Custer State Park is home to one of the Black Hills’ most iconic wildlife species: the elk. They are often seen at first light or during the blue hour of deep evening. These magnificent animals, over 6,000 strong, roam the high ridges and open grasslands. They thrive in the shelter of Ponderosa Pines, rock outcrops, and prairie.
In Search of Elk
With coffee and binoculars, morning and evening, we slowly drove the roads of Custer State park looking for the elusive elk. We saw a few cows along a tree-line, but at a great distance. An elk grazing in an open field, but it was so dark we couldn’t tell if it was a bull or cow.
We were down to our last evening and yet to experience the elk of Custer State Park in any meaningful way. The warm evening glow was already past its prime. No-one spoke of it, but hopes were fading with the last embers of the day.
Ghosts of Custer
And then they were there. Ghosts floating on the ridgeline. A bull elk’s antlers lifting against the darkened big Dakota sky like a majestic crown worn by a king. The silhouette of cows rising from the rocks like living sculptures; the landscape coming alive.
Dozens of elk were visible on the ridgeline. Others were moving like shadows down the burned-over slope, looking for water and fresh grass. Bull elk were bugling from every direction. How many elk were out of sight, just over the ridge?
Enjoy the experience with us. Click play! (and turn up your volume)
A Toast to the Evening
It was an epic ending to a great week in Custer State Park. Watching elk move across the ridges, calm and unhurried, makes us feel like we’ve slipped into the deep, natural rhythm of the hills themselves. The elk embody the essence of this park: resilient, timeless, and rooted in a landscape that shapes everything around it.
Back in camp, I shared a glass of whiskey with friends in celebration of the elk experience. That night, our last night in Custer, I dreamed of bull elks standing stately on a ridge top.
Bonus Image from Custer State Park
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