Spearfish Falls trailhead parking?! + nearby overflow parking location 🌲 Black Hills, South Dakota travel blog

Hi there!

 

So you want to get to the Spearfish Falls trailhead!

This is a part of South Dakota’s state park system in Spearfish Canyon Nature Area.

You can hike the pretty flat Spearfish Falls Trail that will take you to the waterfalls.

This is a nice nature walk through the forest and it comes with views of the canyon in part along the way.

It’s a mostly leisurely walk through the forest that comes with a bridge crossing over a creek along the way.

 

 

 

Parking near Spearfish Falls trailhead

 

The best parking for the Spearfish Falls Trail is the same parking lot at the Latchstring restaurant that’s right near the Spearfish Falls trailhead.

But, there is VERY limited parking at the Spearfish Falls trailhead.

Like, 3 parking spots.

 

 

Most of the parking lot is restaurant parking.

There are signs saying the parking spaces are for employee parking and guest parking.

This is how it was when I went anyway! Your experience may vary!

 

 

Latchstring is a part of the Spearfish Canyon Lodge that’s across the road.

So, if you’re not also eating at the restaurant before or after your hike, then it seems it would be good to park at the Roughlock Falls trailhead. You’ll follow signs for Roughlock Falls, and then you’ll see the parking lot.

From the Roughlock Falls trailhead parking to the Spearfish Falls Trail, it might be a few minutes walk.

Or, if you are able to find parking at the Spearfish Falls trailhead, then the start of the Spearfish Falls Trail is right there!

 

 

More below about getting to the Spearfish Falls trailhead!

 

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How to get to the Spearfish Falls trailhead

I went to the Spearfish Falls trailhead as part of a drive from Mount Rushmore to Devils Tower. (That was a drive from Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone with Spearfish Canyon along the way!)

This means that I was driving in the direction of Savoy SD to Spearfish SD.

 

 

Coming from Mount Rushmore, my time in Spearfish Canyon started in Savoy.

And, it’s at this junction to start driving the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway that you’ll look for the Spearfish Falls trailhead parking aka the Latchstring restaurant.

Once you’re in Savoy at the junction/intersection, you’ll see the Latchstring restaurant.

So you can then turn into that parking lot to look for parking.

You’ll see a trail that seems to go in towards the forest and that’s the trail to the start of the Spearfish Falls Trail.

There are parking spots right next to this trail.

So if you want to get to the Spearfish Falls trailhead, you can see if there’s parking at the Spearfish Falls trailhead.

 

👆 Arriving to Savoy when you are driving in the direction of Savoy to Spearfish, you will see a sign for Roughlock Falls pointing to the left, and then the Latchstring restaurant and Spearfish Falls trailhead will be to the right. Above, you can see the Latchstring parking to the right, along with the Roughlock Falls sign pointing to the left.

 

👆 Directly ahead is the start of the Spearfish Falls Trail along with parking spots open to the public. When I was there, there was room for 3 cars, and beyond that, there were cones set up with signs indicating the rest of the parking spots were from employees.

 

👆 The Spearfish Falls Trail starts near the main road of Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway which is US-14A

 

Driving through the rest of the parking lot, there were more cones, with a sign that said parking was for restaurant guests only.

 

 

So if you can’t find parking at the Spearfish Falls trailhead, then you can head towards Roughlock Falls.

You’ll be turning onto Roughlock Falls Road.

 

 

Then, once you make that turn, you’ll pass the Spearfish Canyon Lodge.

 

 

Then you’ll see a sign for the 76 Trail. This is where you start the 76 Trail.

I did not do the 76 Trail, but according to the people of Visit Spearfish, it seems like a worthy hike! So if you want to do this, the Roughlock Falls trailhead parking lot can be good for that too. It’s listed as a 1.5 mile round trip difficult hike in which you will be hiking UP for vast views of the Black Hills!

 

 

Shortly after the 76 trailhead, the road will turn into a dirt road.

Then, almost immediately after that, you will see a parking lot on the left side.

The parking lot is obvious and you will see it directly alongside the road.

This is a parking lot that you can use for Spearfish Falls too.

 

👆 There is a sign for “Roughlock Falls trailhead parking” and “Roughlock Falls.” If you want to go to the Roughlock Falls Nature Area for the quicker way to see Roughlock Falls, you can keep keep driving straight ahead. If you want to hike to Spearfish Falls or Roughlock Falls (aka if you want to start the Roughlock Falls Trail), this first parking lot you see for the Roughlock Falls trailhead your destination!

 

👆 The Roughlock Falls trailhead parking lot can serve as a Spearfish Falls trailhead overflow parking lot.

 

There is a bathroom at the Roughlock Falls trailhead parking lot. (There is also a bathroom at the Spearfish Falls trailhead.)

Then, if you want to do the Spearfish Falls Trail, you can start walking along the road you were just driving on to get to the start of the Spearfish Falls Trail.

 

 

And off you go to start hiking to Spearfish Falls!

 

 

And then once you’ve taken in the views of Spearfish Falls, then you can head back to the parking lot!

And then you can go for a drive on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway!

 

 

Maybe next up will be a stop at Long Valley picnic area, the Kissing Rocks, or Bridal Veil Falls!

 

And that’s a bit about the Spearfish Falls trailhead!

I went to the Spearfish Falls trailhead parking lot in September 2021. Your experience may vary!

 

More of the Black Hills and beyond:

• Things to do in the Black Hills
• Things to do in Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Things to do in Custer State Park
• Things to do in Devils Tower National Monument
• Targhee National Forest waterfalls in Idaho
• National forest cabins in Wyoming

 

HAPPY DRIVING TO THE SPEARFISH FALLS TRAILHEAD PARKING LOT!