Cathedral Spires & Little Devils Tower: A First-Hand Guide to the Black Hills' Best Short Hike

Cathedral Spires, reached off Needles Highway in Custer State Park, might be the best hike I’ve done for the distance — genuinely incredible views, a fun scramble, and we caught it on a sunset with nobody else up there. If you’re in the Black Hills and only have a couple of hours, this is the one to prioritize.

Plan your visit: Custer State Park requires an entrance license — check the official Custer State Park page for current fees and conditions before you go.

The Quick Stats

• Distance: Cathedral Spires alone is 2.3 miles round trip; combined with Little Devils Tower, our hike was just under 5 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: ~500 ft for Cathedral Spires alone (per trailhead signage); under 750 ft total for the combined route
• Difficulty: Rated strenuous on the trailhead sign, mostly due to a rocky scramble section — I’d call it moderately tricky, very manageable if you’re reasonably coordinated
• Time: 1–2 hours for Cathedral Spires alone; plan closer to 2–3 hours combined with Little Devils Tower
• When I went: Last weekend in August, starting around 6pm
• Where: Needles Highway, Custer State Park, Black Hills, South Dakota

Needles Highway Is Part of the Experience

If you haven’t driven Needles Highway, it’s worth talking up on its own — a genuinely stunning scenic drive through the Black Hills with narrow, one-lane granite tunnels blasted straight through the rock. Even if you weren’t hiking, the drive alone is worth doing. The Cathedral Spires trailhead sits right off this road.

Parking & Timing: Go Late

Here’s the single most useful tip I can give: hike this later in the day. Needles Highway is extremely busy during the day in summer, and the small trailhead lot fills up fast — you can easily circle for parking or get shut out entirely. We started around 6pm, had zero trouble parking, and had the entire trail to ourselves. If you’re comfortable finishing in good light (see the timing note below), an evening start is the move.

The Hike

The trail starts in forest, with the spires visible ahead well before you reach them, and builds to the strenuous section: a genuine rock scramble through narrow granite chutes to reach the base of the spires and beyond. It’s hands-on, but not technical — fall risk is minimal as long as you’re somewhat coordinated. Worst case, you trip and take a bad fall, not a serious exposure situation. Good hiking shoes or boots are worth having here over trail runners.

The views the whole way up are excellent, and the payoff at the top — especially with evening light on the granite — is one of the best I’ve gotten for this little effort anywhere I’ve hiked.

Little Devils Tower

Extending the hike to Little Devils Tower is what gets you closer to that ~5-mile combined distance, and it’s worth the extra effort — you get a different vantage looking back across the spires and surrounding ridgelines from up high, a genuinely different perspective than the views along Cathedral Spires itself.

Wildlife

Just chipmunks on this one — no bigger wildlife sightings. That’s normal for this trail; it’s more about the rock formations and views than animal encounters.

Timing: Don’t Push the Scramble Into Darkness

We hiked while the sun was still up and finished as it set, and I’d recommend that timing unless you’re a more advanced hiker comfortable navigating rock scrambles with a headlamp. Working through the narrow chutes and rock sections in the dark would be genuinely tricky — plan your start time so you’re through the scramble sections while you still have good light, even if that means catching sunset on the way down rather than at the very top.

Tips for Hiking Cathedral Spires

• Get the Custer State Park pass — required, and well worth it even if a scenic drive is all you do.
• Go later in the day to avoid the worst of the Needles Highway crowds and trailhead parking crunch — just make sure you’re through the scramble before dark.
• Bring a camera. This is one of those hikes where the views genuinely justify the extra weight.
• Good hiking shoes or boots over the rock scramble sections.
• Water: I carried about 32 oz total and it was plenty — but I’m an experienced, fit hiker on a short hike. Bring more if you’re less experienced or hiking in full heat.
• It’s a short outing — a couple of hours out and back — so you don’t need to pack heavy. Light layers and the basics are enough.

What to Pack

This is a short, high-payoff hike, so keep it simple: solid hiking shoes or boots, a modest amount of water (see our guide to how much water to carry if you want a more conservative number than mine), and a camera. Nothing about this trail calls for a full backpacking kit.

Bottom Line

• One of the best hikes I’ve done for the distance. Incredible payoff for a short, well-defined effort.
• Go in the evening if you can time the scramble before dark — better parking, no crowds, and better light.
• The scramble is real but manageable — hands-on, minimal serious fall risk, good shoes recommended.
• Bring a camera. Seriously.

More Black Hills and hiking prep: How Much Water to Carry Backpacking · Best Hiking Footwear.

Go Light. Go Far. Live Wild.