Mount Roosevelt Trail

The Mount Roosevelt Trail is a short, moderately sloped loop just north of Deadwood, climbing roughly half a mile through pine and oak to the Friendship Tower at the 5,690-foot summit. The 31-foot stone tower, often likened to a medieval castle, was built in 1919 by Seth Bullock and the Society of Black Hills Pioneers to honor Bullock's close friend, President Theodore Roosevelt, making it the first memorial to the late president. A spiral staircase inside leads to a wood-planked viewing platform, while a lower deck offers the vista for those who'd rather skip the stairs. On a clear day you can pick out Bear Butte and more than a dozen surrounding buttes and peaks across the northern Hills and plains. The full loop runs about 0.6 to 0.8 mile and is family-friendly, with raspberries ripening trailside in season and interpretive plaques telling the Bullock-Roosevelt story. A picnic area and restrooms sit at the gravel trailhead off Forest Road 133. Open sunrise to sunset; best hiked late spring through fall.