Iron Creek Horse Camp

Located 13 miles outside Custer, South Dakota, Iron Creek Horse Camp offers a peaceful setting in the Black Hills National Forest. The camp is adjacent to Iron Creek and surrounded by Ponderosa pine forests, an ideal base for horse enthusiasts exploring wilderness areas and historical sites. The campground has 9 equestrian sites and corrals that can accommodate 2-3 horses. Sites have picnic tables, campfire rings with grills, vault toilets and parking areas. Water tanks specifically for horses are available; drinking water and electricity are not. Access roads are curvy and the sites can accommodate rigs up to 50 feet in length. For larger rigs, use Willow Creek Horse Camp. Hiking, fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking and riding off-highway vehicles are popular in summer and early autumn, while winter landscapes are ideal for snowshoeing, skiing and snowmobiling. From this campground, visitors can access the Centennial Trail and parts of the Black Elk Wilderness and Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, where trails weave through the wilderness offering primitive, non-motorized recreation. Stretching across northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota, Black Hills National Forest encompasses nearly 1.25 million acres of rugged rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, tumbling streams, deep blue lakes, and unique caves. Derived from the Lakota language, the words "Paha Sapa," meaning "hills that are black," honor the dark, pine-covered hills rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie. Nearby Black Elk Wilderness lies in the center of the Black Hills National Forest in western South Dakota. The wilderness encompasses the Harney Range, an area long held sacred by American Indians. The wilderness is named after Black Elk, a Oglala Lakota holy man, and is the only wilderness in the Black Hills. Bighorn sheep navigate mountainous terrain, while elk, deer and pronghorn gather in forests and prairies. Bald eagles, hawks, osprey, peregrine falcon and hundreds of other bird species can be found in the forest, especially along streams, lakes and rivers. Mountain lions, although rarely seen, also call this area home. Possible day trips include Custer State Park with its many buffalo and other wildlife, Crazy Horse Monument, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave, the second longest cave in the world at 159.29 miles, which features sparkling calcite crystals and other rare formations.