Backpacking Lost Cabin #2 Trail and Black Elk #9 South and North

Lost Cabin #2 Trail is a hard, steep trail that goes between Willow Creek and Trail #9 South. It is 5 miles one way and coming from Willow Creek it goes about 4 miles uphill and 1 mile downhill. It can be done as a long day hike or combined with the Black Elk Trail - Trail #9 South and North for a long 15 mile loop hike or backpack trip. We did this trail in the summer of 2023 as a backpacking trip and stayed on the other side of Black Elk. It is not an easy hike, very rocky in places, and the temperatures can go either way very quickly - It started out very hot - 96 degrees, and within hours it was very cold - in the 50s. Be prepared for all sorts of weather.

To get to Willow Creek - it is off Highway 244 just west of Mount Rushmore and across from the Palmer Gulch KOA.

Lost Cabin/Black Elk #9 Loop

Beginning of the trip - usually all smiles for our big adventure.

We pass our marker. It only says Trail # 8 Willow Creek on the one side. Turned around after a bit and found Lost Cabin Trail #2 on the other side. My question is why?????

This is a better entrance and start for Lost Cabin Trail #2 at the back of the Willow Creek Campground.

This area is pretty. Can see Black Elk in the distance again.

In the 4 miles to the top, you occasionally go downhill.

Continue here to the left - it also goes to Palmer Creek Trailhead on the right.

After 4 miles going uphill, and reaching this sign, it begins to go downhill.

We reach the Lost Cabin #2 Spur Trail. We decide to continue on the normal trail to get to Black Elk Trail #9 South.

We reach Black Elk Trail #9 South and this is our first view - amazing sights and impending storm we kept hearing but couldn’t see.

This trail is much wider and very beautiful. We also now see a lot more people.

This is where the #2 Lost Cabin Trail Spur would have came out if we had taken it. We would have missed some amazing views, so I’m glad we didn’t.

Trail up to Black Elk, or to Little Devil’s Tower.

This is where we sat waiting for a sign what to do next. We have about 1/2 mile to go before setting up camp. We don’t think we are going to make it so we wait.

A rainbow gives us hope we may miss the storm.

Nice place to camp, but too close to the tower so not allowed.

This goes up to Black Elk. We are not going there but continuing on to Black Elk #9 North to set up camp just north of Black Elk.

We get nailed by rain. We are not talking just a little bit. It is pouring, hailing, thundering and lightening all around us. We go down in the trees for a bit a couple of times, because it was scary and dangerous. We finally continue on very wet. Our ponchos only helped a little. As you can see the trail got very wet and muddy as well.

We arrive at our destination. You can only stay .25 miles away from the tower which we were.

The sun comes out for 15 minutes. We get excited and relax.

The storm is not over and will be coming back to get us.

This is where we decided to set up camp since our original spot was too open for more possible lightening. Within the 15 minutes of the sun shining, it started to rain again.

It rained all night pretty bad. We sat in the tent pretty cold and wet. We had one sleeping bag that had not gotten wet, and I was wearing every pair of dry pants and shirts I had. Inside the tent was okay, but the temperature did drop down to the 50’s.

You can go either way - to the right is shorter about 1 mile.

Willow Creek Trailhead has some unique rock formations along the way.

My final thoughts on this trip -

Check the weather, but do not count on it. The weather said warm and no rain. The Rapid City, Custer, or even Custer State Park weather app is not really reliable when it comes to hiking or backpacking Black Elk. At the top it is always colder, windier, and more unpredictable. I felt heat exhaustion going up to Black Elk and border line hyperthermia at the top. This hike is no joke, and you can get into trouble very fast if you are not prepared.
When we got to Trail #9 South from Lost Cabin Trail #2, the sights were amazing, but so was the view of the very dangerous storm coming. I was amazed at how many people on this trail were in flip flops, wearing tank tops and shorts and little else. We mentioned to a couple of people walking up the trail how bad the storm looked and they were like, ‘Huh, yeah we didn’t even notice”. Although Trail #9 South is a little easier, you are still deep in the woods and have to be aware of the dangers and your surroundings.
We met some really nice people on the trail. We lost our hiking hat and mentioned it to some people who were hiking up. They happen to be local, work on the same street I live on, and agreed if they found it to take it to their job. The next day I went to their job and there was our hat. What a small world we live in.
This is not an easy hike. Lost Cabin Trail #2 goes up for about 4 miles, then you come down for about a mile and then back up again. Once you hit Black Elk #9 South you pretty much go up again till you hit Black Elk. We continued on to Black Elk #9 North and although you go down the rest of the way, it has a lot of switchbacks, is very rocky, and has some big steps. I think Black Elk #9 is one of the hardest trails to the peak. Coming from the other way, which I have, was exhausting.
This was a great trip. We had originally gone to check out the stars at night. It was suppose to be one of those nights when all the meteors can be seen. Instead it rained from 3 pm to 6 am. We didn’t see anything, but the top of our tent. In spite of that, I just want to say wow. To live in an area as beautiful as this and within 30 minutes hiking up to a peak that people come from all over the world to see - just amazing.