Sunday Gulch Trail South Dakota Hike Trail Guide
Sunday Gulch Trail is a popular 3+ mile loop trail located in Custer State Park of South Dakota. The trail features hiking in a valley, next to, over and through a creek and along Sylvan Lake itself. This popular hike is great for hikers of all levels but does get crowded during peak season (Memorial Day – Labor Day). The loop itself is just short of 3 miles, but you will probably end up hiking closer to 4.5 depending on where you park.
Sunday Gulch Trail Quick Facts
Sunday Gulch Trail Rating: ★★★ (3/5 Stars)
Sunday Gulch Trail Distance: Various – About 4.5 miles depending on where you park.
Elevation Start: 6,067 ft
Highest Point: 6,226 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 830 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours RT
Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1
Season: April 2nd – October 31st – Depending on the Season as roads close once snow starts
Directions to Sunday Gulch Trail
Trailhead: Willow Creek
Getting Here: From Custer
From downtown Custer, take SD89 North for 6 miles until you reach the lake.
From Keystone
From downtown Keystone, take SD-244 for 10.6 miles until you reach SD87. Continue on SD87 for 5.8 miles until you reach the lake.
Regardless of the direction you are coming from, you can enter Sylvan Lake Toll Booth into your favorite navigational device. From here, you will need to find parking which can be very tough to do in peak season (Memorial Day – Labor Day). Once you do find parking, the trail starts on either side of Sylvan Lake. View page 7 of this brochure for the hike map.
Fees: $20 per vehicle
Parking: Parking for the Sunday Gulch Trail can be quite the clusterfuck. Parking is 3-4 main lots around the lake and along the road itself. During peak season, be sure to arrive to the area early in the morning or very late in the evening to avoid parking headaches. Parking is free but often requires a lot of patience.
Summary
Camping: Camping is not permitted along the Sunday Gulch Trail.
Dogs: The to Sunday Gulch Trail is dog friendly but has a few things to consider before bringing your furry friend along. The trail can get very hot, so be sure to bring lots of water for your pup. I would strongly recommend that you do NOT let your dog drink out of the water along the lake or the streams flowing out of it as they are packed with algae and most likely all different kinds of bacteria. The Sunday Gulch trail can get crowded with other hikers and dogs so be sure to keep yours on a leash and that they play well with others.
Make it a Loop: The hike to Sunday Gulch Trail is a loop hike and can be done in either direction. I would recommend starting away from the lake and working back towards it, especially if you have a dog with you.
Trail X Factors: Hiking in the Water
If you started hiking on the left side of Sunday Gulch loop, you might think: oh hey, this is just another dirt trail but as you work back towards the lake on the right side of the loop, the trail changes dramatically. Dry conditions quickly turn to hiking across and even in the small stream that runs off Sylvan Lake. In areas crossing the water is easy with options to hop over rocks and climb on steel stairs. However, in others, especially when the water level is high, getting your feet wet is all but unavoidable. For this reason, I would recommend having water resistant or waterproof shoes/boots on this hike.
Hike Tip(s): My best tip for hiking the Sunday Gulch Trail is picking which side of the loop to hike first. If you hike the right side of the loop first, your feet will probably get wet and you will have a long time to dry them off. However, starting on the right will cause you to have elevation gain for a steady 1.5-2 miles. If you have a dog, starting on the left side probably makes the most sense – the stairs and terrain working down the stream can be quite steep and slippery. However, if you hike the left side of the loop first, you will probably leave the hike with somewhat wet shoes and a soaking wet dog.
Best Views: Sunday Gulch Trail offers great views about a half mile past Sylvan Lake on the left side of the loop. Alternatively, the views in the canyon as you hike through the stream that runs off the lake are also very unique and cool. Once you leave both of these areas, the views are rather limited and any seclusion you are looking to experience is generally flushed down the toilet from all of the noise off the nearby road
Sunday Gulch Trail Hike Route
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Bug Spray or Bug Net – during summer months
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
Our Trip to Sunday Gulch Trail: September 2019
Our hike on the Sunday Gulch Trail almost didn’t happen. We arrived at the parking lot around 11AM on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend it was an absolute shit show. People everywhere, cars all over the place and parking all but impossible to find. After circling a lot 5-6 times hoping to find someone leaving, Jackie, Juno and I were driving out of the park and noticed a small spot on the side of the road near the Sylvan Lake general store. Score! I parked the car, we popped on our hiking gear and hit the trail.
The start of the Sunday Gulch Trail begins at the west end of Sylvan Lake where had a choice to go left or right. Not even knowing that right was an option, we continued left hiking past some groups rock climbing and over towards some large rock formations. We hiked past a few groups of hikers and up some switchbacks to reach the base of these large granite slabs. The trail worked along the right side of them but there was a small tunnel in the rocks that Juno and I hiked through while Jackie laughed at us.
Just past this section, we had some of the best views of the day and stopped to take a quick water break. It was in the mid 70s and the sun was shining so the weather felt rather hot. After our brief break, we continued hiking up the small hill and started hiking towards the road. From here the trail slowly worked down into the valley through a series of switchbacks. About 2 miles into the hike, Juno started pawing her face and I noticed that she had 2-3 hornets buzzing around her face. Immediately, I noticed a huge nest just across the trail and I tugged her along jogging away from the black hornets. I called out the nest to Jackie and began checking Juno’s face and nose for any stingers. She seemed a bit rattled, but would eventually be okay (and experience no swelling).
We continued hiking down into the valley, warning any other hikers we came across about the large nest. After a while, the trail reached the end of the first part of the loop and starting back towards Sylvan Lake. The hiking here was mostly along a small stream, crossing it several times before eventually reaching a series of metal stairs that worked directly above or next to the creek. Juno was loving it but Jackie and I were just trying to keep her out of the water. Juno has a history of catching stomach bacteria from water, so its a super sensitive area for both Jackie and I. Naturally, Juno could care less about her past and tried sticking her tongue into the murky green water at every chance she could. We tried giving her water to drink and she wanted nothing to do with it, of course.
As we climbed the metal stairs, the trail started not only to work next to the water, but directly in it in sections. After carrying Juno through several sections, she seemed to give both Jackie and I a large middle finger by essentially jumping into this small pool of water, getting herself soaking wet. I was extremely frustrated, hungry and #done with this hike. Too bad we still had several wet sections of trail to go. The trail eventually turned into rock hopping across the creek until it finally climbed out of the creek near Sylvan Lake.
When we got back to the lakeshore trail, there were still a ton of people out and about. We hiked along the lake and back to the car – attempting to dry Juno off before she hopped into the backseat of my car.
Overall, we enjoyed the Sunday Gulch trail hike, but felt that for the amount of time we spent hiking in the unique sections (through the water and along the rock formations) there were about 2 miles of hiking essentially next to the highway which was rather lame. The Sunday Gulch trail was okay, but if back in the area – I would probably try to find something different. I will say that although we had several other groups of hikers along the trail, it seemed to be relatively uncrowded compared to other popular hikes in the area.
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