Parking
The trailhead is across Stockade Lake Drive from the swim beach; use the parking shown beside the access on the park map.
Overview
About Stockade Lake Trail
Why go
- A compact ridge loop with views toward several Black Hills landmarks.
Heads up
- The first half has a short, rocky incline.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Custer map
Full mapElevation5,213–5,564 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 Stockade Lake 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
Stockade Lake: Water or a Ridge Walk0:00 / 0:32
“Stockade Lake is coming up, with a pine-lined shore and a rocky bluff across the water. If you want to go boating, this is the park's only lake allowing every type of boat, including motorboats.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Custer Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- How Water Striders Stay Afloat
- The President's Well-Stocked Stream
- Doran Trail: Stone Paths Above Stockade Lake
- Gordon Stockade: Gold and the Treaty
- 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 Stockade Lake Trail
A short ridge loopStockade Lake Trail is a 1.
Stockade Lake Trail is a 1.5-mile loop on the lake’s east side, climbing a wooded ridge before circling back to Stockade Lake Drive. It’s a good choice for a short outing with a real climb and a view; allow about one to two hours. The park rates it moderate, and the first half includes a short rocky incline, so this is not a flat lap along the water.
Start across from the swim beachThe trailhead is across Stockade Lake Drive from the swim beach, with parking shown beside the…
The trailhead is across Stockade Lake Drive from the swim beach, with parking shown beside the access on the park map. Dogs can join the walk on a leash no longer than ten feet, but they aren’t allowed on designated swim beaches.
The climb and returnThe trail climbs a wooded ridge through dense pines, then circles back toward the road.
The trail climbs a wooded ridge through dense pines, then circles back toward the road. The first half has the short rocky incline; pines and thickets of aspen and birch fill much of the rest of the walk. Expect uneven footing on the climb rather than a long, steady ascent.
The view from the ridgeThe upper viewpoints look toward the Needles, Black Elk Peak and Crazy Horse Memorial.
The upper viewpoints look toward the Needles, Black Elk Peak and Crazy Horse Memorial. Look through a gap in the pines for Stockade Lake below, with the pale rocky skyline beyond it; that’s the strongest place to frame a photo.
Doran and the StockadeThe lake was first called Doran, after the area’s original homesteader, then renamed for the…
The lake was first called Doran, after the area’s original homesteader, then renamed for the Gordon Stockade on its western shore. The lake and trail were built by men from Camp Doran, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the 1930s.
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.
