French Creek Natural Area Trail

This unmarked route follows old logging roads and game trails deep into Custer State Park’s 3,000-acre French Creek Natural Area, the largest roadless tract in the Black Hills. The access track branches off Iron Mountain Road near Grace Coolidge Creek, immediately dropping into dense timber and rocky creek beds that haven’t seen maintenance in decades.

You’ll need serious rock sliders and skid plates for the creek-bottom sections, plus low-range gearing for the steep climbs back to ridgeline. This is expert-only terrain with no cell service and limited turnaround options once committed. Best attempted September through November when water levels drop and hunting seasons provide natural area closures. The payoff is complete solitude in old-growth ponderosa stands that most park visitors never see.