Bear Butte, South Dakota

Technically speaking, Bear Butte isn’t actually a butte but rather a tiny mountain that juts up just east of the Black Hills. It’s a state park and a holy site for many Plains Indian tribes, including the Cheyenne and the Lakota.

The Lakota call it Mato Paha, which means “bear mountain” because its profile resembles a sleeping bear.

Respected leaders like Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, and Sitting Bull all visited this sacred travel spot to pray, and it continues to be a place of pilgrimage today for Native Americans that come from everywhere around the US and Canada.

Almost every bush and tree along its paths is draped with bits of cloth and strung with small bundles of tobacco, believed to be a sacred herb by many Indian tribes. While a part of the mountain is committed to ceremonial use, a hiking trail to the top is open to everyone.