Black Hills National Forest

Black Hills National Forest
The Needles from Black Elk Peak in Black Hills National Forest
Map showing the location of Black Hills National Forest
Map showing the location of Black Hills National Forest
LocationSouth Dakota and Wyoming, U.S.
Nearest cityRapid City, South Dakota
Coordinates43°56′11″N 103°43′40″W / 43.93639°N 103.72778°W / 43.93639; -103.72778
Area1,253,308 acres (5,071.96 km2)[1]
EstablishedFebruary 22, 1897[2]
Governing bodyU.S. Forest Service
WebsiteBlack Hills National Forest

Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km2) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota. There are local ranger district offices in Custer, Rapid City, and Spearfish in South Dakota, and in Sundance, Wyoming.[3]

Predominantly ponderosa pine, the forest also includes hard woods like aspen, bur oak, and birch. The lower elevations include grassland prairie, but the National Forest System lands encompass most of the mountainous region known as the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Within the forest is Black Elk Peak which is the tallest mountain in South Dakota and the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States.[4]

  1. ^ "Land Areas of the National Forest System" (PDF). U.S. Forest Service. January 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "The National Forests of the United States" (PDF). ForestHistory.org. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "USFS Ranger Districts by State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  4. ^ "Feature Detail Report for: Harney Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved March 12, 2010.