Roosevelt Inn
RESERVATIONS
1-800-257-8923
RESERVATIONS
1-800-257-8923
Hotel Phone
1-605-666-4599
Hotel email
info@rosyinn.com
Off-roading
in the Black Hills can take many forms, from boulder hopping to soft
pine-needle trails. In 2007 more than 10,000 miles of Forest
Development Roads and trails were open to off-roading. Under a new US
Forest Service utilization plan due to go into effect in December of
2008 the number of trails open to off-roaders will drop to 4,000 miles
and a high percentage of those "trails" will be improved roads open to
all vehicles. Trails like this will become things of the past. Off-Roading
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| The use of off-road vehicles in the Black Hills is subject to restrictions. That said, this is an activity that is very popular with many people who live in western South Dakota. The Black Hills are ideal for both 4x4 and ATV use, the latter having grown immensely in the past few years with ATV rentals now available. Moreover until recently the Black Hills were "friendly" to ATV users with relatively few restrictions. South Dakota registered ATVs with more than 250cc engines can even be licensed for road use (except interstate highways).  Through 2008 a considerable percentage of the Black Hills forest will remain open for off-road use. However beginning in 2009 off-road travel by motorized vehicles will be all but eliminated unless you happen to be a logger in which case you may use any manner of heavy vehicle to tear up the forest floor. Currently some seasonal restrictions apply. Also some locations such as the Black Elk Wilderness area is completely off-limits. Most numbered Forest Service roads are open to ATVs and high clearance vehicles and the rule of thumb is: "If there is no gate, or sign prohibiting travel, you can drive on it." Click HERE for more information about ATVs. A map showing all forest service roads is available at forest service offices and also from many ATV dealers. The map may also be downloaded at and It is an excellent map and useful even if you don't plan on any off-roading. (It is a nicely detailed map of the Black Hills.) More information about the Black Hills National Forest is available at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills/faq/index.shtml#q10 . Public lands around the Black Hills, including some managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Forest Service and the State of South Dakota are also open to off-road use. However federal lands managed by the National Park Service (Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, The Badlands, Devil's Tower) are not. Information about off-road in Custer State Park can be found at http://www.sdgfp.info/Parks/Recreation/OHV.htm. Finally is should be noted that there are many tracts of private land located within the Black Hills National Forest and these tracts are frequently "posted" -- i.e. closed to off-road usage. Also note that snowmobile trails are not open to wheeled vehicles. That said there remain many ares of the Black Hills that open to ATV and off-road usage -- at least for now, but this won't last. Here are some links: Link to Dakota Territory Cruisers Home Page and Link to a Page with Great Four-Wheeling Pictures in the Black Hills.
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