Most of the hiking and mountain biking we did on this trip was in support of a planned third edition of my Black Hills hiking guide. But, because of financial troubles at my publisher, Big Earth, the third edition never went to press, and this would be the last trip I made in support of the book. Since then, this material remained unpublished. Most of my notes, mapping, and pictures from the trip are better suited to guidebook format, rather than to trip reports in a blog format. But the trip has some pictures that were fun to review, and brought back great memories of exploring in the Hills.
To start the trip, Jean drove solo out to Ames the week after Memorial Day. I flew into Des Moines that Thursday and we spent our June 1 Anniversary in Ames. The next day we drove out to the Black Hills and stayed with the Harts near Terry Peak for the first two nights.
6-2-07,
Centennial Trail, Alkali Creek, 1.9 miles
Bear Butte from Alkali Creek.
We
left Ames at 7:50AM and rolled into the Alkali Creek Trailhead about 6PM. We
had just enough time for a short walk and decided to go north on the Centennial
Trail through the Bureau of Land Management’s Fort Meade Recreation Area. The
Centennial Trail is a 120-mile long hiking and mountain biking trail across the
Black Hills from Wind Cave National Park to the south with Bear Butte State
Park on the north. We headed north from the trailhead area just off Exit 34,
first across the prairie, and then up to the top of the sandstone ridge that
lies just outside the Black Hills proper. It was a long day of driving, and it felt
great to stretch our legs. 
Ready to map some trail!
6-3-07,
Centennial Trail, Point 5045’ to Alkali Creek, 9.1 miles
Along
with Kathy and Leroy we set up a shuttle to do a long one way hike on the
Centennial Trail, which would also finish up at the Alkali Creek Trailhead at
Fort Meade. The hike would visit some relocated trail, and was a section Kathy
needed in her effort to hike all of the CT. Just getting to the starting TH was
an adventure, we missed a turn off the Vanocker Canyon Road, and had to
backtrack to BHNF Road 139. My notes aren’t clear, but it looks like we started
at Point 5,045’, near the head of Bulldog Gulch. 
Snowshoes?
Just
past the first crossing of Bulldog was the find of the day, a handmade pair of
snowshoes fashioned from bent limbs and string. We couldn’t tell if someone had
made these in the winter and somehow left them behind, or if they were more
recent. I tried them on enough to know they were sturdy enough to work. Next it
was up and over a small divide and past the remains of a cabin. Despite being
relatively close to Sturgis these small canyons in the northeast corner of the
Hills seemed poorly explored. Even once the CT was routed through there seemed
to be very little traffic.
Anyone good at mushroom ID?
The
CT had been rerouted in two places, once at the lower part of Bulldog Gulch and
another in the upper reaches of Alkali Creek. Next we’d have one more crossing
of BHNF Road 139. The trail character changed here to series of broad gentle
switchbacks perfect for mountain biking. Ironically, Kathy and Leroy were two
of my earliest MB partners, but this day being unsure what this section of CT
would offer, we were on foot. For the final stage of the hike, we crossed the
boundary fence into Fort Meade, entered a culvert under I-90, and reached the
Alkali Creek TH. Bring the bikes next time! 
Culvert approaching Alkali Creek.
Next
up we would ride the unofficial Red Lake trails and one of the established BHNF
trails at Big Hill. In the late 80’s the BHNF did an excellent job of
establishing trails on the west side of Spearfish Canyon, up on the Limestone
Plateau and above Roughlock Falls. These trails were mixed in with a large
system of dirt roads and abandoned trails that allowed for easy connections
between the official trails. My guide described unofficial routes at Red Lake
and Iron Creek that connected the official Big Hill Trails with those at Little
Spearfish, Rimrock, and Old Baldy. This was a chance to check out one of these
connectors. 
Roughlock Falls.
I
rode most of the Red Lake Route as described in my 1999 guide, but to my
surprise much had changed. Several of the connecting roads had now faded into
the forest, and others were mere cow paths, transformations I’d found on
several “off trail” trips for the book revision. But the roads that were still
open were scenic, and fun to ride. 
Two track riding at Red Lake.
After
Red Lake we went over to Big Hill, which is one of the Black Hill’s most
popular cross country ski areas in winter. I rode Loop A, the familiar warm up
loop for skiers and bikers, but didn’t have enough time for any of the longer
loops. Next, we drove to the BHNF Dalton Lake Campground to camp for the night.
Big Hill Loop A in summer.
This
day would be a series of three trips designed to cover some more new
relocations of the Centennial Trail. Since its completion in 1989, the CT had
been relocated in several places as the BHNF engineers found better, more
sustainable routes for the trail, or needed to move the trail away from some
hard to maintain areas.
BHNF Dalton Lake Campground.
The
first trip was a ride on new CT south of the Dalton Lake Campground on BHNF
224. The trip started with some steep and rocky single track. Amazingly this
slope was the site of a 1930’s CCC-built ski area with some of the slopes still
recognizable. The grade was steep enough that I pushed my bike up much of the
slope. Once on the canyon rim the CT intersected an ATV route coming up from
the campground and showed heavy ATV traffic for the next mile and a half to the
end of the relocation that was still on the canyon rim. I rode back to the CG
via the ATV trail just to measure and map it. Apparently the campground was
then seeing heavy ATV traffic on weekends.
Old metal Sheridan Lake sign.
For
part two, I went north on the CT from Dalton Lake where a relocation had
removed the trail from Little Elk Canyon, and its tributary to the north, onto
drier terrain on the west canyon rim. Again, it was a steady climb out of the
canyon up to the rim. But this time after intersecting some old two track roads
the trail headed north as a nice single track trail. Five miles out I reached
the end of the relocation, and turned back to the campground.
Pactola Lake.
The
third trip of the day was another CT relocation, this time just north of
Pactola Lake and west of US 85. I wheeled this one on foot. The relocation
started near an ancient metal sign for Boarding House Gulch, which looked a
relic from some far older BHNF trail system. The new relocation was well dug in
and looked likely to fine biking for a mile into an open hilltop meadow where
the original CT continued north. 
Old metal Boardinghouse sign.
After
the hike Jean and I drove down to Custer State Park and got a campsite at Grace
Coolidge for the next three nights.
The Centennial Trail through a meadow.
6-6-07,
Mickelson Trail, Custer to Oreville, 30.8 miles Mountain Bike
The
Mickelson Trail is a 109-mile rail to trail conversion crossing the Black Hills
from Edgemont on the south end to Deadwood on the north. The scenery, easy
grade, and smooth surface made the Mickelson one of our favorite mountain bike
rides. The State of SD manages the trail, and had just completed a connector
between the Mickelson Trail in the town of Custer and Custer State Park. Our
plan was to ride the connector, and then continue north on the Mickelson to the
Oreville Campground before retracing our route back to Custer Park.
Reading displays at Gordon Stockade.
We
started in CSP at the Gordon Stockade, the site of the first white settlement
in the Black Hills established back in 1874 when the Fort Laramie Treaty still reserved
the Black Hills to the Sioux tribes. The stockade has been rebuilt as a series
of log houses within a log stockade. 
Gordon Stockade.
The
Stockade Lake Spur Trail then was not much more than a greenway leading west 3.2 miles into town just north of the Harbach
Trailhead in Custer. Riding north, the Mickelson Trail follows US 16/85A next
to the Crazy Horse Monument being carved into Thunderhead Mountain. 
Approaching the Crazy Horse Monument.
Beyond
was more scenic riding with the summits of Sylvan and St Elmo peaks to the
east. 
Oreville rest stop.
After
one high trestle bridge, and just after the side trail to the campground, we
reached the Oreville rest area. We turned around there after eating lunch and
rode back to the Stockade Lake TH for a 29.5 mile ride. Then we walked CSP’s
Stockade Lake Trail which we found remarkably steep and rocky, and wondered how
popular it would be for hikers who would be seeking just to walk a mile and a
half loop. 
This sign needs an update.
After
dinner we drove the CSP Wildlife Loop Road and were rewarded with some
fantastic overlooks and great wildlife sightings.
Overlook above area burned in 1988.
 |
| Not so friendly looking bison. |
 |
| Main bison herd. |
Bison
Mooching donkeys.
6-7-07,
Black Hills National Forest, Bear Mountain, 14.5 miles
Jean
elected to stay in camp, so I did this ride solo, and with our film camera.
Though it is the third highest point in the Black Hills, Bear Mountain was
little visited and its isolated ski trails little used, except by snowmobilers
in the winter. Maybe the trails also served the adjacent Boy Scout Camp, but I
never had a chance to visit when the camp was in session. 
Bear Mountain Trail marker.
I
rode my guidebook route clockwise. The loop starts with some gentle two track,
but not quite enough to prepare me for the main climb. Once things got steep, I
found myself mostly pushing the bike up the singletrack. 
Bear Mountain Lookout Tower.
But
once I reached the rim of the Limestone Plateau, the tower and its handy picnic
table were just a short side trip away. Maybe it was just bad luck or because I was
riding old snowmobile trail, but it began to snow lightly, then hard enough to
make the maze of old roads and the few trail markers even more obscure. A small
irony for a place I’d found to rarely have enough snow for skiing in winter. 
Z-fold in PreCambrian rocks.
North
of the tower things got sketchy. Though I was still following both the BHNF and
snowmobile trails, I had trouble following things through recent logging slash.
I managed to get out to the overlook on the end of Snowmobile Trail 2P, but it
was too foggy to have any views. But there are some really pretty sections
along spring creek and that will eventually bring you to the Scout Camp. It had
been a rough trip with the snow, wind, and route finding. Back at the car the
temperature was only 42F, brisk for June! By 2022, when I was putting this blog
post together, the Bear Mountain Trails had been removed from the BHNF trail
map.
Mountain goats at Custer State Park.
Since
I’d taken the car, Jean had stayed close to camp for the day. But she still
encountered a large herd of bighorn sheep and documented the damage the
afternoon squall inflicted on a poorly set up scout camp. 
More goats.
After
I got back from the Bear Mountain ride we did a short walk around Bismarck
Lake. 
Bismarck Lake.
6-8-07,
Centennial Trail, Wind Cave National Park, 8.6 miles
Our
last hike was a check up on the southern end of the CT in Wind Cave National
Park. The surface trails at Wind Cave are little used, but are a great asset to
the few hikers who set out to explore them. We hiked a different loop than the
one described in my guide, and went clockwise from the CT Trailhead east on
gravel NPS Road 5 to the Highland Creek Trail, then took the Highland Creek,
Sanctuary, and Centennial trails back to the car. 
Custer State Park Bison.
Driving
to the trailhead through Custer State Park we passed a large herd of bison that
we were able to photograph in the early morning light. Not long after the start
of the hike, things almost went bad. I reached the crest of a small hill on NPS
Road 5 and waited for Jean, and waited a bit more… Finally, she arrived with a
few new pictures to show me. As soon as we had left the car, a group of four
bison emerged, and headed straight to the trailhead like a group of sullen
teenagers with vandalism on their minds. Bison will scratch or rub on almost
anything to relieve their summer itches and our car was lucky to escape a
mauling from this group. 
Bison heading for newly installed scratching post.
Most
of the Highland Creek Trail crossed prairie with plenty of wildflowers from the
wet spring. The trail wasn’t heavily used, and the bison had knocked over many
of the posts. 
Prairie wildflowers.
Having
to circle widely around a few lone bison also complicated the route finding,
and we lost the trail briefly. 
Wheeling past bison.
After
the intersection with the Sanctuary Trail, we crossed a small prairie dog town
that extended up to the junction with the Centennial Trail. 
Trail marker at prairie dog town.
We
continued up the CT, partly through a burned area, where any hope of shade was
dashed. The burn obscured the trail a bit and we got off trail again for a
short time.
Centennial Trail through recent burn.
But
soon we were back at our unbuffed out Subaru, this time ready to start the long
drive home. After passing one more herd of bison we were on our way.
One last bison herd.
We
then drove back to Ames via Beresford, SD, arriving on the 9th. I
flew home to Knoxville on the 10th, and Jean later drove home from
Ames.
