Custer State Park is a park located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Some of the park's most famous attractions are Harney Peak (elev. 7,242 ft), Needles Highway, and Needles Eye, a granite spire that is only three feet across, but 40 feet tall.
Custer State Park is named for General George Armstrong Custer, an officer in the Army and a cavalry commander in the Civil War and during the Indian Wars. In 1873, Custer was dispatched to the Dakota Territory to protect the budding rail line from attacks by the Sioux Indians. In 1874, Custer led an expedition in to the Black Hills of present-day South Dakota, where he discovered gold in French Creek. The creek still runs through what is now known as Custer State Park.
The 73,000 acres that comprise Custer State Park started out as sixteen separate tracts of land spread out through the Black Hills. Due to the rugged and rural terrain of the areas, South Dakota found it challenging to manage all sixteen tracts and petitioned Congress for a solid block of land in exchange. The exchange process began negotiations in 1906. In 1910, South Dakota successfully traded the sixteen tracts of land, totalling 60,000 acres, in the Black Hills forest for 52,000 acres in Custer County and another 12,000 acres in adjacent Harding County.
The two parcels of land in Custer and Harding Counties were designated as the Custer State Forest in 1912. That same year, Governor Peter Norbeck urged South Dakota legislature to designate the land as a state park instead. The legislature agreed and Custer State Park was formed shortly afterward.
The 1920s were a time of exponential growth for Custer State Park because new land was added to the park's existing acreage. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made a number of improvements to the park. Roads, bridges and fire towers were some of the infrastructure improvements that were made to the park by the CCC. Other improvements include picnic areas and campgrounds, a museum and three dams that provided water recreational areas for park visitors.
In 1964, an additional 23,000 acres were added to Custer State Park.
Custer State Park draws nearly two million visitors each year. Aside from the lodges and campground, there are four resort facilities located within the park's perimeters. Visitors to the park enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, rock climbing on the Needles, and kayaking on French Creek. Custer State Park is home to a herd of 1,500 free range bison that visitors can view up on the prairies of the park. The free-range bison are the most popular tourist attractions in the park, which hosts a Bison Round Up annually.
