The description of this hike in my Black Hills guidebook begins with a discussion of how much this area had changed from a remote mountain biking destination to a well-built hiking trail in the early 1990s, before being consumed in the 2000 Jaspar Wildfire and scoured by subsequent flooding in 2003. My introduction to the area was a 1991 mountain bike loop. But I had also hiked the then new hiking trail in 1997 for the second edition of my guidebook and again in 2004 for the planned, but not released third version.
Despite
20 years away I was hoping for a great afternoon hike to pair with a morning
Jewel Cave tour. I suspected Jean would like the area, the wild canyon might
remind her of old wild west movies much in the way the Edgemont section of the
Mickelson Trail had.
Hiking along the rim of Hell Canyon.
We
arrived at a partly occupied trailhead. One of the big surprises of our 2023
and 2024 trips was how many people were on the trails. Back in the old days few
people hiked for recreation, and not many of them were locals. But now it
seemed the trails were getting steady use from both locals and tourists.
Another surprise was a sign indicating that the Hell Canyon bighorn herd was
battling an outbreak of pneumonia. Again, back in the day the only bighorn herd
in the hills was in the Black Elk Wilderness. An article in the 3-6-24 Black
Hills Pioneer about the sheep indicated that that there now also herds at Elk
Mountain, Rapid City, Deadwood, and in Badlands National Park. The Hell Canyon
herd of 85 animals had probable caught pneumonia from a domestic herd, and
there were already fatalities from the disease.
Sign explaining pneumonia in Bighorn Sheep.
Excited
about the possibility of seeing sheep we headed on up the trail. The climb to
the canyon rim was steady and stark, the area had been totally scorched by the
Jaspar Fire. I was taking notes and tracking with a GPS, while Jean took
pictures. To be complete we headed out on the side trail to the overlook, but
honestly the overlook doesn’t offer much that isn’t easy to see from the trail sections
farther along the rim.
Climbing through the remains of the Jaspar Fire.
At
the spur trail junction, the main trail starts along a two track road. The road
looks like it will join a distant gravel road, but a handy sign shows the place
where the trail swings away from the two track and back towards the rim.
Spring wild flowers.
As
pretty as the trail is, the best scenery is after the trail drops a bit below
the rim to follow the base of the thick limestone bed that supports the rim.
Here are numerous solution pockets, small caves, and we even spotted one
diamond shaped arch in a fin jutting into the canyon. The narrow trail and shear
canyon walls may be why we did not see many mountain bike or horse tracks.
There was at least a mile of this beautiful trail, often with overlooks down to
the canyon floor, just begging for a screen test for the next Hollywood western.
A small arch formed in the canyon rim.
The
descent down to the floor of West Hell Canyon was quick and easy. But the next
half mile was a kindling pile of blown down pines. We obstacle coursed our way
to the mouth of the next canyon, where the downed trees mysteriously ended. I’d
followed that side canyon on my 1991 ride, it was hard to imagine riding a bike
there now. 
We were surprised to see Rocky Mountain Iris.
The
rest of the walk was sooth, level, and scenic. We passed a metal object of
unknown origin before reaching what the BHNF cites as an old CCC Camp just
above the split between the Main and West forks of the canyon. 
Any idea what this is?
We
crossed an old fence line and rock hopped the shallow creek a few times before
reaching the gate at the far end of the parking area and closing the 6.0 mile loop.
Hell Canyon proved to be one of Jean’s favorite hikes of the trip, and is
certainly worthy of being a destination hike on its own merits.
View down into the canyon bottom.
9-29-91,
BHNF, Hell Canyon Mountain Bike Ride, ~24 miles, Solo
After
our 2024 hike on the “new” BHNF Hell Canyon Trail, I was curious about the ride
I took to the area in 1991. At that point I remembered little, but was able to
locate an incompletely filled out route map and my sparse field notes.
West Hell Canyon from the rim.
I
had been attempting to follow a ride description from my trusty copy of
“Mountain Bikers Guide to the Black Hills’ that I had used for many other
exploring trips in the hills. I was also in the midst of a goal to climb to all
the present and former fire tower sites in the hills, and hoped to add a trip
to the old tower site on Signal Hill (6,443’), about 5-6 miles to the north of
the canyon.
To
my surprise I found two entries for Hell Canyon, the first being two weeks
earlier. On the first trip I started where the current trailhead is and rode
0.7 mi to the split between the main and west canyons. I got about another mile
up the west canyon before the sleeve of my shirt, which must have been dangling
off my bike rack, got pulled into my derailleur and broke it. Luckily I was
able to roll the bike down the two track road back to the car.
With
some time to kill, I visited the historic area at Jewel Cave, then went to the
visitors center and took the 80 minute Scenic Tour, with no comments on either.
By
4PM I was over at St Elmo Peak, north of Custer and west of Sylvan Lake. I
parked near Oreville and took BHNF 302-1A to Bear Gulch and then climbed the
peak up an old logging road past the Clara Belle Mine, then cross-country up
the southeast ridge, which had a few steep, scramble pitches. After reaching
the 6,458’ summit I descended back to Bear Gulch via the southwest ridge,
getting back to the car at 7 PM.
Not
too long after this trip I would notice a then unnamed 7,000’ peak in the same
range and would go back to climb what I would name Sylvan Peak on 10-5-91. (Sylvan Peak Blog)
On
9-29-91 I was back again for another try
at the Hell Canyon Ride and Signal Peak. Once again I was solo, but this time I
had better luck. I was able to ride the two track roads up the West Fork to
what the guidebook called ‘the plastic reservoir”, a small stock pond near the
decision point for the long or short loops. My notes for this ride are sparse,
and full of references to obscure cow paths and grassy two tracks that the Mountain
Biker’s guide often utilized. In 2024 I attempted to add the track to my Topo!
map, but am still unsure of the entire route. I likely stayed on route to
BHNF-2F, but missed BHNF-2G and rode the main gravel road north. My route map
has few markings, but I eventually reached BHNF 284 and rode to the top of
Signal Hill.
Signal
Hill had a concrete foundation, a telephone base, some rusty metal cans and
steel supports. There were 4” diameter trees growing at the tower site and the
trees were too high for good views.
Solution cavity in the canyon wall.
I
didn’t do much better on the return leg of the loop. After overshooting on BHNF
284 I rode a cross country section where I got a bee sting on the lip. Then I
overshot on BHNF 282. I came back, made the correct turn onto BHNF-2G, then
took a long cross country route over to Bear Spring Creek, which got me back on
the guidebook route. Bear Spring Creek merged into the main fork of Hell Canyon
where I rode mostly two track back to the truck. The navigating was difficult
enough that I did not find the time for much other note taking, including any
description of what must have been the magnificent main canyon.
Trail in the bottom of Hell Canyon.
While
the condition of the main canyon is intriguing, it is likely that it sees
little traffic. There is much less grazing in the Black Hills now than there was. For better or worse
the grazing, and its associated infrastructure, kept many of these remote
canyons open. The main stem of Hell Canyon may not have been cleared after the
2000 Jaspar Fire or after the 2003 floods, but I hope to get the chance to find
out. 
Blowdowns in West Hell Canyon 2024.
 |
| Here's where I think I rode in 1991. |
