My wife and daughter and I have ridden the entire trail (109 miles) and have visited the area several times in the last year just to ride the trail. The towns, with motels, are well spaced to do the ride in 2-4 days. For those camping, the trail goes partly through national forest where one can camp anywhere, while Hill City has a beautiful private campground (with a few motel rooms) with nice grass and a creek right next to the trail. Many of the trailheads along the way have a nice shelter with picnic table and water pump. Overall there is quite a bit of elevation change, but being a rail trail there are no steep hills. We prefer to start in Deadwood, where there are good accommodations, and ride north to south, following the general elevation loss. The first 14 miles are mostly uphill to the high point, just over 6,000', following a creek and passing the Homestake Gold Mine, now closed but in operation for more than 100 years and more than a mile below the surface. Late in September last year we had to turn around before reaching the summit due to snow drifts still on the trail from an early September storm. The next 18 miles, from Dumont to Mystic, are almost all downhill. This section is our favorite as the trail leaves sight of any road and follows delightful streams, crosses numerous trestles and goes through several tunnels. Numerous relics and sites from old mining operations can be seen. After Deadwood, the next place with accommodations on the trail is Hill City. (The Alpine Inn serves only one dinner that attracts many and often requires a wait: filet mignon, with 1/4 head of lettuce, potato, toast and many desserts, $8 small, $9 large, desserts extra). The climb south from Hill City reaches a high point at the Crazy Horse monument. This is a granite mountain ridge being shaped into a statue of Crazy Horse (begun in 1947), in the same fashion as the Mt. Rushmore granite likenesses of the four presidents. From Crazy Horse it's 6 miles of great downhill to Custer, the last town with accommodations. A few miles south of Custer, the trail goes through more open and drier country. Part of this section leaves the highway and then joins it, following right next to it for a few miles. The relatively steep drops on the last stage from the Minnekhata trailhead make for some big panoramas of the eastern Wyoming plains. The finish in Edgemont, a barely surviving town supported primarily by the railroad, is a bit of disappointment. The trail has to actually yield to still-in-use rail sidings a mile or two before town, requiring bikers to ride in the borrow pit between the railroad and the highway. The trail then follows town streets to arrive at a the official trail end in a park. Those who live along the trail say that biking is better later rather than earlier in the summer when the moisture in the road base has dried out. For those who desire to repeat a section (or cutout an uphill section) shuttle services are available in Hill City and the little burg of Rochford.

Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills is the most stunning bike ride I've ever experienced!! We rode on a windy day in late June, thinking the headwind might blow us all over the trail, but the beautiful surrounding Black Hills shielded us for the most part and we were able to enjoy a beautiful afternoon of riding and breathtaking scenery. We rode from the Mystic Trailhead (don't be deterred by the dusty county road required to get there), through the bottom of gorges and cool rock tunnels, alongside a lovely, swift-running stream, and across 50 foot high wooden bridges , to the small burg of Rochford, where we stopped for a marvelously cold beer at the Dry Gulch Saloon. It is a steady climb north to Rochford, but a mostly easy (and appreciated) coast back south to Mystic. Driving alongside part of the trail from Hill City to Mystic, there appeared to be some excellent scenery along that section as well. Someday I hope to return and ride it!

I was hoping to be able to download gpx files of the trail here. Is that available? I have traveled much of this trail and enjoy the tunnels between Hill City and Silver City. I have already placed some geocaches along this trail. I'm hoping to do a marathon here in June 09. The Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon.