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United States United States national forest

Custer National Forest

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

56% trees around it and 96 species recorded.

69Forestyas Score

ForestNational forestWildMountain forest

  • trees within 3 km56%
  • wild within 10 km100%
  • species recorded96
  • Altitude2,443 m

The forest around

56% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 84%Grassland 1%Moss and lichen 4%Bare ground 11%Trees 52%Grassland 4%Moss and lichen 28%Water 2%Bare ground 13%Trees 39%Grassland 5%Moss and lichen 29%Water 2%Bare ground 24%Snow and ice 0%Trees 37%Grassland 6%Moss and lichen 18%Water 2%Bare ground 37%Snow and ice 1%56%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km84%
  • 1–3 km52%
  • 3–6 km39%
  • 6–10 km37%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees52%
  • Grassland4%
  • Moss and lichen28%
  • Water2%
  • Bare ground13%
  • Snow and ice0%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

96 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Raspberry
RaspberryRubus idaeus5 recordsmako from Kangasala, Suomi (Finland) · CC BY 2.0
Yellowdot saxifrage
Yellowdot saxifrageSaxifraga bronchialis4 recordsRG Johnsson · Public domain
Pearly Everlasting
Pearly EverlastingAnaphalis margaritacea4 recordsPendragon39 · Public domain
Carex simpliciuscula
Carex simpliciusculaCarex simpliciuscula3 recordsAndrey Zharkikh from Salt Lake City, USA · CC BY 2.0
Mountain sedge
Mountain sedgeCarex scopulorum3 recordsMatt Lavin · CC BY-SA 2.0
Kinnikinnick
KinnikinnickArctostaphylos uva-ursi3 recordsWalter Siegmund · CC BY 2.5
Pipsissewa
PipsissewaChimaphila umbellata3 recordsChristian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Red-berried Elder
Red-berried ElderSambucus racemosa3 recordsAlgirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Whitish gentian
Whitish gentianGentiana algida3 recordsJane Richardson ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY 3.0
Western red baneberry
Western red baneberryActaea rubra3 recordsKurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0
Gray Bog Sedge
Gray Bog SedgeCarex canescens2 recordsChristian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tall white bog orchid
Tall white bog orchidPlatanthera dilatata2 recordsBill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

69out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 56%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 100%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 96Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 2,443 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in August.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan-7°-16°54 mm
  2. Feb-7°-17°59 mm
  3. Mar-3°-13°64 mm
  4. Apr1°-9°77 mm
  5. May8°-3°95 mm
  6. Jun15°2°75 mm
  7. Jul21°6°44 mm
  8. Aug19°5°42 mm
  9. Sep14°0°50 mm
  10. Oct5°-6°65 mm
  11. Nov-3°-12°59 mm
  12. Dec-8°-17°58 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Custer National Forest.

US National Forest located in Montana and South Dakota

Custer National Forest is a national forest in United States, 2,443 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 56% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 100% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

96 species have been recorded around it: 30 plants, 1 fungi, 63 birds and 2 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Raspberry, Yellowdot saxifrage and Pearly Everlasting.

The best time to walk is in August.

Custer National Forest seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at BIL airport (Billings)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Custer National Forest seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1viewpoints within 5 km
  • 4car parks within 3 km
  • 3campsites within 10 kmEmerald Lake Camp 20, Emerald Lake Campground, Pine Grove Campground
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • shelters and huts within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • places to stay within 10 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Custer National Forest.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas69 mountains within 25 km
Mount Wood3,859 m · 7.8 kmTempest Mountain3,802 m · 8.2 kmGranite Peak-Northwest Peak3,886 m · 9.2 kmGranite Peak3,904 m · 9.3 kmCastle Rock Spire3,824 m · 16 kmCastle Mountain3,846 m · 17 kmSilver Run Peak3,824 m · 19 kmWhitetail Peak3,827 m · 20 km
Lakeyas6 lakes within 15 km
Mystic Lake1.1 km² · 3.3 kmIsland Lake0.6 km² · 6.4 kmEast Rosebud Lake0.5 km² · 8.3 kmCairn Lake0.3 km² · 12 kmUpper Aero Lake0.8 km² · 14 kmLone Elk Lake0.4 km² · 14 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
Granite PeakBortle 1 · 9.2 km
Viewyas1 viewpoints within 15 kmComing soon
Granite Peak3,904 m · 9.2 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Other forests nearby.

Custer National Forest

United States

  • 69Forestyas Score
  • 56%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 96Species

Gallatin National Forest

United States · 50 km

  • 59Forestyas Score
  • 49%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 19Species

See the guide

Shoshone National Forest

United States · 86 km

  • 64Forestyas Score
  • 39%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 180Species

See the guide

Lewis and Clark National Forest

United States · 197 km

  • 85Forestyas Score
  • 94%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 164Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q942222) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species811 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Viewyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here