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.
