The Area
Welcome to the beauty and wonder that await beyond the boundaries of Black Hills National Forest. Newcastle, Wyoming is a town where the spirit of the Old West lives and history and nature surround you, Where Wyoming meets South Dakota - the Black Hills rise to the highest peaks east of the Rockies, and Newcastle, WY sits in an ideal location for exploring them. This small, friendly city lies at the Western end of the millions of acres of forest and peaks, monuments and memorials.
Gateway to the Black Hills
Rolling in from the west, visitors can see the short grass prairie meet the hills right here in Newcastle, a unique changing landscape that offers an incredible array of natural wonders.
The Black Hills are home to incredible peaks including Devil’s Tower, a huge monolith sacred to the native people, and Harney Peak (now known as Black Elk Peak), the tallest peak east of the Rockies. Beneath the hills are more wonders still; some of the largest caves in the world have been discovered here. Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument. Both are within a short drive of Newcastle, and welcome visitors year around to view incredible crystal and rock formations.
The hills are a nature lover’s paradise, with hiking and mountain biking trails meandering through canyons and valleys. Rock climbers enjoy scaling the tallest peaks. Fishing, bird watching, and backcountry backpacking are just a few of the other activities in the Black Hills.
Monuments in Stone
Among the most famous of the attractions near Newcastle are the two famous memorials carved into the stone of the Black Hills. Still in progress, Crazy Horse Memorial is an enormous sculpture emerging from the granite mountain just 17 miles from Mout Rushmore. This monument is dedicated to the spirit of the native people of America.
Carved 500 feet above the ground at Mount Rushmore are the faces of four famed American Presidents, a memorial to the spirit that helped to build a nation. Both monuments can be found less than two hours drive from Newcastle, making a pleasant day trip.
Newcastle and the Old West
Wyoming still holds to the heart of the Old West, and Newcastle has many opportunities to explore that history. From the town, you can take a scenic drive along the historic Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Trail, where Wyatt Earp once guarded coaches full of Black Hills gold on their way out of Deadwood, SD.
Visit Newcastle’s Anna Miller Museum, named for the daughter of a famous Sheriff of the Old West and a pioneering woman in her own right who became the town’s first librarian. Here exhibits tell the tale of a frontier town and a time when the west was still wild.