Exploring Buzzard’s Roost
Buzzard’s Roost is one of those trails that has been on my list to do for a while. After being a bit of homebody the past week avoiding rally traffic, we decided to tackle Buzzard’s Roost after having an appointment in Rapid City. My twin 8 year old boys and I headed out of Rapid City on Hwy 44 around 3pm. They asked their usual questions: “How far are we going to hike?” “How long will it take?” They didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t know. (Buzzard’s Roost is a trail system with lots of different trails and combinations you can take. Having not done it before, I really wasn’t sure what to expect.)
The trailhead is easy to find, just follow Hwy 44 west of Rapid City and you will see a sign for Buzzard’s Roost and the parking area on the left. Once at the trailhead there is a map that gives shows you all the possible routes you can take to get to the Buzzard’s Roost Outlook. The boys decided the shortest possible route is the way to go, so we decided on taking the Sun Up trail on the way up and Jack’s Upper to Jack’s Lower on the way down. We formed a bit of lollipop type of loop for a total mileage of about 3.3miles.
We started out on a single track that followed pretty close to Hwy 44. We could hear the cars going by for probably the first half mile or so even if we couldn’t always see the road.
We came to a couple of forks in the trail that were clearly marked. I had taken a photo of the map at the trailhead and referred back to that to make sure we were on the right path.
The trail takes you along a ridge where you can look down and see a portion of the trail we will be on when we come back down.
Once we got to the Upper Connector trail, it did go from a single track to more of a really rough road for a bit.
There were a couple of closed trails, but don’t worry, there is still a trail that takes you to the Buzzard’s Roost Outlook. Just keep going until you see a trail heading to your right.
The scenic overlook is about a third of a mile from the main trail. The views are beautiful and there are plenty of rocks to sit and rest and have a snack.
After fueling up, we headed back down to the main trail. Instead of taking a left to go back the way we came, we headed to the right to take a different path back down.
The trail down had several different choices to take, they all ended up back at the trailhead so I let the boys decide which way they wanted to go.
I don’t get many posed photos on our hikes because, well, they never really turn out. But, there was this rock in the middle of the trail that looked like a great place to have them sit for a photo. I had visions of my boys sitting and smiling nicely with the trail in the background. This is the closest I got to them both smiling nicely. If you ignore the big stick whacking Talon in the head, it’s almost a good picture!
