Hiking Crow Peak

Hiking Crow Peak, SD | Camping in Black Hills National Forest | July 2025

We ended up only spending two nights at our boondocking spot in the Wyoming Black Hills. After spending our one full day there hiking to Warren Peak, we realized there was nothing else we wanted to do. And so instead of sitting around and doing nothing, which would likely just end up with us being sad all day, we decided to move on and find other places to hike and camp. The only issue was that today was a Saturday, the day after 4th of July, and we knew places would likely still be busy. When we had Charlotte and we were traveling together, holiday weekends always just meant we would stay in one place until it was over and the crowds died down. But now, as we are trying to figure out who we are without her, we’re switching things up and taking ‘risks’ we wouldn’t have taken before. Because nothing really matters anymore!!

We packed up and drove back the way we came, down to the town of Sundance, then drove East on I-90 back into South Dakota. When originally planning this trip, we knew that Curtis would have to be in Illinois in the middle of July, but we were considering having Charlotte and I stay somewhere in SD or WY or anywhere out West and Curtis flying to and from IL, and just continuing our little adventure after that week was over. But now that we were drowning in grief, the last thing we wanted was to be separated, so we knew we’d have to start heading East eventually. We didn’t go far today though — we just returned to the Western side of the SD Black Hills to do some more hiking and camping in parts of the forest we hadn’t visited before.

Our chosen hike for today was Crow Peak, which was an almost 7 mile hike. We’ve hiked plenty of peaks of that length and longer in the past, and Curtis has done much longer in his peak bagging quest, but this was the longest hike I had done in at least 2.5 years, if I’m remembering correctly! After several days of lots of activity, and having the attitude of ‘nothing really matters’, I was ready for the challenge.

We arrived at the trailhead in the late morning, when it was mostly full and already pretty warm outside. We prepared for the hike, grabbing lots of snacks and filling up as many water containers as we could carry. And then we were off. The trail started out with a very gradual elevation gain, mostly shaded and with lovely purple flowers along the path. The trail slowly gained elevation as it followed a ridge line around to the other side of the peak, which was more exposed. It ended on a steeper note, taking us up several switchbacks, through a boulder field, and finally up to the final ridge to the summit. We took a couple short breaks on our way up, but made good time and took a nice long rest at the summit. From the top, we pointed out some peaks we recognized, including Terry Peak which was next on Curtis’ list, and tried to make out Bear Butte on the horizon, the Northern terminus of the Centennial Trail.

Our return hike was uneventful, just even hotter than before, but soon we were back at the van. We decided that instead of trying to use our usual apps to find a place to camp, that we would just drive South from here through the national forest until we found a place suitable to boondock for a night. We guessed that surely all those other places listed online would be taken given that it was a holiday weekend. And so we drove down the forest road, sure enough seeing others parked in the few spots that were listed online. We found a few contenders for camping spots, and eventually settled on one that was towards the end of a dead end road, so it hardly had any traffic. Fortunately it was also partially shaded, and with our fan running we managed to stay cool. Unfortunately when we decided to take showers, we learned that our water heater was a casualty of a freeze this past winter, so now our outdoor shower is cold water only. Besides that, it was a pleasant evening undisturbed in this spot, until the evening thunderstorms returned and kept me up throughout the night as it poured, thundered, and hailed. Thankfully our van and solar panels once again made it through unscathed.

If you’re interested, check out the AllTrails recording for our hike here.