The Mickelson Trail

Erich and I were up fairly early this morning for a planned ride on part of the Mickelson Trail. It’s huge trail system in and around the Black Hills. It was created from, or mostly from, old rail beds throughout the area. That generally means they are very rideable as trains can’t pull up, or descend, steep grades. Doesn’t mean there aren’t hills though.

We used a company called Mickelson Trail Adventures to haul us up to Lead, SD,..a town near Deadwood, yes, Deadwood. Our driver was a one-legged grandpa who looked like he could have been in Deadwood back in the day. A heck of a nice guy though, with plenty of stories of the area.
Once in Lead, we got ready to hit the road, but not before a photo or two.


The trail is very well maintained, but it’s not asphalt. It’s very well packed and groomed crushed limestone. That means it is a bit slow and there are places where it’s not quite so well packed – a bit iffy at times. Mostly though, it’s in great shape…hats off to South Dakota for that.
The road is mostly up and down, twice. It’s not a steep grade and this image exaggerates the steepness, but it is up, then down, then up, then down.

We rode a total of about 44 miles through simply stunning scenery. There’s really no way to describe it, unless you are Louis L’Amour. I am not. Here are some images.


I’m a sucker for B&W as you can tell.
I took a bunch more, but these seemed really special to me.
I also discovered that both Erich and I meditate and yes, we took the opportunity to sit for about 10 minutes along the way. Good stuff.
We made it back in the later afternoon, not late, but definitely not early. We stopped a lot for photos, for views, for food, to read informational signs and just because. Neither Erich and I really ride for “sport.” It’s an activity for us. So when some young fella blows by us racing uphill, we wish him well and go back to chatting and taking photos.
At the top of the final, read second hill, we took a nice break, then headed on back down to Hill City, well ahead of thunderstorms that are out and. About right now as I write this.
A great day on the road. There are many more to come this trip…yes!!!!