![]() The stone fire lookout on the peak gives the summit a nice atmosphere, and provides a little shelter from the wind for a quick picnic. The historical tidbits associated with this one summit were previously largely unknown. The trail is well-marked and well-traveled, and the view from the top is incredible. Black Elk Peak, previously known as Harney Peak, is a natural, historical and cultural gem in South Dakota’s Black Hills. It takes most people three or four hours to climb up the mountain, with the hike down taking two or maybe three hours. If you haven't hiked the mountain before, it's well-worth the effort on your next trip to the Black Hills. That means that road signs, maps, and visitor information across the state - and particularly in Custer State Park - will soon be updated to read "Black Elk Peak." Initially, South Dakota officials seemed poised to fight the name change, but this morning Governor Dennis Daugaard confirmed that the state will let the name change stand. They declared the mountain Black Elk Peak, named for a famous Lakota medicine man whose visions were recorded in the influential 1932 book Black Elk Speaks. Until last week, that is, when a federal board decided to overrule the state. Surrounded by the beautiful Black Elk Wilderness in Custer State Park, Black Elk Peak is one of the most popular sites in the state. It’s also the highest elevation between the Rocky Mountains in the western United States and the Pyrenees Mountains in France. But after pressure from the state's largely white conservative political establishment, the original name stuck. At 7,242 feet, Black Elk Peak isn’t just South Dakota’s highest point. The Black Hills have long been considered sacred by indigenous people - the same people Harney apparently massacred indiscriminately. Officials initially agreed that naming the highest point in the Black Hills for Harney was probably a bad idea. But it turns out that Harney had a bit of a checkered past, including leading a battle against the Sioux that resulted in the deaths of women and children - a fact pointed out to the authorities last fall by South Dakotan Basil Brave Heart. Hiking Black Elk Peak is one of the very best trails with beautiful surroundings the entire way Once you’ve made it to the fire tower on the mountain, you’ll feel as if you’re on top of the world. Harney, a Civil War general that most people have never heard of. S tand on top of Black Elk Peak and get incredible 360 degree views of the remarkable Black Hills. And the reason for the change isn't a sudden geological event or stunning new data, but a simple name change.įor more than 150 years, the 7,242ft/2,207m high mountain in the central Black Hills was known as Harney Peak. It was named for William S. Black Elk Peak stands 7,242 feet above sea level, and each year tribal members make pilgrimages there to welcome the Thunder-Beings during the spring equinox. The highest point in South Dakota - and perhaps North America's highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains - is no longer Harney Peak.
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