Mt. Cammerer via Groundhog Ridge, Smokies Off Trail, 10-10-04

The Groundhog Ridge manway is another of the better known manways in the Smokies. It offers a short, but astonishingly steep route to the scenic lookout tower atop Mt. Cammerer. The manway is fairly clear and relatively easy to follow, you might not even be surprised to see someone else walking it. Jean and I were interested in trying the route, and jumped at the chance to go when Phillip and Terri led the route for the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club.

The Mt Cammerer Lookout Tower.

Our group of fifteen had a perfect day for the hike; warm, clear, and with the dazzlingly bright leaves of the peak fall colors. We would hike up the manway, and return down the usual route on the Appalachian and Low Gap trails back to the Cosby CG TH. We set up a short shuttle, and started where Groundhog Creek crosses TN 32. I was taking a GPS track, but like in much steep terrain reception was poor. We took some slides, and also got copies of a few digital images from friends.

The SMHC hikers on Groundhog Ridge.

The manway starts as a wide old road alongside Groundhog Creek. It is easy walking to the crossing of the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail. The manway had seen some clipping, and there were only a few blowdowns. There were a couple small splits, but the main path was plain to see. It took 45 minutes to reach Lower Mt Cammerer Trail, and another hour for the much steeper, and more exhilarating leg, to the summit. One sheer pitch led to another twisting through rocky outcrops, with periodic neck bending views of the tower above us. The last few chutes required pullups on rhodo branches, but for the most part, all of this was good fun.

On Groundhog Ridge.

Mt Cammerer is popular for its fall vistas and the historic tower on the summit, so it was a big surprise to have the tower to ourselves. The Friends of the Smokies rehabilitated the tower later in the early 90s, but the tower was already deteriorating. After an hour for lunch and time enjoying the views we headed back, down the trail this time.

We waited a suspiciously long time at the junction with the AT for the back of the group. It turns out Terri had taken a fall at the tower, gashing her right knee, and hurting her left wrist. The cut on the knee was bloody and deep. After getting it wrapped, and declining the group’s attempt to build a litter from hiking poles and old pair of blue jeans we’d found in the woods, she was able to hobble slowly out. Jean went ahead with the main group, while I stayed back with others to help Terri. 

With Michael on Cammerer.

The lead group reported the accident to the park, and a ranger was able to get a jeep about a half mile above the first split in the trail from the campground. Terri rode down to the campground, and the rest of us were happy to be able to walk a normal pace back to hiker parking after a 6 hour descent. I ended up driving Terri to Baptist West, and then Phillip dropped me off at home about 8:30. We’d focused our concern on Terri’s knee because the wound was dramatic, but her broken wrist kept her out of commission for longer than the knee wound took to heal.

As much fun as the Groundhog Ridge climb proved to be, we’ve since used it primarily as a return route for other adventures on Cammerer, mostly scouting and leading hikes for the SMHC. Heavy use of the manway has scoured it down to a corkscrew mudslide through the rhododendron. The oddest thing I’ve found in the manway was portable fishing set up, presumably hauled in from Big Creek.

The NPS doesn’t sanction the pullout at the base of the manway, but they do keep track of it. Returning from a scouting trip with Ed, we found a NPS vehicle parked next to Ed’s old pickup and my equally old corolla. Not too long later a ranger came by and asked us if we’d been up the manway. We assumed someone had reported our vehicles, and that the ranger had been hiding the woods to make sure were hadn’t been poaching.

Ogden Creek-Richardson Fire Loop, Sundance Trails, Bearlodge, WY Mountain Biking, 9-10-2004

In 2004 I made two trips to the Dakotas to work on updates for my Black Hills and Badlands trail guide. On the first trip in May with Jean we completed ND’s Maah Daah Hey Trail by backpacking (Maah Daah Hey South Backpack), I rode the new Buffalo Gap mountain bike trail, and then we drove down to the Black Hills where we hiked the new Dugout Gulch Trail in Wyoming. For the rest of that trip, we mostly checked up familiar trails in the southern hills, near Custer and Wind Cave parks.

For the next trip in September, I went solo as Jean’s school year had started, and I expected to join some friends for Colorado peak bagging at the end of the trip. I’d again brought my mountain bike and rode some new trail on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland near Badlands National Park. But most of this trip was again checking trail conditions, this time concentrating on the Centennial Trail and other trails in SD’s Black Hills National Forest. The riding and hiking was great, but the guidebook project didn’t go through. My publisher was soon to hit rough times, first the guidebook revision project was cancelled, then the company went out of business. This report describes a new ride for me that I planned to add to the guide. While my latest 1999 edition of the Black Hills and Badlands trail guide is long out of print, portions of it are still available through Google books.

Loop A-L-K around the Sundance Trails

The Bearlodge Mountains are essentially an outlier of the Black Hills, but are even more isolated and less used. During my time living in Lead, SD I’d gone to the nearby Carson Draw ski trails to ski a couple times, and did one mountain bike ride listed my copy of “A Mountain Biker’s Guide to the Black Hills” by Horning and Marriott. That June 1988 ride happened to be a loop centered around the Sheepnose, but there were no designated trails then. About the time I left the Hills in 1993 the BHNF was expanding the Carson Draw trails to the east to Sundance CG and the north to Sheepnose, and calling the new system the Sundance Trails. I didn’t get a chance to hike or ride those trails before I left, but chipped away at them on return trips with Jean in 97, 04, and 06. The latter two rides were scenic and fun enough to warrant inclusion in the guide as new rides.

The Sundance trail system remains the only one in the Black Hills where I have not completed all the trails. One of these days I’ll return for Ogden Ridge, Tent Canyon Ridge, Edge and the two quarry spurs that I have left to hike!

This ride is a loop down Ogden Creek, and up the Sheepnose and Richardson Fire trails in the northern part of the area. I had good weather and good conditions, and a ride that was a whole lot of fun. Ogden Creek at the start was a nice gentle downhill, with only a few rough sections at the creek crossings. The canyon was really pretty, especially the lower section near the Sheepnose Trail junction. At that junction I took a 1.8 mile side trip south to complete all of the Ogden Creek Trail. That’s part of guidebook work, sometimes you need to explore side trails, and that can add up in your daily mileage. I’d ride 15 miles to describe a ten mile guidebook loop, luckily the side trip was flat, easy riding.

The Sheepnose Trail started with a couple of steep, sharp switchbacks. Then it went up a broad open ridge where I lost the trail for a bit. The trail was on a dip slope, where the mountainside follows along the top of a single inclined rock layer, in this case limestone. The Sundance Trails always seem little used, even compared to other outlying trails in the Black Hills, and this trail had just faded out. Eventually I climbed up to a red layer, then a sandy one with the trail becoming better defined where it had hosted old truck traffic. The grade eased up after I turned onto the Richardson Fire Trail. After a short section of flat riding, I hit an open gate, beyond which the trail had been improved by laying down coarse gravel. This was probably done as part of recent timber sale. But timber sales always mess up trail systems. It seems the first thing the loggers do is remove all the road and trail markers. At some point my trail also became BHNF Road 858 and was also signed for Peterson Spring, along a side trail which I did not visit.

The west side of the loop became very hard to follow, with new, presumably logging, roads confusing the map, and some conflicting signs. At one point I rode up Richardson Draw past a few confusing forks, led by a sign that seemed to have been misplaced. Normally, I wouldn’t have included such a mixed up trail in my guidebook, but I knew the Bearlodge Ranger District had recently completed their timber sale, and that their recreation ranger was likely to have the trails in shape for the next season. On our next ride here in 2006 we indeed had no troubles with trail marking.

Eventually I found my way back to the Richardson/Ogden Creek junction at its bridge over Ogden Creek,  I finished retracing my route on a short climb back to the car. I really liked the loop as a bike ride, and Ogden Creek Trail is pretty enough to be a hiking trail. With easy access to Reuter Campground, the Sundance Trail system has the potential to be a popular area. But there just aren’t many people out that way (I’d only seen one car all day and no foot or bike tracks on the loop), and there’s enough diverse and high quality riding to satisfy most folks in the main Black Hills.

On the current (2022) BHNF travel map most of this loop is still shown as non-motorized. However, the west side of Richardson Fire Trail, the upper section of Ogden Creek Trail, and a connector via Peterson Spring are all roads open seasonally. 

The 2022 Black Hills National Forest Travel Map.

My ten day trip to the Hills ended on a down note. After biking on the Centennial Trail near Legion and Iron Creek, I headed over to Jewel Cave National Monument to hike the loop trail there. I decided to spend my last night camping, knowing the next night that I’d be staying in a motel in Denver after picking up my friends for our Colorado trip. The next morning, I did a brief ride on the BHNF Hell Canyon loop, then headed off on the long drive to the Denver Airport. After checking into the motel, I called Jean and got some bad news. My friends all now had conflicts at work, and none would be making the trip. So, after a quick solo hike up Mt Massive as a consolation prize, it was time to start the long drive back east.

Here's the draft chapter I wrote to the Ogden Creek and Richardson Fire loop.

 

Ogden Creek and Richardson Fire Trail Loop - Sundance Trails

                                              BEARLODGE RANGER DISTRICT,

BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST

 

Description: A beautiful rugged and diverse loop through the Bearlodge Mountains for experienced mountain bikers.

General Location:  Five miles north of Sundance, Wyoming.

Highlights: Solitude, vistas, and a variety of challenges.

Access: From Interstate 90, take Exit 185 west of Sundance.  Turn left onto U.S. 14 for one mile before turning north onto BHNF Road 838 (Warren Peak Road). Drive past Reuter Campground at 2.7 miles and turn right onto gravel BHNF Road 839 at 6.5 miles. At 7.7 miles reach the start of the Upper Ogden and Ogden Creek trails. Continue down Road 839, which from this point is also part of the Ogden Creek Trail, and park at the Ogden Creek Trailhead at 8.8 miles. The trailhead contains a signboard and parking area only.

Distance: The Ogden Creek-Richardson Fire trails loop is 10.0 miles around. The entire Sundance-Carson Draw trail system covers over 50 miles.

Maps: Black Hills National Forest Carson Draw and Sundance Trails, and page 158.

One of the Black Hills National Forest's largest trail systems covers the southern end of the Bearlodge Mountains. The 50 mile long system attracts horsemen, mountain bikers, and hikers to an area known as the Sundance Burn, named after a 1936 blaze, which burned 8,200 acres.  Much of the current trail system was originally built as access roads for firefighters battling that blaze. Riders now come to the area for views stretching from the Black Hills to the Bearlodge, and for spectacular riding over challenging terrain. Former Bearlodge Ranger District trails specialist Jerry Hagen considered the Ogden Creek-Tent Canyon Ridge loop to be the area's most scenic ride.

            A loop around the Ogden Creek and Richardson Fire trails illustrates much of what the Bearlodge has to offer mountain bikers. The scenery is fantastic, particularly when the approach of winter brings forth the golden yellows of aspen groves. There is plenty of the climbing and challenging terrain that technical riders seek. And if you want to test your map your map reading skills, this is also the place. Much of this area was logged through 2004 and that program led to the disappearance of many of the system’s trail signs. Hopefully, the BHNF will bring this signage back to their usual high standards.

            From the end of the road at the trailhead, ride south downhill on the Ogden Creek Trail, which here is an old two track road. At 0.2 mile reach a wooden bridge and the junction with the southwest end of the Richardson Fire Trail to the north. The trail next follows the creek closely through an area where cattle graze. It then moves to the north slope and then swings below the “pearly gates” a pair of massive white cliffs and continue to descend down the beautiful canyon.

             At 2.8 miles reach the end of the downhill at a signed T-junction with the Sheepnose Trail on the left. To the right the Ogden Ridge Trail is 0.4 mile, and the Tent Canyon Trail junction is 0.9 mile on the Ogden Creek Trail. Turn left at the junction onto the Sheepnose Trail and soon pass an abandoned spur trail to a spring on the right. Beyond this point the trail along the broad open ridge is obscure but generally follows the crest of the ridge. The grade lessens as the climb progresses and by the time the trail reaches an area with bright red soil the trail begins to follow an old two track road. Reach a signed junction with the Richardson Fire Trail (here called “Peterson”) at 4.3 miles. This is also BHNF Road 858.

            Keep left at the intersection and stay left again at a junction with a grassy two track road. Enjoy some flat, easy riding. At 5.0 miles a road joins on the right at a gate beyond which the trail has been improved for use by timber trucks. At 5.6 miles a side road leads left to Peterson Spring. Ignore two unsigned grassy roads leading right then left to the junction with a road signed as BHNF Road 830 at 6.6 miles. Turn left on this road and then left again onto BHNF Road 874 at 6.9 miles. Be aware, these two junctions do not match the current BHNF trail maps. Ride gently downhill on Road 874, which is also still part of the Richardson Fire Trail, passing two side roads on the right and one on the left. Reach the end of a logged area where the trail bends sharply to the right and maintenance on the road ends.

Misplaced sign for Richardson Fire Trail.

            At 8.7 miles reach the first sign for the Richardson Fire Trail since its east junction with the Sheepnose Trail. As luck would have it, as of 2004, the sign sends riders off course. The sign points to a sharp right turn up a two track road that is not the Richardson Fire Trail. The correct route continues ahead, and bears left at a split and soon begins a steep descent into Richardson Creek. At 9.1 miles in the bottom of the Richardson Creek turn left on marked Snowmobile Trail B. Follow the snowmobile trail down and to the east until reaching the bridge at the junction of the Richardson Fire and Ogden Creek trails at 9.8 miles. Turn right at the bridge up Ogden Creek Trail to close the loop at the trailhead at 10.0 miles.

            Though very poorly marked at the time of this ride, this loop is one of the best rides in the Bearlodge. Until the BHNF repairs the damage to the trail markers and signs in this area, this ride should only be attempted by those with good map reading skills.

Prairie Mountain Bike Trail Ride, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, 9-6-2004

The national grasslands are not typically known for their trail systems. Most grasslands have no designated trails, but allow hiking anywhere on the grassland. This policy serves locals well. They know where they want to go, and don’t need established trails to get them there. But for new visitors the lack of trails presents a dilemma of where to go, and how to get there.

But the grasslands have been moving slowly toward providing more designated recreation areas. Perhaps the success of  the 140-mile long Maah Daah Hey Trail in North Dakota’s Little Missouri National Grassland and the 30 mile section of North Country National Scenic Trail in ND’s Sheyenne National Grassland have provided a model for other grasslands to use.

In the early 2000’s the Wall Ranger District of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland developed plans for a hiking trail just south of Wall, SD off Interstate 90. Buffalo Gap is the grassland that surrounds the north unit of Badlands National Park and borders the north and west sides of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Wall Ranger District and the Buffalo Gap National Grassland are managed through the Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands, so the management of the trail is be attributed to different offices. A spur of the Badlands Wall lies just east of SD 240 between Wall and the entry to Badlands NP, the Prairie Trail lies in the lower basin to the east of the spur.

In the fall of 2004 I made a long trip to South Dakota to work on an update of my trail guide for the Black Hills and Badlands. After spending the night in Wall, I was ready for a new place to ride. The trail could not have been more convenient to get to, only six miles down the interstate and a half mile from Exit 116. A single post marked the trailhead.

BGNG Prairie Mountain Bike Trail, North Loop.

The trail began following a grassy two track to the west. There were also posts to mark the trail and I saw a few cattle-flattened carsonite posts. Shortly, there was a split and I chose to go right to follow the shorter upper loop counterclockwise. The ground was damp, so I was prepared that there would be mud ahead. About a mile and a half in, I hit mud and gumbo, and had to push the bike on occasions through the rest of the ride.

The area had a grazing allotment and as I got further west cows were more common. The two track I was following got gradually fainter, but as it did the posts marking the trail came more frequently. At 2.9 miles I reached the junction with the 2.3 mile dead end spur trail to the northwest. I took a photo, but with the muddy trail, declined to add the extra mileage.

BGNG Prairie MB Trail, junction with northwest spur.

Heading south now the trail passed an old water well. At the 3.7 mile junction by a fence gate, I stayed left to complete the upper loop, where the lower loop continued south. The trail then cut through a small section of badlands, and remained ridable the rest of the way back to the trailhead. There was a small prairie dog town in private land just north of the trail. I closed the loop at 5.5 miles, and was back at the trailhead in 5.8 miles, ready to come back to ride on a drier day.

Riding around the lower loop would be 8.4 miles around. Riding the outer portion of both loops is a 10.0 mile ride. Adding the northwest spur, out and back, would add 4.6 miles to the ride.

The Delta-09 Missile Silo for the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is located a short distance south on the gravel road. The door to the silo has been welded shut and fitted with a glass roof to allow for observation. The site is the only preserved Minuteman II silo. There are no underground tours of the facility, but an audio tour is available.

Greenbrier River Trail Bikepacking, 6-25, 2004

 After the publication of my biking guide “Backroad Bicycling the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains” in 2003 Jean and I continued with a lot of bike riding. We enjoyed the freedom of biking, and the ability to ride fast got us to more new places and kept us cooler in the oppressive humidity of summer in Tennessee. We were still also doing a lot of backpacking, so it made sense for us to try to combine the two and go bikepacking. But neither of us was comfortable with long trips on road bikes. It was hotter on the road, and we went through more developed areas. But our main concern was traffic, we just didn’t feel as secure riding on new roads vs. riding on trails or greenways.

We’d already ridden the Virginia Creeper and New River trails, the two long local rail trails  described in “Backroad Biking”, but wanted to ride something new. The trail that seemed most similar was the Greenbrier River Trail in West Virginia, which I had come across in some of my freelance magazine writing. WV was a long way off, but the trail was 80 miles of resurfaced former railroad line, and looked to be really scenic. This would also give me a chance to explore a new state. My only previous trip to WV had been on the short section of the Appalachian Trail near Harpers Ferry. Both the Creeper and New River trails had well developed infrastructure; established shuttle providers, along with places to stay and eat along the trail. Greenbrier wasn’t that far along, but with some looking we were able to find a shuttle and lodging along the trail. We hoped that scheduling the trip for late June would allow us to miss the hotter part of the summer.

So how would we pull this off? Jean and I were both riding our original mountain bikes; Jean’s bought used from a friend, and mine a veteran of hundreds of miles of exploring through the Black Hills. Both had rigid frames, no luxuries like a front shock, but that should be OK for a rail trail. We brought only a minimal change of clothes and overnight gear. We carried food and water for lunch, but otherwise planned on eating along the trail. This let us get by with just a single pair of panniers which fit on the rack on my bike. This system worked well, and we used essentially the same set up on subsequent bikepacking trips.

The Greenbrier River Trail originally was part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and was built starting in 1899. The line was abandoned in 1978 and then transferred to the state of WV. Though I have a xerox copy of a detailed 1996 guide to the trail, it looks like I used a Greenbrierrivertrail.com brochure to navigate and took notes. We took slides of the trip and scanned some of those. I did not use GPS on the trip, but tracked distance with a bike odometer.

6-24-04

With such a long drive, we decided to head up the night before the start. We left Knoxville after lunch and drove 320 miles to stay in a Super 8 in Lewisburg, WV after 5:15 of driving. It took 2 hours to reach the exit for Damascus, three hours to the I-81/I-77 split, and three and a half hours to the WV line. We ate that night at the Shoneys in Lewisburg at the south end of the trail, near White Sulfur Springs.

6-25-04

The trip did not start well. We’d arranged our shuttle through the Elk River Touring Center. Our driver, Gil, was not at the pickup point when we arrived. It took a while to find a phone, and when we called him I got the feeling that I’d woke him up. He arrived 1:45 minutes late, with no apologies. He drove us up the east side of the trail on Highway 92. The drive took another hour and a half. By this time, we were worried about time. We had a 40 mile ride ahead of us, and not much time to enjoy it. He dropped us at the Deer Creek Trailhead at MP 79, near Cass. 

Clover Lick Station.

Once we started riding, things got better. The trail had a compact gravel surface, a bit rough at the start, but we thought we could ride fast enough to reach Seebert by dinner. We enjoyed good views of the wide, shallow river, as the trail would follow its gorge the entire length. The temperatures were pleasant, and it was nice moving alongside the river. There were some “green tunnel” segments, hey, it was summer in the south. There were fewer cabin developments along the trail vs. what we had seen at New River Trail. Most of the railroad depot buildings were gone, but the mile markers were all in place, and things were well signed. We saw lots of fishermen, some other bikers, and two backpacking parties. We also saw a large group of horse drawn wagons. There was little trail damage from the horses, and little litter on the trail. 

Sharps Tunnel

A few other observations. There was an unappealing campsite at MP 78 (we were counting down our miles as we rode south). Clover Lick Station at MP 71.2 was intact, but not open to the public. At MP 69.6 was a nice campsite with separate facilities for hikers and horse riders. Jean liked the MP 63.8 campsite as well, and made notes on the rest of the campsites as we went by.

Marlington Station

At MP 65.3 was 500’ long Sharps Tunnel. We stopped there a while for photos, there would be only one other tunnel on the trip. There were also a few river bridges, but nothing like the frequent trestles of the Virginia Creeper Trail. 

Marlington at MP 56.1 is the only full service town along the trail. We didn’t explore though since a light rain had begun a mile north of town. The trail was paved for the next three miles, and this kept us drier and added some fast miles. We’d found the gravel surface had gotten better after the first ten miles of the ride, and really improved south of Marlington. By this time, I was sure we’d be able to finish the ride our speed at 8-12 mph. We even saw a WV park ranger on the trail in a pickup.

Jean at the Lodge.

Unfortunately, when we got to Seebert our room at the Greenbrier River Lodge was not ready. I think the initial arrangement was for us to use a key to be stashed at the lodge, but the key was not in place when we arrived. We rode off the trail 0.3 mile to the Jack Horner Corner Store and were able to call the Lodge owner, though all that took another 1:45. Apparently the cleaning service for the lodge had not shown up, and therefore the key had not been placed. The store had pizza, so we could take care of dinner while we waited. In contrast to the shuttle, the folks at the store and with the lodge were helpful and friendly. The lodge owner even gave us the entire lodge for half price after our wait. We were lucky to get in when we did, by evening rain had begun again. We ended up riding for 5 hours and 38 miles by the bike odometer, and covering 33.6 by the mileposts.

Cass to Seebert, 38 miles

Greenbrier River Lodge

6-26-04

We slept in a bit both of us still tired and hungry. The relative ease of bikepacking that we’d expected (just ride around with minimal gear and use the credit card to get our food and lodging) had been eaten up by time and hassle waiting on the shuttle and lodge people. We were used to shuttles on the Creeper that are run like clockwork by several shuttle services, but it seemed their WV counterparts were not quite ready for customers. To be fair our trip was almost 20 years ago, and in the pre-cell phone era. I’d imagine that businesses along the trail are much more organized these days. However, we found on other rail trails that even though one of the selling points for rail trails is the potential for recreation dollars, the first steps are rough, as providers struggle to find out what users want, and how to service those needs. 

Jean at Droop Mountain Tunnel.

Once we were under way again the riding was fun. It was an easy ride to Beard where we took a quarter mile side trip to Current, a B&B that Jean thought would be nice stop on future trip. Our second tunnel at Droop Mountain had a new wooden frame at its north end. The small town of Renick had a busy town park, and the trail was much more used south of town. At Anthony we didn’t see the camping or water that was shown on the map, but their boat site was heavily used. We got water at a campsite at MP 13. Near the end, the trail passes Camp Allegheny, another busy site.

The trailhead near Lewisburg is at MP 3.1 where we reunited with our Subaru (the last three miles of the rail line are privately owned). For the second time on the trip, we saw a shuttle van for Freewheel Sports, and after talking with the driver, we would use them for a repeat trip. We had ridden 44 miles in 6 hours by our bike odometer, and covered 42.7 miles of trail by the mileposts. 

On the drive home we stopped at the Sandstone Visitors Center for the New River Gorge National River (now the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve as of 2020) and picked up some brochures for a potential trip to that area. We spent the night in Hillsville, VA, where we would ride a short section of the New River Trail into Fries the next day.

Despite being active bikers for several years after this trip we did not return to Greenbrier River Trail, but not because we did not enjoy the trip. The 5+ hour drive was far too long for a weekend trip, and there were just too many competitors for places to go on longer vacation trips. But one can imagine now that the logistics of the trail are now well smoothed out, and that another beautiful 80 mile trip awaits.

Dugout Gulch Hike, Wyoming Black Hills, 5-28-04

Most people think of the Black Hills as being exclusively in South Dakota, but few realize that the range extends into Wyoming. To the northwest of the Hills is the outlying Bearlodge range and further to the west is Devils Tower and the Missouri Buttes. But in its northwest corner the main part of the Black Hills spills over the state line to a little visited and hard to get to Wyoming strip. While living in Lead, SD, I’d explored a cross country route using Sand and Corral creeks, both known for  high biodiversity. Sand Creek had potential as a roadless area as well. The first two editions of my Black Hills guide described a long cross country loop through the area.

Soon after my second edition was published the BHNF added the Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail to its system. We were able to hike the trail on a May 2004 hike. That trip started in North Dakota where we backpacked the southern end of the Maah Daah Hey Trail, and then mountain biked the Buffalo Gap Trail for what would be the first (2006) edition of our North Dakota hiking guide. At that time, we still hoped to produce a third edition of my Black Hills guide, so we would spend another week in the Black Hills, and make three more visits out there before our publisher ceased business, and the Black Hills book project died.

After four days in the nearly barren badlands, Dugout Gulch was a wonderful change. The area had as much botanical diversity as Sand Creek, and seemed lush compared to the badlands. Jean spent much time with her flower book, but many of the unusual plants were well out of their normal range, and not described in the local guides. I was still in full guidebook mode, taking notes, pushing a measuring wheel, and marking a GPS route of the trail.

We had a great hike, but perhaps fatigue might have been catching up to us. It’s a long drive back to Lead, where we would be staying with our friends the Harts. When we finally arrived at their place, I had trouble finding my notebook. I was using a hardback surveyors notebook, part of keeping a guidebook regime similar to what I’d used in my career as a field geologist. Looking for the book, we totally emptied out the Subaru, a major task given the supplies for a trip over two weeks long. Finally, I was resigned to going back to the trailhead, the last place I’d seen the notebook. After checking in at the gas station where we stopped earlier we were back at the TH, but still no notebook.

By this time, I was in near panic. We’d just spent three days hiking the remote southern end of the Maah Daah Hey, and I couldn’t face the possibility that all that work was gone. Notetaking for guidebooks is more work than it initially seems, and doing all that in the blazing sun with 40+ pounds on my back the entire time was a lot of work. But it seemed likely I had left the notebook on the handy flat roof of the Forester, and had driven off without securing it.

Back at the Harts I realized I still had my field maps for both the MDH backpack and for the Buffalo Gap Trail mountain bike ride. So next I wrote down everything I could remember about the last few days. Luckily I had an extra notebook to use for the remainder of the trip.

By the end of the trip, I still had not found the missing notebook and resigned myself to finishing the North Dakota book without it. My field maps allowed me to produce good quality trail descriptions, but I lacked some of the context I could have gotten from my field notes.

In late 2006, not long after the North Dakota Gide was published, a package from Gillette, WY arrived in the mail. Not long after my notebook had slid off the roof of the car, a couple from Gillette had driven by on four wheelers and picked it up. Their intention was to mail it back then, but things got busy, and it lay untouched until they were packing to move. I gave them a hearty thanks, and sent a copy of my new North Dakota trail guide so they’d know things had worked out all right. I was hesitant in reading the notes for the sections I’d written without the book. Yes, there were a few things missing, but as best I could tell all the trail descriptions were accurate.

My notes for Dugout Gulch were of course in the same lost book, but my memory was fresh when I discovered the loss, and I had notes on my field map and GPS data to help me out. Here’s the draft chapter I wrote for Dugout Gulch. 

 

Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail

BEARLODGE RANGER DISTRICT,

BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST

Description: A moderate semi-loop trail for hikers and mountain bikers that passes through one of the most botanically diverse areas of the Black Hills.

General Location:  Six miles south of Beulah, Wyoming.

Highlight: The opportunity to explore relic boreal flora, plus a fun mountain bike ride on the loop.

Access: From Interstate 90, take Wyoming Exit 205 at Beulah, and follow the signs south to the Ranch A Education Center. Once in the Black Hills National Forest, the road becomes BHNF Road 863. At 6.2 miles, just past a private home, turn left into the Dugout Gulch Trailhead. There is parking, a picnic table, and signboard at the trailhead.

Distance: The entire loop is 9.0 miles around. An out and back trip on the main trail is 4.6 miles.

Maps: BHNF Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail, USGS Tinton and Red Canyon Creek, WY-SD 7.5-minute quadrangles, and page new.

The Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail (BHNF 77) was completed in 2002, and replaces the unofficial Sand Creek Route from the first two editions of this guide  The trail explores a cool, well-watered area hosting a rare plant community. During the not so long ago ice ages, boreal forests were established south of the ice sheets, and covered areas like the Black Hills. These forests were similar to those now found in Canada. When the climate warmed, and glaciers retreated, conditions in the Black Hills became too warm and too dry for most of these plants. But in places, such as Dugout Gulch, there is enough moisture for these plants to survive. The plant life in Dugout Gulch looks different even to the casual observer.  It is a narrow draw choked with hardwoods and lined with enough unusual flowers and shrubs that your typical Black Hills plant guide won't do you much good. The state of Wyoming lists eight plant species in the area as "extremely rare", another three species as "very rare".

            The Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail is a semi-loop. It consists of a 2.3 mile main trail along the bottom of the gulch, and a 4.4 mile upper loop. The trail is marked with carsonite posts and a few "77" diamond blazes. Though open to horses, most users are on foot or on mountain bikes.

            Though hikers and naturalists will flock to the main trail at Dugout Gulch for its botanical wonders, mountain bikers will love the easy riding and open vistas of the loop trail. The loop was stitched together from a pair of old logging roads that looped around a gentle plateau.

            From the trailhead, pass through the gate onto former BHNF Road 864-1A, which was converted to trail for this project. You'll see signs of this old road on the main trail, which is a mix of single track and gravel path. Much of the first mile of trail passes through a 40 foot right of way across private land, so please stay on the trail.  Right away notice how the vegetation here differs from other similar size gulches in the Black Hills region. Look for chickweed, yellow violets, and shooting stars among the flowers here. Especially common in spring are the deep indigo blooms of larkspur. As the trail climbs steadily up Dugout Gulch, six benches scattered along the main trail await weary hikers.

            At 2.3 miles reach the signed intersection with the loop portion of the trail near a small pond and an exclosure designed to prevent cattle from wallowing in the stream. The south side turns left to follow a branch of BHNF Road 864, while the north side turns right and follows the grassy bed of former road 864-1B. To follow the loop counterclockwise turn right.

            The loop follows the wide path of the former logging road gently along contour.  At 3.1 miles, the trail narrows at an old turnaround left over from logging operations.  If larkspur is the signature flower of the main trail, it is the purple blossoms of lupine that appear most common along the upper loop. Sunflowers also are frequent, and pussy toes, white vetch, and purple violets are also found. Beyond the old turnaround, the trail narrows, and views of Sand Creek Canyon are visible through the trees to the northwest. On the west side of the plateau the trail stays just below the limestone cap rock. The trail crosses one old two track road at 4.6 miles, along the base of a small draw before widening out at another old logging turnaround. Near the south end of the loop, at 5.5 miles and the trail's high point in a small saddle, the faint trace of former BHNF Road 864-1D joins the trail from the right. The trail begins a gradual descent down former BHNF Road 1C to reach the west branch of Dugout Creek at 6.1 miles. Bear left at a T-junction, where an unsigned route heads up the West Fork. Close the loop at the intersection with the main trail at 6.7 miles. Retrace the main trail to return to the trailhead in 9.0 miles.

Dugout Gulch Trail Map.

 

2004 5-27 Buffalo Gap Trail Mountain Bike Ride

In 2004 Jean and I headed out to the Dakotas for our summer vacation. Our goal was to complete the field work that we would need to finish a new third edition of my trail guide to the Black Hills and Badlands. The key trails we needed to scout were the south end of the Maah Daah Hey Trail and the new Buffalo Gap Trail in the Little Missouri National Grassland of North Dakota. 

Buffalo Gap Trail Symbol

The Maah Daah Hey Trail was initially envisioned by horse riders to connect the north and south units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The trail was built with hikers and horse riders in mind, but it was mountain bikers, lured by miles of remote single track, that soon became the dominant users. But unfortunately for mountain bikers, the trail sections in both units of TRNP passed through designated wilderness areas, where the use of mechanical vehicles is prohibited. The master trail builders of the Little Missouri National Grassland quickly realized that a bypass trail around the TRNP South Unit wilderness area was needed. They then built Buffalo Gap Trail from Sully Creek State Park, just south of TRNP, to the USFS Wannagan Campground, just north of the South Unit.

Once we arrived in the Badlands, Jean and I were able to complete the 35 mile section of the MDH between the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the crossing of the Little Missouri River as a three day backpacking trip. This finished the MDH Trail for us! Just as we were arriving at Wannagan Campground, a lone mountain biker was starting his ride. After three days of our hauling heavy packs, we watched a rider who looked like he’d been born on a bike smoothly zipping down the trail. I knew I couldn’t ride that well myself, but was looking forward to the freedom and speed of rolling down the trail without a heavy pack.

We’d packed along my mountain bike (filling our Subaru to the brim with both biking and backpacking gear) so that I could ride the Buffalo Gap Trail while Jean took a rest day after our backpacking trip was complete. Completed in 2002, the Buffalo Gap Trail was the first of the other USFS trails to be added to the Maah Daah Hey trail system.

The next day, Jean dropped me of at the Wannagan Campground for the start of the ride. The plan was for me to ride the Buffalo Gap Trail, and its associated spurs, then ride back to Medora to meet her at our hotel. Back then the trailhead was located in the Wannagan Campground, so my ride started with a short jaunt on the Wannagan Trail. The previous day Jean and I had hiked south on the Maah Daah Hey Trail to the junction with the TRNP Petrified Forest Trail, so the start of the ride was familiar ground for me.

In 2004 the mileposts for the Maah Daah Hey were already in place, and I noticed right away that my bike odometer was reading just a bit higher than the posts were showing. The first potential obstacle on the trail was Wannagan Creek, but I was able to ride across the shallow bed with no trouble. While the start of the trail was a bit damp, by Wannagan Creek the trail tread was dry, and stayed that way for the rest of the ride. In 3.5 miles I came to the junction of the Maah Daah Hey and the Buffalo Gap trails by a large stock pond just outside the TRNP boundary fence.

The north end of the Buffalo Gap Trail

The Buffalo Gap Trail was marked by the same large, hopefully bison-proof, wooden posts used by the MDH, but is branded with the symbol of a bison head. There were no mileage markers in place in 2004, but the trail now starts at MP 19 and counts down going south, the direction I was riding. The trail started around some small creeks. I crossed one small tributary, just wide enough to coat half my tire with water, then a fine layer of clay. But the trail was in great shape, a well-defined tread and without the gumbo or pockmarks often left by cattle in the wet soil. South of MP 17, and past a small prairie dog town, the trail rose to a small ridgeline with a fun rolling, twisty section with good views. Two small draws and a pair of stock ponds later I finally came across the first road since I’d left Wannagan. FS Road 730 is just south of MP 12 and marks the point where the trail turns from west to south.

There was another small prairie dog town in the grassland about a mile south of FS 730. I usually like to stop and watch the dogs frolic, but I wasn’t at all sure how long the ride would take, and since Jean was waiting back in town, I didn’t want to be any later than necessary. Just short of MP 9 was the signed crossing of Knutson Creek. I had no trouble crossing here with only a small flow in the creek. But in other conditions Knutson can be a tough crossing. While backpacking in TRNP a few years before, Jean and I had been in the process of crossing the muddy bottomed creek when a pair of bison arrived to shoo us out of the way as we stumbled through the gumbo. In more recent times the Maah Daah Hey Trail Association has improved the Buffalo Gap Trail crossing. Some areas north of the campground were pockmarked from cattle using the trail when it was wet, but all the riding was still plenty fun.

The trail would cross one more gravel road before reaching the intersection with the Buffalo Gap Spur Trail just north of MP 8. The spur trail leads 1.3 miles west to the Buffalo Gap Campground on FS Road 726, just off I-94 at Exit 18. In 2004, the spur was brand new, and the as yet unpacked surface made for some rough riding. The relatively civilized location for the campground near Interstate 94 allows it to have features unavailable deep in the backcountry including water and a gazebo. The FS has since added the 1.3 mile Buffalo Gap Loop Trail to the network around the campground. I rode into the campground and then back to the main Buffalo Gap Trail, including part of FS 726 on the return. I saw my only other biker of the day near the junction. Buffalo Gap CG makes a convenient starting point for a shorter shuttle ride back to Medora, and this section now may be one of the most popular in the system.

Back on the Buffalo Gap Trail I rode past a guest ranch on the left. At MP 7 the trail swoops into a small draw below a stock pond. The underpass below I-94 is a giant culvert, long, cool, and shady inside. In another mile the trail entered another badlands area with some sweet single track and a gradual twisty downhill ride. I crossed paved US 10 and went under the railroad near MP 3, a sign that I was making good progress and likely to get to Medora on time. A half mile later the trail crossed Andrews Creek, another one of those creeks large enough to be a nuisance to cross in wet weather. However, when I cruised across the 6’ wide bed it was totally dry. Next up was another badlands area with a sparsely occupied prairie dog town. The route became very convoluted, but the scenery just kept getting better.

I reached the MDH junction, and MP 0 for the BGT trail, at a four way junction. The current MDH trail went left and right (north and south) while an older version of the MDH had gone straight ahead. I’d left Wannagan Campground at about 8AM and reached the MDH junction about 1:30PM. I turned right to follow the MDH to the south toward Sully Creek. The remaining section of the MDH exited a Bighorn Sheep lambing area and passed through a parcel of private Bar X Ranch land before reaching the Little Missouri River.

When I would visit TRNP while living in Lead, SD I never had any trouble fording the Little Missouri River. It was always a simple matter of sloshing through knee deep water across the gravel river bottom. Travelling with Jean was a different matter. It seemed any plans we made to cross the river resulting in the Little Mo flooding exuberantly in celebration of our arrival. Since Jean wasn’t along this day, karma was with me, the water was low, and crossing by bike not an issue. Once across, I rode through the Sully Creek Campground to the trailhead and (at that time) southern end of the Maah Daah Hey.

Despite being at the southern end of the trail, my ride wasn’t complete. I still had a half mile of gravel on the campground road, and about another mile of gravel heading into Medora before the road became paved. I finally cruised in Medora and met Jean at the Badlands Motel for a total ride of 31.4 miles in about 7 hours.

My quick take on the Buffalo Gap Trail was that compared to those in TRNP the trail wasn’t scenic enough to attract too many hikers, but at biking speed it was still a scenic ride. The trail was well built and had the twists, turns, and rolls that make mountain biking so much fun. Given the proximity to Medora and the ease of access via I-94, I suspected that the Buffalo Gap Trail might become one of the most popular sections of the Maah Daah Hey system. The ability to schedule shuttle trips to Wannagan Campground and Buffalo Gap Campground through Dakota Cyclery in Medora continues to make this a popular and convenient ride. My favorite section was the rugged badlands between Buffalo Gap CG and Highway 10, offering great potential for short shuttle rides. The entire trail was nicely ridable, though there were a few short steep sections where I’d elected to push my bike.

As it turned out, my publisher was unable to proceed with the planned revision to the full Black Hills and Badlands guidebook, but was interested in splitting off the North Dakota material into a separate guidebook. We were able to include the entire Maah Daah Hey and Buffalo Gap trails in the new book “A Trail Guide: The Maah Daah Hey Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the Dakota Prairie Grasslands” which was published in 2006. A complete update for the guidebook is expected to be released in the spring of 2021.

For more information on the Buffalo Gap and Maah Daah Hey trails see the Maah Daah Hey Trail Association website: Here

For my new trail guide to TRNP, the Maah Daah Hey, and other trails in the North Dakota badlands and prairie: Here

For information on shuttles and other services from Dakota Cyclery in Medora: Here

Maah Daah Hey Backpacking, Little Missouri River to Wannagan Camp, 5-24-004

For Day 1 of the trip, we drove 685 miles in 12 hours from Knoxville to Sweet Springs, MO. The next day we drove another 763 miles in 12 hours to Jamestown, ND where we stopped for the night and got breakfast the next morning. I ate one of those saucy omelets at Perkins, and off we went. By the time we arrived in Medora at the gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (another 240 miles  in 4.5 hours) I was feeling a bit down. Jean took over the driving as we went around the TRNP South Loop Scenic Drive. We took a short walk on the Coal Vein Nature Trail, but I was losing energy fast. At some point in the drive, I asked her to pull over. She didn’t quite realize I meant now. In a flash I was depositing my last couple meals along the side of the road.

I didn’t feel much better afterward, but recognized my symptoms as food poisoning, which is usually a 24 hour bug for me. Back at the Badlands Motel, I lay in bed alternating shivering under the covers with sweating from a high fever. Neither of us knew quite what to do. Our packs had been packed at home, and the shuttle with Dakota Cyclery arranged, so it seemed like the show must go on. We would be backpacking for three days on the new-to-us south half of the Maah Daah Hey Trail.

I was working on a “new” trail guide, essentially splitting off the North Dakota chapter of my Black Hills and Badlands book into a new, standalone guide. The construction of the 96-mile Maah Daah Hey Trail between the North and South units of TRNP and the 19-mile Buffalo Gap Trail around the South Unit made the new guide possible by adding enough trail miles in the surrounding national grassland to the trail system in Theodore Roosevelt National Park to make a marketable new trail guide.

5-24-04, Little Missouri River (MP 46.5) to Elkhorn Campsite (MP 38.5), 10 miles

By the next morning I was feeling better, but not yet good enough to want to start three days of rugged backpacking. But we had some logistics ahead, and maybe I could survive a shorter hiking day. Our plan was to follow Jen and Loren from the bike shop in Medora to the FS Wannagan Campground on the MDH, where we would leave our car. They would then drive us out the nearest point on FS Road 708 to the Maah Daah Hey Trail crossing of the Little Missouri River. This is a remote part of the grassland so we would stop twice along the way to stash water to collect on day 2 of the hike. Two 2-liter bottles were dropped off at the crossing of FS 725 near old M P25, and four bottles near old MP 28, near where the Roosevelt Creek Water Box is now. MP numbers on the MDH were changed when the new southern section of the Maah Daah Hey Trail was completed, but I’ll reference the old MP numbers in this post.

The plan was for us to start with a short hike down to the river and back to reach the south end of our 2001 trip. Then we would backpack from the drop off point south to the new Elkhorn Campground for night one, find our own campsite along the trail for night two using our cached water, and finish the backpack at Wannagan Campground on day three. Then Jean and I would day then hike out and back to the park boundary, return to the car at Wannagan, and drive ourselves back to Medora. This would complete the Maah Daah Hey Trail for us.

Luckily, we had a nice easy drive out to the river crossing, and found our water cache spots with no issues. We learned a huge amount about the trail from Jen and Loren and had great time riding with them. By the time they let us off in a light mid-morning rain at FS 708 I was feeling OK for hiking, but still far short of 100% I had the “warm up” hike to do first though, down to the river and back. The hike down past some inviting campsite locations was fine without the weight of my backpack, but that was about to change.

Fortunately, the start of the backpacking was easy, with some tabletop grasslands, a drop into, and climb out of, Morgan Draw, and then a short piece alongside FS Road 708. Some of the MDH mileposts were in place, we saw MP 42 near the FS road.

Next we descended down to the river level to the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Elkhorn Ranch Unit is an undeveloped unit of the national park, sitting about halfway between the developed north and south units that anchored the ends of the Maah Daah Hey. We saw a parking area, but no signs, and only a narrow mowed path which we followed to a junction with a wider mowed path where we turned around. We knew there was little left of Roosevelt’s favorite home in the badlands, and I just wasn’t feeling well enough yet for any extra exploring.

The Maah Daah Hey Trail then turned west toward the USFS Elkhorn Campsite, following FS Road 2 on its north side. We soon hit a side trail to the campground and followed it for another half mile. This section of the MDH has since been relocated putting the main trail much closer to the campground. We’d seen a lot of roads on this section, and enjoyed the canyons the most, but the best scenery and badlands topography were yet to come.

At the Elkhorn Campsite junction.

The campground was a little stark, but hey this is the badlands. It had well with a pump, so we had no water worries. Thank God for Curt, Russ, and their crews for developing these campgrounds! Some of the campsites had shade, and all had their own picnic tables. We were the only campers, maybe because of the two rounds of showers and 45-50F temps. We saw one group of pronghorn from the CG.

5-25-04, Elkhorn Campground (MP 38.5) to Crooked Creek campsite (MP 24), 15 miles

Despite lingering rain through the night and the aftereffects of my food poisoning, I felt better the next morning. The rain had mostly been light and this part of the Maah Daah Hey Trail stayed out of the ruggedest badlands, so we managed to avoid getting mired in gumbo, that soft, sticky clay that’s almost impossible to cross when wet. The first mile south of Elkhorn has since been relocated, but we joined the current course around MP 37.5. We exited Ellison Creek at MP 36. This was mostly ranch land with lots of cows, small creeks, and a few stock ponds.

Just past MP 34 was deeply incised Dry Creek with its tiny trickle of water. Besides the mileposts and notes from the FS guys, the creeks were signposted, so we were easily able to track our progress on my topo field sheets. Near MP 33 we hit our first gumbo layer, but it was dry enough to cross easily. Our first well developed badlands were on the descent to an unnamed creek near MP 32. Next we got a bit off trail where it tangled with some new oil and gas development, probably our only significant time lost during the trip. But we were rewarded for our troubles by finding some petrified wood as we approached FS 722, where the Roosevelt Water Drop is now located. We pulled our four bottles from our stash. All the while I was taking notes on the terrain, trail surface, and notable features, while also trying to trace out route onto copies of the USGS topo maps. Meanwhile Jean was taking pictures.

The landscape continued to get rougher as we approached signed Roosevelt Creek between a dam and a water tank. The south side of the creek looked campable, but we still had miles to go. We passed a huge stock dam near MP 26. After we crossed FS Road 725 at MP 24.7, we started looking for camp sites. We finally found a nice one just short of Crooked Creek around MP 24. This site was much better than any of the three sites we’d used while backpacking the northern section of the MDH in 2001 (MDH North BP Post).

Caching water allowed us to pick our spots, rather than being tied into stock ponds or tanks. In 2001 we’d been lucky to have any water, and what we’d have was often fouled by cattle. Obviously for hikers using the FS campgrounds was ideal, but the campgrounds are 20 miles apart. Twenty mile days are fine for bikers or horse riders, but too far for most hikers. This 15 mile day may hold the all-time record for our longest backpack day, but it still wasn’t enough to get us to the next campground at Wannagan.

Our site was on a sheltered bench above a deep gully about 100’ south of the milepost. We shared it with a small band of wild turkey. I fixed a left heal blister with blister block and had no further trouble. The only people we’d seen all day (or since our shuttle drop) were a rancher and oil service truck near MP 25. We’d seen pronghorn twice. The section was really remote but lacked (at least until the last couple miles) the rugged badlands topography we craved. Our weather was cool and clear, I’d walked in a T-shirt and long pants most of the hike.

5-26-04, Cooked Creek (MP 24) to Wannagan Campsite (MP 17) and hike to TRNP Boundary (7 mi. RT)

Our wish for more rugged badlands was filled for day three, capped by some cool and breezy weather. Just north of Cow Camp Road (FS 728) we saw where a fence had been cut through, and found an equipment cache that included a saddle. We’d later run into a pair of horsemen who had abandoned their trip, and were returning to Medora, but didn’t find out if the cache was theirs.

There was a nice overlook near MP 19 and a small, petrified forest there as well. The scenery kept coming all the way to Wannagan Camp at MP 17. As we arrived a lone biker took off, flashing some smooth bike handling on the single track. I was jealous, but knew I’d have my day on the bike tomorrow. Our car was still safely stashed at Wannagan, and we dropped the overnight gear and switched to day packs. We’d walk the 3.5 miles south to the TRNP boundary and back, to cover the last section of the Maah Daah Hey Trail.

South of Wannagan Camp the trail quickly crossed FS Road 726, then climbed up and over a divide to meet the Buffalo Gap Trail near a pond along a branch of Wannagan Creek at ~MP 13.5. The Buffalo Gap Trail provides a bypass for mountain bikes around the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is designated wilderness, where mountain bikes are not allowed. I would ride Buffalo Gap Trail the next day, with Jean driving shuttle for me. Buffalo Gap Post

From the Buffalo Gap junction it is just a short half mile climb to the upper prairie level where a bison fence marks the boundary of TRNP. We’d done it, the Maah Daah Hey Trail was complete! We celebrated with the views down into Wannagan Creek and the satisfaction of knowing there was still much more to explore in the badlands.

Wannagan Badlands from the Maah Daah Hey-Petrified Forest trail junction, 2019.

5-27-04

The next day Jean dropped me off back at Wannagan Campground and I rode my mountain for three miles on the Maah Daah Hey Trail, around the Buffalo Gap Bypass Trail, and then back to Medora. I had now completed all of the Maah Daah Hey Trail. We hadn’t backpacked all of it, but we were surely among the first nonbuilders to walk or complete the entre trail. We were especially lucky to do the trail in its most primitive condition, before many of the campgrounds, water wells, water caches, side trails, and other supporting infrastructure were in place. It was a fantastic experience that we’ve tried to relive with return trips on foot and on the mountain bike to revisit the beauty and wildlife of the Badlands.

For more information on the Buffalo Gap and Maah Daah Hey trails see the Maah Daah Hey Trail Association website: mdhta.com

For my new trail guide to TRNP, the Maah Daah Hey, and other trails in the North Dakota badlands and prairie:  Guidebook

For information on shuttles and other services from Dakota Cyclery in Medora:   www.dakotacyclery