Blog · October 14, 2026 · South Dakota
Custer County Plat Book, South Dakota: what to know
If you're looking near Hermosa, plat books show ownership by township; the parcel viewer shows it today.
Main page: Custer County, SD GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
Platbookmapper is an Amazon Associate. If you buy through an Amazon link on this page, we earn a commission. The link is a product, not the county map.
Hunting for the latest Custer County plat book? These atlases map who owns rural land, page by page, and it's handy for land around Black Elk Wilderness. Covered here for Custer County: how the atlas is organized, where to find editions, and how the county viewer fills the gaps.
Tracking down a Custer County plat book
Closer to Buffalo Gap, plat books are commercial atlases, with owner names on each tract, page by page across the county.
Where the parcel data lives
Go first to the Custer County Beacon site; it maps every assessed parcel in the county, Buffalo Gap included. Without an address in hand, pan along US Route 385 until the lines appear, then click inside the one you want, whether the land is near Dewey or elsewhere in the county. If the land is near Buffalo Gap, copy the parcel ID while you have it open; each records desk in the county asks for it first.
Before you lean on the lines
On ground around Four Mile, listed acreage is a tax-roll number; only a licensed surveyor can set the real corners on the ground. Closer to Black Elk Wilderness, owner names and values update on a schedule, so a deed recorded last month can take weeks to appear.
Where to look for one
Not every county has a current edition, so ask at the courthouse, extension office or a local library near Black Hills National Forest.
Places you'll see on the map
Custer serves as the county seat, home to the main records offices. Other places on the map include Buffalo Gap, Fairburn, Hermosa, and Pringle, each with its own cluster of lots. Around 9,117 people call Custer County home (Census estimate, 2023) on some 1,557 square miles. Features like Cheyenne River and Black Hills National Forest make handy reference points on the map.
Offices that can help
Questions about value or the owner field for land near Cheyenne River go to the Director of Equalization, which maintains the tax roll. Questions about what you can build around Four Mile are for the local planning and health departments, and the answer depends on jurisdiction.
Next door to the county, at least around Black Hills National Forest.
The county borders Fall River County, Oglala Lakota County, Pennington County, Niobrara County, WY, and Weston County, WY, and each of those keeps its own parcel map for land near Hermosa. Ground near Cheyenne River that runs to the line may be split across two assessors' files, so check the adjacent map too. On ground around Four Mile, our state page lists each bordering county map across South Dakota.
How land is described here
South Dakota uses the Public Land Survey System, which means a tract near Hermosa is described by section, township and range. A standard section is about one square mile, roughly 640 acres, and a township holds 36 of them, though sections near Black Hills National Forest can be irregular. Keep the legal description for land near Hermosa before you request a deed or survey.
Printing your own
Print parcel views near Four Mile township by township and keep them in a binder for the truck.
Current ownership online
Between printed editions, the Custer County Beacon site shows current owners, for tracts near Black Elk Wilderness.
Not the same thing
In and around Black Elk Wilderness, a plat book is not a recorded plat: the recorded plat at the Register of Deeds is a legal document, and the atlas is just a guide.
On site with the map
Most viewers work in a phone browser, useful out on a road near Four Mile, but coverage can be spotty out of town. A printout of the tract near Dewey keeps working without signal.
Common uses
Buyers and seed dealers around Fairburn rely on them for a big-picture view of who owns what.
Backing up the map with records
For anything that matters, pull the recorded deed through the Register of Deeds; the parcel line is a drawing of it, and that holds around Black Hills National Forest too. For a parcel near Black Elk Wilderness, bring the book and page from the tax record so staff can find the deed fast.
Custer County: common questions
How accurate are plat book acreages in Custer County?
For property near Black Elk Wilderness, plat book acreage and lines are approximate.
How do I research old landowners around Buffalo Gap?
For land near Four Mile, libraries and historical societies hold older editions.
Who sells plat books in Custer County?
Editions come and go.
Is a plat book the same as a recorded plat for land near Fairburn?
Out toward Four Mile, recorded plats are legal documents at the Register of Deeds, and plat books are references; check the deed.
How do I save a parcel from the viewer for land near Black Elk Wilderness?
If you're looking near Buffalo Gap, some viewers offer PDF export; downloads of raw data vary by county.
Open the official Custer County, SD parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.