This has to rate as a Jewel for its Scenery and a crushed stone surfaced trail. I was able to pedal from Deadwood to Kirk & return, late afternoon on 19 Oct, and then the next day, from Mystic Trailhead to Rochford Trailhead & return on my Tri-Cruiser. Noel Keller 19 & 20 Oct 2011

Tim, Paul, and I rode the entire Mickelson Trail on October 16, 2010. Started at Edgemont just after sun-up at 7:30 AM and coasted into Deadwood at 5:30 PM. The weather cooperated nicely, with minimal wind and temps that hovered around 50 degrees. Not bad for mid-October in the Black Hills!

The trail was in perfect condition, except for some washed out edge sections close to Deadwood. (I think they had some very heavy rains the week before). I'm certain that will be fixed before Spring, based on how well maintained this trail system is. The trailheads still had water, so we didn't have to carry an over-abundance of the wet stuff with us. That helped keep us light.

We rode a variety of bikes. Tim's was a Trek mountainbike with non-aggressive tires. Paul rode a Redline cyclo-cross bike that he had just acquired. I rode a Trek 7500 cross-over with a light front shock. I don't think there was any clear cut advantage by one bike over another. The most important thing for finishing a one day trek in daylight, I believe, was to stay away from aggressive mountain bike tires and also to keep the bike as light as possible.

We stopped in Hill City and bought a replacement tube at Rabbit Bicycles. More importantly, however, we got advice as to where to grab a bite to eat. We were told to check either The Alpine Inn, The Bumpin Buffalo, or the Slate Creek Grill. We decided on the double 'B' though all options appeared viable. We all had a nice sandwich and a celebratory beer. Paul was pleased to find that the double 'B' had PBR on tap! PBR is Pabst Blue Ribbon for those who don't know about bad beers.

We departed Hill City at about 1:30 and kept a fairly steady, uninterrupted pace the rest of the way. Arriving at Deadwood with cold hands, another cold beer awaited us at the trailhead. Despite my cold hands, the cold beer was very appreciated.

We look forward to doing this again, but probably will wait til 2011.

Tom Hammerquist - Gillette, Wy

We biked this trail in September 2010. It is amazing. Well-maintained. You will get such diverse scenery and conditions. I would rate this trail difficult. We rode Trek hybrid bicycles. Beautiful. I highly recommend it. We rode three days and used two trucks for our shuttles. We were camped at Custer at an RV park.

Hello from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada! My husband and I rode the trail on June 30 - July 4, 2010. The trail surpassed our expectations. On day one, we parked our car at Hill City and biked to Deadwood in one afternoon, and continued down the whole trail from there making our next home base out of Custer. The trail between Hill City and Deadwood is a beautiful ride with tunnels, quiet, peaceful country sights and an amazing town at the end of the trail. The temperature was 91F when we left Hill City so we were very grateful for the access to water along the routes. Along the trail, we had the opportunity to watch deer feeding, and observe the many wonders including Crazy Horse Memorial. The trail was in good to excellent condition and both of us will share this wonderful experience with our local bike shop so others can enjoy the joys and pleasures of biking without traffic. Thank you to rails-to-trail for providing a detailed map.

this was my first big bike ride, and it was great. we rode north to south, meaning that Day 2 was a joyride of nearly 40 miles of gradual downhill to the finish in Edgemont.

i grew up in the black hills area and thought i'd prefer the deadwood-hill city section of trail, but the southern half actually turned out to be really spectacular--saw lots of deer between custer and pringle, and the sheep canyon section was beautiful. (we had rain on Day 2, though, and the area was still really green from an abnormally wet spring, so our experience might be somewhat atypical. i can imagine the pringle to edgemont section could be brutal in hot, dry late summer weather.)

trail was in great condition throughout (aside from slightly less-packed gravel near White Elephant TH), shelters were nice, and interpretive signs were interesting. lots of people were using the trails near lead/deadwood, dumont, rochford, hill city, and custer; we saw hardly anybody on the southern end of the trail.

we camped on public lands just off-trail between hill city and custer. we talked to another rider who recommended Crooked Creek Campground (which is accessible from the trail).

this trail convinced me that RT touring should be an addition to my list of fun outdoor adventures. :)

I was trying to see if there was a transfer/shuttle service from the South end back to the North?? I want to ride the trail but not both ways. Ha.
Thanks,
Clar

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.

I'm from Virginia and rode a number of trails on a three week trip of 13 states. The George Mickelson Trail was one of my favorites. I first learned of it when I saw it feature as the tail of the month in the Convervancy magazine. I rode the 60 miles from Dumont to Pringle (breaking it into a two day ride. The surface was great and the scenery was beautiful

"I ride the Mickelson Trail alot during the warmer months and love the central section between Hill City and Rochford the best. It's great to have a safe place to ride, with gentler grades, than the highways near my home midway between Rapid City and Deadwood."

In early June a group of Wisconsin retirees visited the Black Hills for some biking and hiking. We drove from Hill City to the Mystic Trailhead and rode north toward Rochford. The trail was in good shape and all the trailheads we passed were in great shape with water and shelter. The scenery is awesome on this section with many close encounters with mountain streams. We rode through Tunnel C and past Rochford to Tunnel D. At this point we turned around and rode back to Rochford for a beer and lunch. Do not miss the Moonshine Gulch Saloon in Rochford. After returning to the Mystic Trailhead we rode south a bit to experience Tunnels B and A. This last section to Tunnels B and A is a good grade up hill but the ride/coast back to the car was worth it. I would recommend this ride since it lets you see all the tunnels and covers a very picturesque section of the trail.

Our other favorite ride was the wildlife loop in Custer State Park. We rode it early in the morning and found the car traffic to be a minimum and the wildlife viewing excellent.

"Just wanted to say thank you to the people of South Dakota for making this trail a reality. My wife and I came up from Colorado over Memorial Day weekend (2006)and rode the entire length of the trail. We pulled trailers and camped on National Forest land. All the trail is well maintained with water and shelters along the way. The interpretive signs are a great asset to it all. Of course the scenery is awesome as are the people who live nearby the path.
We started in Deadwood which is very interesting and headed south. Lots of great countryside, cool trestles and tunnels to see. Got rained out near Hill City one night and ended up in the Harney Hotel there in town. A welcome respite for two wet bikers. The rain was desperately needed so no complaints here. We ended up in Edgemont and visited the museum there and then reluctantly headed home.
If you want to experience a great ride then go on out to SD and ride this trail. One thing to note is that when the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska is completed it will be possible to ride your bike from Deadwood, SD to Norfolk, NE with most of it on trail and an easy road connection in between. Have a great ride!
Rob Lauchner"

"September 2nd, 2005, We rode the section from Custer, north to the summit, just past the Mountain Trailhead and back. Trail was compatible with our hybrid bikes although several spots were a little soft. This section was well maintained trail and very scenic.
September 3rd, We rode from Rochford Trailhead, north to about a mile short of the Dumont Trailhead and back – the heat and lack of shade got us. Went through Tunnel D on the way. Even more scenic than the Custer section. Very few soft spots. Access road, SD 237, is a wide, hard packed, low dust level road and a good shortcut to Rochford and Mystic from US 385.
September 4th, Best of our 3 days. We started at Mystic Trailhead and went south to Tunnels B and A (up hill) then north to Rochford and back. This allowed us to see Tunnel C also. The varied scenery was awesome.
Summary: All the tunnels were very well maintained with wire screening preventing any rocks from falling on users. Water and facilities were excellent. Trail very well maintained. We think we were able to capture the essence of the whole trail by doing these three sections. We are in our 70s and found the trail to be challenging but not overwhelming.
"

"I have just finished the 2005 Mickelson Trial Trek, which was 109 miles from Edgemont to Deadwood and was very impressed with the ride and the organization of the ride. There is talk of increasing the amount of riders to 2,000. I hope that this does not happen becquse it will significantly decrease the desirability of this incredible ride. This year the number of riders was 530 and that in approaching the max. Let's not let revenue collection ruin this ride for future participants. "

"We rode the Hill City to Custer section and the Hill City to Mystic section. trail in great shape but bridge approaches and surfaces need some work. Rode early a.m. to avoid the heat and had a great time, lots of deer at that time of day. Trail is on par with some of WI and MN best."

"September 2004: Due to time constraints, we were able to do only the portion of the trail between Dumont and Rochford, but it was very enjoyable and relaxing. We coasted most of the way. There are numerous bridges and one tunnel. A stream follows the trail quite a ways. I highly recommend this trail!"

"We rode most of the Mickelson from Custer to Deadwood the first week in October, 2004. We couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more. The scenery is wonderful and the surface is fine, even for our road bikes (700 x 32 tires)."

"We rode this trail in early September 2003. This was truly a nice trail with pretty scenery, a good riding surface, and some but not many rest stops. All the little towns on the trail had services, but there were not many towns. We stayed in Custer and got sagged to a couple of different starting points. Custer had lots of places to stay and many good eats. This trail definitely makes for a good ride."

"The Mickelson Trek is put on by the State of S.D. Parks every Sept. This is a must ride. The trail is the greatest and the State supports for the three day ride are the best. People came from 22 States in the 2002 ride so you meet a lot of great people.

The 2002 cost was $125.00 and is the best deal you will ever get on trail ride in the U.S. The hotels give discounts for riders also. Ride the Trek at least once in your life. I meet a rider from St Louis, Mo. who was 80 years old and had ridden in all 5 Treks!!"

"I live in the Black Hills and we have numerous beautiful trails to ride, but we love this trail. Our particular favorite is Dumont to Mystic, with a stop at the Moonshine Gulch Saloon at Rochford."

"We rode the Mickelson Trail in its entirety in July. We have ridden numerous ""rails-trails"" and this is by far the best that we have encountered. It is exceptionally well maintained. The scenery varies from mountains to range land to canyons to desert; it is all sensational. For the most part the trail is far from major highways and gives a true wilderness experience.

There are only two short segments (from the Pringle trailhead to the White Elephant trailhead and the first five miles North of Edgemont) that I would not repeat in a future ride of the trial. The segments that we enjoyed the most were from the Dumont Trailhead to Custer and from the Minnekahta Trailhead to the junction with Highway 18 just North of Edgemont. "

"I rode the Mickelson Trail from Custer to Hill City. The scenery was nice, but our bikes (mountain at that) got bogged down in some areas of the trail that were quite soupy. We were going to continue on but I found the Mt. Rushmore Brewing Co. and decided to call it a day. Cliff, the owner is a great guy so if you are in the area, say hi."

"We rode the whole trail! What a wonderful memory! There were 4 couples and two of our friends in a van who shuttled our gear. Over all we loved the trail. My advice is to carry a lot of water and take lots of layers of clothes, including hats and gloves. The weather was cool in late June, and we ran into a LOT of rain on the third day. We went from Deadwood to Carsten Cottages (not far after reaching the end of the 16 mile climb out of Deadwood.) We especially enjoyed Carsten Cottages for a group stay. In the morning, after a wonderful buffet breakfast provided by Carsten Cottages we began the ride to Hill City. The first 16 miles or so were all downhill through such beautiful mountain pastures surrounded by mountains and accompanied much of the way by a lovely little mountain stream.

In Hill City we stayed at the Comfort Inn. The price was steep, but the stay was comfortable and convenient to the town shops. There is a 50's style restaurant where we all went to and enjoyed shakes with the extra helping that goes with it in the silver canester! Yummm!

The third day was rainy, but the scenery was beautiful with the mist hanging over the mountain peaks around us. Be sure to take a variety of layers of clothes. The temperature changes often on this ride as you ascend and decend mountains. We got soaked in a cold rain on our ride down from Crazy Horse Monument to Custer. We ended up hiring a shuttle to take us and our bikes to our next stop which was at Plenty Star Ranch. Before we got in the shuttle van we went to the local laundry and ""stripped"" our wet-sandy clothes. This was when we were grateful to have the sag-wagon van drivers. They delivered to us hot-chocolate and dry clothes.

Some of our group felt the Plenty Star was a disappointment. Especially those in our party who stayed in the TeePees. They felt $45 was too much for sleeping in a cold tent. We also thought dinner was over-priced but it was easier than jumping in the van and heading back to Custer for supper or shopping and cooking our own. The last day was a warm one as we slowly decended out of the high altitudes and into the desert.

There was no water on the trail, so take lots of it. Also, your cell phones and walky talkys won't always work in this mountainous area.

Enjoy."

"I rode the beautiful, peaceful distance between Hill City and Westmont. Forest sights normally not seen from most biking trails. Well maintained. I will ride the trail again."

"Annual maintenance has brought this trail to an exceptional level of riding. New bridges in the Deadwood area, a few new trailheads and some maintenance makes this trail appear almost new. An enjoyable ride can be found at any section along it's 110+ mile stretch."

"I have been mountain bike riding in the Black Hills for 10+ years, and this trail has provided some of the best scenery and riding that I have ever experienced. There are basically no bug or mousquitoes to deal with and the weather always seems to be cooperatative. The portion between Deadwood and Hill city provide the most scenic and rustic rides of the trail.. The four tunnels are included in this portiob as well. Lots of wildlife and flowers, flowers, flowers."

"My buddies and I rode this trail from Deadwood to Custer in three different stages; Deadwood to Rochford, Rochford to Hill City, and Hill City to Custer. We hauled our bikes to the starting point the second and third day and hoteled in the Deadwood area. All three segments were rustic and scenic. Being a Railroad right of way, the gradient was very managable going uphill.

This trail is crushed rock, but does not pack like the crushed limestone trails in Iowa. As a result, there were patches of the trail that would shift under your tire,especially on curves and when approaching bridges. A road bike would not be a good idea. There were a couple of spots where cattle were on the trail, but luckily none of them were bulls! There were quite a few gates that you have to go through because of the livestock, but they all had nice openers/closers on them that allowed you to pass through without having to dismount.

The portions of the trail we rode on were new and/or very well maintained. The only maintenance item I can think of relates to the planks on the bridges. Some of them wrarped after being installed. If the ends were not nailed down they bowed up. Just keep your eye out for them on the bridges and ride in the middle when possible. The map published by the Department of Parks and Recreation is also very well done and provides good elevation information.

There were good stops in Rochford, Hill City, and Custer, so food and water should not be a concern. Two water bottles on a hot day would be important because there are no water stops between the towns. The trailhead in Hill City heading south is poorly marked but it is just east of the main highway through the town. Have a great ride!!



"

"Our group of 6 adults and two children rode 35 miles of this breath-takingly beautiful trail. The scenery from Rochford to Mystic was unbelievable and the added benefit was that is was a gentle downhill ride. We also rode from Dumont to Deadwood, the first couple of miles were slight incline but the rest was downhill, more brakes than peddling. Highly recommend this trail."