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The Spearfish Recreational Trail travels for 5 miles through the heart of Spearfish, a town situated east of the South Dakota/Wyoming border and just north of the Black Hills National Forest, known...
The Leonard Swanson Memorial Pathway, named for Rapid City's late, longtime public works director, is a sprawling eight mile system of paved bikeways that follows the path of Rapid Creek across the...
The Spearfish Recreational Trail travels for 5 miles through the heart of Spearfish, a town situated east of the South Dakota/Wyoming border and just north of the Black Hills National Forest, known...
The Leonard Swanson Memorial Pathway, named for Rapid City's late, longtime public works director, is a sprawling eight mile system of paved bikeways that follows the path of Rapid Creek across the...
The Spearfish Recreational Trail travels for 5 miles through the heart of Spearfish, a town situated east of the South Dakota/Wyoming border and just north of the Black Hills National Forest, known...
The Leonard Swanson Memorial Pathway, named for Rapid City's late, longtime public works director, is a sprawling eight mile system of paved bikeways that follows the path of Rapid Creek across the...
My brother (70 years old) and I (63 years old) rode this trail in mid September. We spent Friday night at the Cowboy Inn in Edgemont, and got a shuttle to Deadwood. Hit the trail at 10:30 a.m. My brother has a trike with pedal assist and I have a dual sport bike (no assist for me). The first few miles south were really tough for me. I knew it would be uphill, but some reviewers said you could hardly tell it was uphill. Well, they must have been in a lot better shape then me. I really think that the altitude affected me more then I realized it would. Once I made it up that first few miles of uphill the ride was really good, until I hit the up hill climb near Mystic. The last few miles downhill into Hill City was very pleasant. Although I was tired at the end of the first day, it was a great ride, the scenery was wonderful. I loved the tunnels and all the bridges. After a couple beers at the Mangy Moose, and a good nights rest, I was ready to tackle the second day.
The uphill climb out of Hill City was long but doable, and I looked forward to the remaining downhill stretch into Edgemont. A stop at Pringle to see the mountains of old bikes was interesting. the rest of the trip was scenic, but in a different way then the first day. we did seem to have a head wind that slowed my progress, but I'm used to riding in the wind. The Hat Creek Grill and Bar in Edgemont was a welcome sight.
Over all the trail was in good shape, there were places where the gravel was a little loose, but nor bad. The 62.6 miles on the second day was my longest ride ever, although I have put on several 50 mile rides. I would love to do this again, but I will train a little better and maybe arrive a day early to acclimate to the altitude.
A Great trail that I would love to do again.
We rode the entire trail in 3 sections: Custer to Edgemont, Custer to Rocheford, then Rocheford to Deadwoood. The trail is even more amazing than we imagined. The terrain varies from high desert to forested hills and streams. Well maintained with multiple rest stops inc. toilets and water. Maps & trail passes available along the way. It is not just a trail but an opportunity to see the Black Hills in all its' splendor & beauty. The animals we saw along the trail were deer, snake, cattle, & birds. Some sections would be difficult to ride with narrow road tires as some sections of the gravel trail were quite loose. We have cross tires.
We stayed at the Mile Hi Motel in Custer. The owners were wonderful! Eric helped shuttle us to/from trail heads with only a gratuity needed. The motel is only a block from the trail.
Day 1 - I spent the night in Edgemont (Cowboy Inn), then rode to Hill City. This 60 mile stretch is not for the faint of heart. It's a slow, relentless grind for the first 50 miles, then 10 miles downhill into Deadwood. I read lots and lots of posts trying to determine if people actually ride the entire distance going South to North, but couldn't find anyone that posted about it. Given the lack of info, the uphill grade and the gravel terrain, I decided it would be safest if I broke the North bound ride into two days. And honestly, I'm glad I did. I was on a steel Surly single speed, riding solo and carrying two panniers. I could have carried on to Deadwood if I had to, but I'm honestly glad I had a hotel reservation in Hill City (Super 8). NOTE - I did stop (just outside of Hill City) to help two riders in their early 20s that were planning to ride the entire distance from Edgemont to Deadwood, after having to stop in Rochford due to darkness two weeks earlier. Assuming they didn't have any additional mechanical issues, I'd bet they made it since there were no thunderstorms that afternoon. They started, in the dark, in Edgemont at 5am.
On Day 2, I rode from Hill City to Deadwood and over-nighted at the Spring Hill Suites. Comparatively, the terrain on Day 1 and the terrain on Day 2 were completely different. From Edgemont to Hill City, the terrain was open, exposed and occasionally forested. From Hill City to Deadwood, the terrain was almost completely forested and incredibly beautiful. If you only have time to do one section of the trail, I'd unequivocally recommend the section between Hill City and Deadwood (ridden in either direction).
On Day 3, I rode all the way from Deadwood to Edgemont, stopping in Hill City for a burger with fries on the rooftop patio at the Bumpin Buffalo Bar & Grill. If you're capable of riding a century on a road bike, riding the entire distance is very doable because of the net elevation loss and the final 50 miles of downhill into Edgemont. Be warned though... the South Dakota wind popped up and sometimes negated the joy of rolling downhill between Crazy Horse and Edgemont.
We rode Hill City to Dumont one day and HillCity to Custer another with the Stockade Lake Spur. Beautiful sights. We chose to ride the fat tire bikes - a mistake on this trail. Inclined were tough with the wide tires.
Started the trail off In deadwood and was completely shocked at how steep of a climb it was. Being that we were more used to flatter rail trails, we ended up driving to a different part of the trail and riding from the Mystic to the Rockford trailhead and back. Don’t let the hill scare you away, just pay close attention to the gradient on the map. The trail surface worked great for our hybrid bikes. Saw beautiful nature and local cows. Lost cell reception at times.
My wife and I rode this section at the end of June and it was absolutely gorgeous. We caught a shuttle out of Hill City and the first 10 miles from Dumont were amazing as we watched a small brook slowly grow to become a gorgeous river over the next 10-15 miles. The first 20 miles were downhill but then we had a 7 mile 650 foot climb that taxed us asphalt loving Midwest flatlanders . I rode a 28 tire with no problem. Done 80 plus trails in 33 states (Hiawatha, Katy. GAP, e.g), and this was justifiably a top 5 American trail.
Went with the family. Left car in Edgemont and got a shuttle to Deadwood to start. (Tried the other direction but it was harder we went in 23 miles it started to rain and we got stuck in the shelter over night, had to ride out through thick mud) anyway we went back shuttled to Deadwood and it was a bit easier. So much fun, and everyone is very accommodating to the bike crowd. We camped twice and stayed in a hotel once. We will do it again 👍 but go both ways to make it last longer😃
Our group of 4 had a wonderful time biking the Mickelson last week! It was a little cooler than we expected for June and we did ride in pouring rain on one day. But the scenery and the experience was well worth it!
The trail is very well maintained. It's probably the best non paved trail we have biked over the past 5 years. There are covered picnic tables to stop and rest as needed. There are restrooms and water at most of these stops.
We loved the little towns where we stayed the night. We plan to explore these more when we return hopefully next year. One of our favorites was the 1899 Inn in Deadwood. The Alex Johnson was also a neat place to stay as it is a historic hotel in Rapid City.
The Black Hills Touring Company planned and executed our tour making sure each one of us had everything we needed. Kevin, the owner, was very knowledgeable about the area and its vast history. He carted our luggage for Inn to Inn every day. Some of those days he carted our luggage, our bikes and us to the next destination. I highly recommend him and the Black Hills Touring Company!
There were some hills on the trail. They were long, but not steep. We rented e-bikes allowing us to climb the long hills without difficulty. I was very thankful for them this trip.
We had so much fun we are already planning our next trip to the Mickelson! So much to see and do!
I loved this trail. My wife, daughter, and I took a summer camping trip to Custer and the Black Hills.
I was very interested in the trail after watching videos, seeing pictures, and reading about it.
It was even better in person!
My wife was unable to ride bikes due to some injury so I studied the elevation chart and had her drop me off at the higher trail heads and pick me up at the low ones. If you are a wana-be bike rider that is all for the coasting and none of the labor of going up hill, I highly recommend this method - if you have someone that is not up for riding. OR like we did once my sister joined us, have two cars with one at each end. Then just coast from one to the other.
Some of the most beautiful scenery ever. Bison at a few points beside the trail and other wildlife to see.
There are several places the trail passes through ranches and sometimes there were cows on the trail. It was never a problem. The cows didn't pay much mind to us. There were gates to open and close, but again, not a problem.
Loads of history with nice trail heads and rest stops that give in-depth descriptions of the history.
It was almost enough to make me want to move to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
From Texas-Went to trail twice last summer- due to weather issues. Started at Edgemont the first time. Did not like the constant incline for 43 miles. So when we went back the seecond time, we left our car in Edgemont, bought a ride to Deadwood and started from there. It was 17 miles uphill to start but than a 10 mile decent. Up and down like this until last 43 miles where it mostly descends until one last big uphill at the 5-6 mile marker. I will go back again. Husband said he would love to get electric bikes and do it. Took our tent and camped were we could.
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