Cool facts about Custer State Park
Posted on Aug 25, 2025 / Travel

- The park is home to one of the largest publicly managed free-roaming bison herds in the nation, and the annual Buffalo Roundup draws thousands of spectators each fall.
- Needles Highway, famous for its granite spires and narrow tunnels, was carved in the 1920s and named after its needle-like rock formations.
- Sylvan Lake has been a filming location and was once described by famed naturalist John Muir as a "gem" of the Black Hills.
- The Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, which runs through the park, is named after the U.S. senator who championed preservation and scenic road building in the Black Hills.
- Historic Game Lodge, built in the 1920s, served as a hunting retreat for presidents and is now a central park lodge with period decor and wildlife exhibits.
- The park’s landscape includes ancient granite outcrops that are over a billion years old, offering hikers dramatic exposed rock and panoramic views.
- Custer State Park manages prairie restoration projects and habitat programs to support native plants and pollinators across its grassland areas.
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