This is a partial list of notable wildfires in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Most fires occur in the Black Hills, a heavily-forested national park on South Dakota's border with Wyoming. Background While "fire season" varies every year in South Dakota, most wildfires occur between February and April and June and August. However, there is an increasing fire danger year-round. Fire conditions can be exacerbated by drought, strong winds, and vegetation growth. Climate change is leading to increased temperatures, lower humidity levels, and drought conditions are happening more often. Additionally, warmer temperatures and less precipitation can result in less snowmelt, further contributing to bad wildfire conditions.
List of fires
This list includes only fires that burned more than , resulted in loss of life, or are otherwise notable. Sizes for Black Hills fires between 1910 and 2022 are from the United States Forest Service. Year Name Area Size Deaths Notes 1931 Rochford Rochford, Black Hills 1939 McVey near Hill City, Black Hills 0 1947 Hand, Hughes, Hyde, and Potter Counties combined Three separate prairie fires on the same day 1959 Deadwood Deadwood, Black Hills 1960 Wildcat Canyon between Hot Springs and Edgemont, Black Hills 1985 Flint Hill between Hot Springs and Edgemont, Black Hills 1988 Galena Custer State Park, Black Hills 0 Keystone and Mount Rushmore evacuated, 9 firefighters injured 1988 Westberry Trails west of Rapid City, Black Hills 0 Multiple homes burned, considered arson 1990 Cicero Peak southeast of Custer, Black Hills 0 2000 Jasper Jewel Cave National Monument, Black Hills 0 Largest single wildfire in South Dakota and Black Hills history, ruled an arson 2001 Elk Mountain II north of Dewey, Black Hills 2001 Rogers Shack south of Jewel Cave, Black Hills 2001 West Hell between Hot Springs and Edgemont, Black Hills 0 2002 Grizzly Gulch southeast of Deadwood, Black Hills 0 Deadwood evacuated 2002 Battle Creek Rockerville, Black Hills 0 Several homes burned, Rockerville evacuated, US 16 closed between Rapid City and Mount Rushmore 2003 Red Point north of Dewey, Black Hills 0 2007 Alabaugh southwest of Hot Springs, Black Hills 1 2011 Coal Canyon north of Edgemont, Black Hills 1 2012 White Draw north of Edgemont, Black Hills 4 2017 Legion Lake Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park, Black Hills 0 2021 Schroeder west of Rapid City, Black Hills 0 Caused mass evacuations in the area of the 1988 Westberry Trails Fire
See also List of wildfires 2025 South Dakota wildfires 2026 South Dakota wildfires
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