Harney Peak

Monday, March 11, 2013

Harney Peak

Harney Peak is the highest mountain in South Dakota and is located in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in Black Hills National Forest. At 7,242 feet (2,207 m), it is also the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and the highest point in the Black Hills.
The summit can be reached from Sylvan Lake, Camp Remington, Highway 244, Palmer Creek Rd., Mount Rushmore, or Horse Thief Lake. An old stone tower, once used as a fire lookout tower, is located at the summit. Harney Peak is the site of the Sioux Native American Black Elk's "Great Vision" which he received when nine years old and the site to which he returned as an old man, accompanied by writer John Neihardt, who popularized the medicine man in his book Black Elk Speaks.