3.3-mile out-and-back from the lower gate on Highway 87 to the fire tower summit, about 1.65 miles each way. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours for the steady gravel-road climb and a stop at the top. It suits you if you want a straightforward summit outing with a historic tower and wide Black Hills views; the whole route follows an access road, so expect a road walk rather than secluded singletrack.

Park in the surface lots beside the Mount Coolidge Road gate off Highway 87 and walk uphill on the gravel access road. Vehicle access normally runs from Memorial Day into late September; hikers can still walk the road to the summit in winter when the gate is closed. When the gate is open, you share the narrow road with summit traffic. Dogs are allowed on a leash no longer than 10 feet.

The road climbs steadily through switchbacks to the tower’s upper driveway. It gains roughly 470 feet, with no separate singletrack or scrambling on this route. At 6,023 feet, the summit opens over the central Black Hills: on a clear day you can pick out Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Needles, and sometimes the Badlands far to the east. The lookout makes a useful landmark at the edge of a wide summit photo.

The mountain was first called Sheep Mountain. A log tower and caretaker’s quarters went up in 1923, and the name changed to Lookout Mountain. It became Mount Coolidge in 1927, when President Calvin Coolidge spent the summer at the State Game Lodge. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the stone tower in 1939; it still serves as a fire lookout and dispatch center. Exhibits on the outside deck tell the story of the 1988 Galena Fire, which burned about 16,000 acres in the park.