Devils Bathtub - Spearfish Canyon
Devil’s Bathtub – Spearfish Canyon

Devil’s Bathtub is one of the most rewarding hikes in Spearfish Canyon.  About a 10-15 minute drive from the stoplight in Spearfish that marks the beginning of the canyon, the entire hike can be done and over with within an hour or can be stretched out to last the entire afternoon, depending on your hiking experience.

What are the directions to the tub?  The bathtub is located in Spearfish Canyon so you eventually need to be on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.  Heading from Spearfish you will be going south.  The turn off is between Bridal Veil Falls and Savoy.  More specifically, between Bridal Veil Falls and the curve you can park at to hike Eleventh Hour.

The Walk To Devil's Bathtub Spearfish Canyon
The Walk To Devil’s Bathtub Spearfish Canyon

Throughout the hike you will have to cross the stream several times, most likely.  Often times trees and rocks provide makeshift bridges that you can attempt to cross on.  The trail exists on both sides of the stream but sometimes is an easier hike on the opposite side.  This changes every year as the scenery changes, due to weather, animals, time, etc.

As of 2019 there is a new parking lot and trailhead for this hike.  Respect the no parking signs that can be found at the previous parking area.  Trash cans are plenty, pack out what you pack in order to help keep the trail and the canyon beautiful.

Devil's Bathtub - The Slide
The Slide

The chances of getting your feet wet are pretty high and very young kids may not be adventurous enough to attempt this hike.  The total length of the hike is just over 1 mile round trip.  Bring food and water along if you plan to stay out for more than a couple of hours as the trip back to the car would be more than it’s worth.

The best part of the hike?  Permitting water levels are high enough, you can take a plunge into the Devil’s Bathtub at the end of the hike to cool off.

Devils Bathtub Trail South Dakota
Devil’s Bathtub Trail South Dakota

So how to you get to Devil’s Bathtub in Spearfish Canyon?


View Devil’s Bathtub Spearfish Canyon in a larger map

26 thoughts on “Devil’s Bathtub

  1. is the devils bathtub and iron creek trails all in the same place Im not from sd. all help would be greatfull thank you in advance

  2. We are visiting the Black Hills this summer and we cannot wait! Your website has been a great help! I am wondering if the trail has a sign posted? I would hate to be in the wrong location and just wondering along a creek on someones private property – or will it be very apparent that we are in the right location?

    1. There is no sign, unfortunately. The road to turn on is Cleopatra Place. If you go on a hot day there is bound to be other vehicles parked in the lot. Literally just hike upstream, I don’t think you can miss the trail on either side of the creek. Thanks for your visit and enjoy the Hills!

  3. We are leaving in the morning for the rally and will be stopping at Devils bathtub, never been there before, but have gone to the rally for many years. Looks like a beautiful place, can’t wait!!!

  4. this is on my bucket list, I have asthma and want to know if this is a hard trail, just did Devils Tower, slow but made it.

    1. You do have to cross the creek, usually, several times. The trail is fairly flat and not too difficult. It is only about 2 miles round trip. It is probably sightly more difficult than Devils Tower mostly because the terrain changes throughout the hike.

  5. This is a beautiful and pretty easy and more or less flat trail to a beautiful pool! Great for families. Lots of crossing of the creek so wear shoes that can get wet. You will totally enjoy the beauty all the way there and back.

  6. We hiked this today and after a very unpleasant experience, I wanted to give everyone a heads up. We were confused by people rating the hike from easy to dangerous. It is a short hike and when we started today it was sunny and the river was more like a large steam – piece of cake for the two of us, our dog, and our kids. My son slipped and got wet so it took us a few minutes to dry him of. Dark clouds rolled in in the meantime and shortly after started raining. We took shelter on a rock ledge thinking ight will pass quickly. We sat there through an almost 3-hour storm. The water level rose and the steam became a raging river that dragged rocks and branches. There is no way to hike out without crossing the river. We got helped by a stranger when the water slowed down a bit, five hours after we started up. We never got to Devil’s Bathtub. The lesson we learned – this hike can be very dangerous if you are not prepared for the water to rise. Without help we couldn’t have made it back with all kids and the dog. Those that were ahead of us at Devil’s Bathtub would have had an even harder time getting out – the water higher was stronger and a lot deeper, forming a vortex. Be careful, be prepared, best of luck.

  7. We went to this, very nice for kids
    A little hike though

    We also had issues with our car being towed along side of road due to small parking lot
    So we had to pay off..$cash$ tow truck driver–(which was only just backed up to truck) but others did have their cars towed!
    Sad about this…not alot of signage and no signs telling you yur veh will be towed to or #to call. There is no cell reception in area, so u and yur kids have to walk down road very dangerous to find cell reception bout mile down!!!
    Very sad situation to put families in

  8. Just did this trail with my two 70+ yr old sisters and a niece. Last time I did this trail it was really quite easy(water was low and path pretty straight and even). That was 30+ years ago. This time the path was rougher and the water much deeper. We all fell in the water at some point when trying to cross (slippery rocks!). No one was seriously hurt and we made it to the end. Beautiful! Well worth the hike. Took us close to two hours round trip. Would do it again in a heartbeat..

  9. This hike is hard to find because the trailhead is 1/4-mile from the parking lot with no signage. Once you park in the lot labeled Devil’s Bathtub Trailhead on Google Maps, hike north along the creek until you hit the gravel road (Cleopatra Pl) and cross the bridge. There you’ll finally see some signs for the actual trailhead.
    (Note: there is no cell service on US-14, the parking lot, or the trail).

    The hike is just under 1 mile from parking lot to bathtub, according to my GPS watch.

    My kids, 10 and 12, loved the hike which crossed the creek about 15 times on the way up to the bathtub. Crossing on the rocks was occasionally tricky but coming back we just walked in the stream at crossings, which was rarely more than shin deep. We saw folks on the trail from 2 years to 70 years, although you’d need help at either extreme.

    We’d definitely do it again!

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