Cycling the George S. Mickelson Trail in South Dakota

It's Monday morning and I'm in Deadwood, South Dakota. I'm in the Black Hills. Today I'm riding the Mickelson Trail. The Mickelson is a 109 mile rail trail that goes through the Black Hills of South Dakota from Deadwood all the way to Edgemont. Today I'm starting in Deadwood and I'm heading south toward Rocheport. Deadwood and Sister City Lead are both old mining towns. South of Deadwood for most of 14 miles it's uphill. So there goes my theory that rail trails have no hills. This one does. Long gradual ones and some short steep ones. So I hope you got a pretty good climbing gear because on this trail you're gonna need it. That's all right because all that effort is going to be rewarded with some breathtaking views. The Black Hills are considered sacred by Native Americans but in 1874 they found gold in them in our hills. And before you know it mining towns like Deadwood and Lead were popping up all over the Black Hills. You probably know the Black Hills because of Mount Rushmore, a very huge and famous carving of four U.S. presidents. Not far is another carving, Crazy Horse. And then came the railroads. This line owned by Burlington Northern ran until 1983 before it was finally abandoned. George Mickelson, then governor of South Dakota, supported the whole rail trail project and by 1991 the first six miles of trail were ready to go. But Governor Mickelson died in 1993 and the trail was named in his honor. In the fall of 1998 the entire trail was completed and by 2010 the Mickelson was inducted into the Rail Trail Hall of Fame. Much of the trail goes through the Black Hills National Forest which is public land. But a good portion of the trail has private land on both sides. So please be respectful of private land owners. Deadwood, despite the name, is a lively and colorful western town. This is where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead while playing cards. He was holding the dead man's hand. Full house. Aces and eights. The high point on the trail is just north of Dumont. It's just over 5,700 feet. Once you crest the high point it's all downhill to Rochport. Nothing but smooth sailing, unless of course you run into a herd of cattle. I was told to look out. There might be a few stray cattle on the trail here and there. But I didn't figure on a whole herd. These cows were big and there were a lot of them. But I somehow managed to navigate my way through. I moved forward and they kept moving back. Big dummies, they should have just got off the trail. They kept moving back all the way into the tunnel. So I had a herd of cattle in the tunnel. They kept moving back and every once in a while some of them would peel off the trail. And then finally the rest of them got the idea and they all moved off the trail. But they sure left a mess behind. Once I got through the herd of cattle then it was smooth sailing all the way to Rochport. It costs about four dollars a day for a trail pass. Or you could buy a season pass for fifteen dollars. Of course the money goes to support and maintain the trail. The trail surface is crushed stone and it's in excellent condition. They maintain it really well. Actually there's a few soft spots with loose gravel and you got to be careful. Especially going downhill where you might pick up some speed and around a curve where you might lose traction on the trail. Just talk to Ernie, the trail patrol. He'll tell you. Ernie is part of an active trail patrol that keeps an eye on the safety of the riders. For a real 1800s experience don't forget to stop at the Moonshine Gulch Saloon in Rochfort. It's a great experience even if the floor is not even close to level. It's downhill from Rochfort to Mystic where you'll go through a cool tunnel and over several high trestles. It's really scenic along the creek. There's a nice waterfall and there's even some active gold mines along the creek. Yep they still find gold in some of the creeks. My ribs are a little sore. Ouch. Because I kind of pancaked on my face, my left boob and my hands all the same time. Just bam. It was like a right cross. I mean if I was boxing I would have been on the ropes going like this. Yeah it's amazing how like one second you can just be riding along the next second. I know. South of Mystic the trail goes uphill for about seven miles. There's some short sections of trail that follow the main highway and the traffic just kind of buzzes along a few meters from the trail. Then suddenly the trail and the road separate and you find yourself back in peace and quiet. Keep an eye out for deer along the trail and look for bighorn sheep up on the steep cliffs in the hills. The vegetation is western. It's very dry and fire prone. There have been some serious forest fires in this area over the years and a lot of forest management going on like thinning and removing the dead trees to reduce fuel for future fires. The forests are mostly pine and spruce with quaking aspen and white birch. I love that dry summer pine smell that only comes from these western forests. Even though it's a dry climate there's still lots of creeks bringing water into these pastures. After all you got to keep the cattle happy. You never really get that green tunnel effect here on the trail although there is a short section called the birch tunnel where the trail goes through a thick birch grove and the trees touch overhead on the trail. Here in the Black Hills it seems like the elevation averages around 5,000 feet above sea level. That means that the daytime high temperatures are relatively cool. Since we've been here it's not been over 80 degrees. If you're camping out plan on cool crisp nighttime lows around 50. But as you get closer to Edgemont the elevation drops, the climate gets drier, and the vegetation more sparse. Like much of the western U.S. it's a dry climate so it should be sunny all day but predictably clouds build up and there's always a chance of scattered thunderstorms every day around three o'clock. This is the land of huge carvings like Crazy Horse and Mile Rushmore. So I suppose carving a railroad tunnel through solid granite is no big deal. One of my favorite sections on the trail is between Hill City and Custer. There are some really impressive granite rocky outcroppings close to the trail that make this trail truly special. You can't really get out of the Black Hills without talking about geology, you know the rocks. The Black Hills were formed millions of years ago when molten magma like a huge fist punched its way up into the crust from below. Before it could break through the crust and erupt as a volcano the magma cooled really slowly and it formed granite. As you might remember from high school science the slower the magma cools the greater the crystalline structure. This is the central crystalline core of the Black Hills. This is the hard granite that bears the massive carvings like Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The upward movement of the magma from below caused the overlying sedimentary rocks to tilt upward the layers always pointing toward the central core. Sedimentary rocks that were close to the magma heated and changed into metamorphic rock. Much of the softer sedimentary rocks around it eroded away over the years exposing the hard granite. To this day it forms large concentric circles around that crystalline core. Outside that ring is a ring of limestone riddled with caves like Wind Cave. The Black Hills is like a geologist playground. I'd say the northern section between Deadwood and Custer sees more traffic than its southern counterpart between Custer and Edgemont. Most people probably consider the northern section more scenic. It follows a pretty creek and it's the part of the trail where most of the tunnels and trestles are. There's four tunnels along the trail and dozens of bridges. Some of the best features of the Black Hills are close by like Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. There's also more and Hill City and Custer have the most abundant services like groceries, restaurants, camping, cabins, and hotels. Don't get me wrong the southern section has its own charm and it's definitely worth riding. You got to see Sheeps Canyon just north of Edgemont. There's two more tunnels close together between Mystic and Hill City. There's also a nice shelter rest stop at Redfern with picnic tables, water, and a toilet. One could probably stealth camp there without being noticed but you didn't hear that from me. South of Hill City where the trail crests again there's a nice view of the Crazy Horse Monument. It's the largest rock carving in the world. They've been working on it for a long time, decades, and they aren't really that close to being finished. The head's now visible but they still got a long way to go. But even in its partially finished state it's a huge tourist attraction. This is as close as I could get without paying admission. South of the mountain trailhead the trail drops in elevation all the way to Custer and of course the town of Custer named after American General George Armstrong Custer and his infamous last stand has plenty of services. If you're riding south of Custer be advised there's almost no services between Custer and Edgemont so it's probably best to be well provisioned before you leave Custer as that's the last town before Edgemont with reliable services. South of Custer the trail takes a short uphill followed by a long downhill all the way into Pringle. Despite its tasty name there's not much in Pringle. There's a steakhouse in Pringle and I'm not sure what time it opens. I'm sure it's loved by the locals but it may not have what you need when you need it. There's the trailhead, steakhouse, a body shop, and of course the largest amount of bicycles I've ever seen and not much else. There are other ways to enjoy the Black Hills too like by horseback. These nice folks offered to outfit us on a horseback ride in the Black Hills but I think I'm just going to stick to my bicycle. Those horses kind of scare me. Yeah because now there's nobody down south the only people that go down south are the people doing the whole trail yeah and they're obligated because they're doing the whole trail yeah um otherwise there's nobody down there nobody goes down there for fun even though I think it's nice down there. Talk to they love Mystic to Rochford and yeah you got the stream right there yeah and north of Rochford you got the the the birch tree tunnel you know where the birch trees grow together over the top of the trail that's real pretty. The southern section sees fewer cyclists as there's fewer services and some think less grand scenery. If you skip the southern section you're going to miss one of the coolest parts of the trail. The trail continues to mostly drop in elevation from Pringle all the way to Edgemont so it makes for some pretty easy pedaling. As you travel south and drop in elevation the vegetation changes from forest to open grassland with all of its charms like abundant wildflowers lots of songbirds and butterflies but also a whole lot less shade. You go from the smell of sunny pine forests to fresh cut hay fields for as long as the grass grows and the wind blows. Looks like the grass is still growing and the wind's still blowing. Just before reaching Edgemont the grassland gives way to Sheeps Canyon the final reminder of the natural beauty of the Black Hills. Here the trail drifts away from the main road and through a rugged landscape where the canyon walls close in and the old railway winds through Sheeps Canyon. I think Sheeps Canyon is one of highlights of the trail. We spent several days enjoying the trail. We got into Edgemont just as the sun was going down what they call golden hour. We try to squeeze as much as we can out of each day. I'd say all in all the Mickelson Trail, the Mic, is an awesome trail. It truly deserves its Hall of Fame status. It travels through an awesome landscape with some classic western scenery. There's a colorful history of gold mining, cattle ranching, railroading, and poker playing in old western towns like Deadwood, Leed, Rochford, Hill City, Custer, and Edgemont. There's so much to see and do in the Black Hills area but put riding the Mic on your must-do list. You got to ride this trail. The Mickelson Trail is 109 miles long. It would make for a long hard day ride but I think the Mickelson would make an excellent bikepacking trail. I can see riding with some good bikepacking buddies. Start in Edgemont take four days to go to Deadwood and back. Stay in Custer or Hill City for day one and three and day two stay in Deadwood. Full disclosure my wife and I rode the whole trail in four days. We stayed in motels every night. I know she's not really featured in the video because she's kind of camera shy. I've not ridden every rail trail in America but my goal is to see some of the better ones. I have to say that the Mickelson Trail is by far the most scenic rail trail I've ridden yet. The Black Hills are truly spectacular. So anyways I gotta go so I'll see you down the trail. Thanks for watching. Now go ride your bike.