I woke early today, made/ate breakfast and headed south to the highest point in Black Hills National Forest, Black Elk Peak (Wiki, AllTrails, Images). It took about 35 minutes to get there. Now, what I didn’t know was that Black Elk Peak is “just” inside Custer State Park (I think it’s actually in Black Hills NP but the trail-head is in Custer) (Custer State Park, Wiki, Images) and of course the all access National Park pass I purchased doesn’t work in state parks. When I arrived at the state park gate there was no one there but it was $20 for a 7 day pass (and several of you already know where this is going :-). Well, I was planning to be there for less than 3 hours (maybe 4) and I wasn’t about to pay $20 to do a 3 hike! 🙂 So….I found a place to park just outside the park and hiked to the trail-head inside the park! (ha ha) I mean, come on…seriously? $20 for a 3 hour hike…NOT! 🙂
