Black Hills South Dakota! Hiking 30 minutes on Sunday Gulch Trail near Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park

Hi there!

The Sunday Gulch Trail may be among the best hikes in Custer State Park! This can be a day trip from Rapid City South Dakota.

And, you don’t have to do the whole trail in order for it to be worth it!

I wasn’t planning on hiking the Sunday Gulch Trail, but when I came across it I decided to do a bit of it.

I came across the Sunday Gulch Trail while doing the trail that goes around Sylvan Lake, which the most popular of all the Custer State Park lakes.

There are 2 spots to access the Sunday Gulch Trail near Sylvan Lake.

I was on the Sunday Gulch Trail for a total of around 30 minutes and I thought it was worth the extra detour!

The Black Hills are known for tall rock formations.

You’ve probably heard of the “needles” and “spires” of Custer State Park!

And the Sunday Gulch Trail will have you hiking with some of those tall rock formations all around you!

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Here is how South Dakota State Parks describes the Sunday Gulch Trail:

Following Sunday Gulch through towering trees, huge boulders, and along a gurgling creek, it is easy to see why this is like no other place in the Black Hills.

Descending into Sunday Gulch, the trail crosses a stream several times while passing over large boulders and near magnificent granite walls.

Many rare plants and a wide variety of trees can be seen throughout the trail.

The Sunday Gulch Trail is often surrounded by towering granite walls, which are examples of the geology in the Black Hills known as the central core.

This is also an excellent place to spot a mountain goat.

This trail offers perhaps the most unique scenery of all the park’s hiking trails.

The Sunday Gulch Trail is connected to the Sylvan Lake Trail.

I didn’t really know anything about the Sunday Gulch Trail when I came to the Sunday Gulch trailhead, but even just a look ahead and the trail looked promising!

I planned to walk the Sylvan Lake Trail as a quick thing before getting starting on the Black Elk Peak Trail. Since I was going to be hiking to Black Elk Peak, I didn’t want to hike too much of another trail.

But since the Sunday Gulch Trail started off having a little bit of that WOW effect, I decided to get started on it with the intent of turning around after just a little bit.

So if you have plans to do the Sylvan Lake Trail, then add in an extra 20-30 minutes or so to do a little bit of the Sunday Gulch Trail too!

You can walk for 5-10 minutes on the Sunday Gulch Trail and then turn around. The trail does have stairs.

I’ve seen the Sunday Gulch Trail listed by South Dakota State Parks in different places as a 2.8 mile loop, a 3.2 mile loop, and a 4 mile loop… I would guess that the Sunday Gulch Trail itself is around 3 miles. And if you add in the Sylvan Lake Trail that is required to do in order to get to the Sunday Gulch Trail, maybe it is around 4 miles. The suggested time to give yourself for this hike is 2-4 hours.

There are 2 trailheads for the Sunday Gulch Trail along Sylvan Lake Trail. More below about getting to the Sunday Gulch Trail!

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Sylvan Lake Trail to Sunday Gulch Trail

The way to get to the Sunday Gulch Trail is by walking the Sylvan Lake Trail.

And there are 2 spots to access the Sunday Gulch Trail along Sylvan Lake Trail.

I hiked from the side that’s closer to the Black Elk Peak Trail.

This is starting off by walking with Sylvan Lake on the LEFT side of you.

And then maybe after 10-20 minutes, you’ll arrive at the first Sunday Gulch trailhead! (How long it takes you will depend on how fast you’re walking, how long you spend to take in the views, and whether or not you go off and climb some rocks!)

And then off you go on the Sunday Gulch Trail!

And then if you want to keep it short, after you’ve taken in some views you can turn around! I turned around after around 15 minutes.

And then after you’ve finished up on the Sunday Gulch Trail, you can continue back to Sylvan Lake!

And that’s a bit about making the Sunday Gulch Trail into a short hike in Custer State Park!

See more hiking in Custer State Park:

• Best hikes in Custer State Park
• Legion Lake Trail

HAPPY HIKING THE SUNDAY GULCH TRAIL!

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