Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park is a free, nonprofit trail system on 300 acres of pine-covered hillside above downtown Rapid City, South Dakota, built around the climb to the “M” — a 112.5-foot-tall, 67-foot-wide concrete letter that has watched over the city since 1912 and great Rapid City mountain biking. Locals just call the whole park “M Hill.” Budget two to three hours for a there-and-back ride or hike to the summit and back, longer if you start stringing together the blue and black loops that cover the rest of the hillside.

Trail Facts

• Trail system: 31 miles across 63 named trails, per TrailForks (checked August 2026) — 10 green (beginner), 33 blue (intermediate), 11 black (advanced), and 5 double-black (expert)
• Fee: None. Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park is entirely donation-supported and free to the public
• Hours: Sunrise to sunset
• Parking: Founders Park lot off Cowboy Hill Road, adjacent to the Rapid Creek trail corridor
• The landmark: the concrete “M,” 112.5 ft (34 m) tall and 67 ft (20 m) wide, built by South Dakota School of Mines students and faculty in 1912 and recast in concrete about a decade later; the flanking “S” and “D” were added by seniors in 1953

A note on the mileage: older write-ups of this park, including our own first pass at this post back in 2021, cite “34+ miles” of trail. TrailForks’ current count — 31 miles across 63 named trails, last updated within the past week — is the number we’re going with here since it’s the most current and most granular. The park’s own site rounds to “more than 20 miles,” which reads like an older, more conservative figure rather than a contradiction.

Getting There and Access

There’s no gate, no kiosk, and no day pass — Hanson-Larsen operates entirely on donations, so the only real logistics question is where to park. The Founders Park lot on Cowboy Hill Road is the main access point and sits close enough to downtown Rapid City that you can ride here straight from a hotel on the west side of town. The park is open sunrise to sunset year-round; HLMP posts trail condition and closure updates to its Facebook page, worth a check after any recent rain since the trails here run over loose dirt and exposed rock that turns greasy when wet.

Riding (or Hiking) Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park

The park’s namesake trail is the climb to the M, and it’s the obvious first target if you only have an afternoon. Most route combinations to the summit put you through close to 1,000 feet of climbing — we rode up on a Thursday afternoon and came away with sore legs and, more than anything, a genuinely great view of the city opening up behind us the higher we got.

Below the summit, the trail network fans out across the hillside in loose dirt and rock, with pine forest, big rock outcroppings, and enough switchbacks and technical sections to keep the 11 black and 5 double-black routes honest. The green and blue trails give beginners and families a way to explore the lower slopes without touching the harder terrain, which is worth knowing if your group has mixed skill levels — you don’t have to commit to the summit push to get a good ride in.

Hikers and bikers get the same payoff at the top: the overlook at the M gives you the best skyline view of Rapid City available from land, better than anything from a downtown rooftop.

Photography Notes

• The summit overlook is the shot.
• Go late afternoon for warm light on the city and the Black Hills rising behind it to the west; midday flattens the view.
• The M itself, viewed from below on the approach trails, photographs well against blue sky and makes a strong foreground element if you’re shooting the skyline beyond it.

Know Before You Go

• No fee, no facilities at the summit — bring your own water, especially in summer heat with no shade on the upper switchbacks
• Terrain is genuinely technical in places — loose rock and steep pitches on the black-rated trails aren’t beginner terrain; stick to the green and blue network if you’re new to the sport
• Check HLMP’s Facebook before you go for trail closures, especially after rain
• This pairs naturally with the rest of the Black Hills cluster — Custer State Park and Needles Highway are about an hour south, and Spearfish Canyon is roughly 45 minutes north

Is It Worth It?

Yes, especially if you’re already in Rapid City for Mount Rushmore or the rest of the Black Hills — this is a free, no-logistics way to get a genuinely good ride or hike in with one of the best skyline views in the region as the payoff. It won’t compete with Custer State Park’s scenery, but it doesn’t need to; it’s a different kind of stop; a workout with a view rather than a scenic drive.

Full trail maps and current conditions: Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park.