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2026 - Biking the Mickelson Trail
Some time in 2025 I learned about the Mickelson Trail. It is a rail-to-trail in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is 109 miles long from one end to the other. The grades are all 4% or less (when built), but some of the hills are fairly long. I mentioned it to my brother Lou that year and asked him if he would like to try to bike it in 2026. He was interested.
There are two images below that may be of use as references as I describe where we were at various times. The first is a map of the trail with labels on it at various trailheads. The text on the right gives further information about these trail heads. If you prefer a PDF (clearer since larger and can be enlarged) of this first image, it can be found here. The next image is the diagram that shows the elevation of the trail on the far left of the first image shown, but here it is turned sideways for easier viewing.
Map of the Mickelson Trail. You can see that the trail officially starts in Deadwood with Trailhead 1 at mile marker 108.8 (using the trailhead ordering) and goes south to Edgemont at mile marker 0 at Trailhead 14. The trailhead numbers and mile marker numbers will be used below.
Elevation of the Mickelson Trail. This shows the distance between the trailheads and also illustrates the grades of the trail.
Lou and I planned on doing this ride as soon as possible after Cole's wedding (his son was married on 2026-06-18), since we were both heading there, and we were free afterwards. In April, at a family gathering, Norm told me that he had done this trail twice and recommended it (actually, someone doing it two different times is already a recommendation). He had driven to Custer, parked there, and biked to the south end and back in one day (about 88 miles) and biked to Deadwood and back the next day (about 130 miles) the next day (or the other order - not sure). Lou and I took longer since he was testing how his knee would respond to these hills after he had issues on his last bike-camping expedition. He was encouraged when we were done because he felt he could resume biking under loads again.
Since Lou's part of the wedding kept him until Friday, June 19, we had agreed to try to leave on Saturday or Sunday, depending on how things were for both of us and how the weather was. As it turned out, after these details were agreed upon, Christina and Alex agreed on a home purchase, and the closing day was set for the day of the wedding. I told them that I could certainly help them move on Friday. As the days drew nearer, the weather in the Black Hills looked stormy and rainy for long sections of almost every day for 4-6 days in a row. Also, the moving day was changed to Saturday to accommodate more helpers. So, I ended up helping them prepare for the move on Friday. Additionally, Lou, Jo and Mark, and other friends helped us take two U-haul trips to move many things on Saturday. (It helped that the distance was not too large.) At that point, the weather along the Mickelson Trail still looked bad for several days, so I helped Christina with tasks on Sunday, and Lou and I touched base again and put it off another day. This got repeated with us pushing off the date and me helping around either or both of the homes until we finally saw that Friday, June 26, would be a good day to leave.
Friday, June 26
I woke up shortly before my 5:00 a.m. alarm. I got dressed, packed the rest of my stuff in the car, had breakfast, loaded my bike and then drove to Lou’s, arriving at 6:10. I transferred my things to his car, and we left at 6:30. We got on CR 13, then US 169 to St. Peter, then Mankato, and then got on MN 60, then 30 to St. James, Mountain Lake and then to Worthington. There, we got on I-90. We got gas at Vivian, SD, and later (earlier?) stopped at a rest area where there was a great view of the Missouri River and accompanying valley. We alternated drivers as needed. We arrived at Custer, SD, at 4ish local time. We got our bikes unloaded, and I explored looking for an alternative trailhead, since where we parked was definitely not the official one. We then left Custer (44 mileage marker; trailhead #10) at 5:30 or so, going south. We talked to somebody at a shelter before the Pringle Trailhead (32.1 m; #12) who suggested a place to camp after Pringle. We found something in the area, about 15 miles down from Custer, and set up our tents. We were not expecting rain, but it rained and thundered for about two hours. The bad thing was that I hurried to set up my tent, and I didn’t stake out the ends of the fly and mistakenly placed the crosspiece over the fly, not under it. Some moisture dripped in, but not much. I lost two hours of sleep since it was quite a lightning and thunder storm.
Saturday, June 27
I woke up about 5:00 and woke up Lou. We got breakfast (oatmeal for both of us, using his stove), prepared and took down our tents (mine wetter than Lou’s), packed up and took off. It was a bit cool, but OK with two shirts on. A ferocious German shepherd was guarding a fence, running back and forth after about 4-5 miles into our ride.
We took a brief break for water and a stretch, but then found a formal break not too long afterwards.
During the break, I looked back from whence we had come, glad that we were going downhill (though later in the day we faced this going up it).
We stopped at the Lein Quarry Trail Stop, and soon a young kid biked up. He had a scraped-up knee that still had blood stripes down it. (Later, we learned, he had wiped out by entering a tunnel too fast that had a turning entrance.) After a bit, his brother came. We talked with them for a bit, but took off before the father arrived. We continued through the woods until it opened up to become a large, open valley. We were looking for birds, and then scared up a long-billed curlew.
For a while, it was hovering in the air over this location, but I wasn't fast enough to get a shot. Here it is resting, after failing to persuade us to leave.
It was beautiful, and it had a pretty sound. By its behavior, we both thought that it was protecting some young ones nearby. We then stopped at the Minnekhata Trailhead (16.2 m; #13). There was a couple from Saskatchewan and NE that we talked to until the two boys and the father showed up. Lou talked to them, and I continued with the couple. We then left and continued south. We did more birding.
There was a trail break (called Sheep Canyon Trail Stop) at about the 60% mark between the Minnekhata Trailhead and the end at Edgemont. Someone (I think the father of the two kids) offered to take our photo.
Biking further, we then pulled into the edge of Edgemont (0 m; #14 - but not near a mount), and shortly afterwards, so did the couple. We got to the trailhead, and I checked on a Thai restaurant. This was so out of place since there was hardly anything else on Main Street. We ate there, and it was good. I had a pad Thai with noodles, and Lou had a chicken and shrimp dish with rice. We then took off (heading north now), after telling the couple about our experience at the Thai place.
Here, Lou is pulling into the shade of the Sheep Canyon Trail Stop, same place as the last photo.
As we started leaving the open plains and were about to enter the woods in the next few miles, we could see to the west that rain might be coming our way. As it got closer, I covered my backpack and put on my raincoat (as did Lou). It sprinkled some, but we were able to get to the Lein Quarry place only a little wet. It then started raining a bit harder. Then the couple came and joined us just as it began to pour. We were thankful to have shelter, and we talked to each other in pairs. It then let up, and we headed out. We had talked to each other about where to spend the night, and they were heading for the Pringle trailhead or the next shelter after it.
This was a pleasant evening view of the terrain after the rain. We are slowly rising in this valley, and the fence made some interesting shadows. The sky was mostly blue, and we hoped it would stay that way. The trail had been "rain-washed," and we only saw the tracks of the couple who left before us.
Lou was getting tired and thought they might go for the shelter (which we had considered), but didn’t want to chance it, so we stopped at the previous campsite that we had left in the morning. We had put on about 63 miles that day. I set out my tent’s footprint to dry out. Then I put up my tent over it, but moved it once I had set it up into the sun to dry more. I also tried to dry the fly, but found it best to just set it up on the tent to dry. Eventually, I put it all together. Lou checked on the rain, and it then rained 7 drops and no more. We both had a great sleep.
Sunday, June 28
Lou and I both woke up at about 5:00, independently. We had oatmeal again for breakfast, and then we got ready to go. It was nice to have the tent only wet from the dew, not the rain. We headed north toward the Pringle Trailhead (32.1 m; #12). In a parking area in Pringle, near the actual trailhead, we saw two guys packing up to bike. We later connected with them several times over the next few days. As we got ready to stop at the Pringle trailhead for water, our couple of friends were sleeping as we arrived at 6:30. We tried to quietly get the water we needed and moved on.
We found these pretty purple flowers after passing through Pringle. Using an identifier app, it suggests that it is Lewis Flax.
This is a few minutes later. This shows that the trail is sometimes on the flat side, but not too often. Note also that it is crushed limestone. It was a beautiful morning on our second (full) day.
Shortly after the last photo, I saw this geologic feature off to the side. It looks like 3 or 4 slabs of rock, but turned 90 degrees.
We stopped at the next shelter for a break.
This is a typical shelter or trail stop (as opposed to a trailhead). They usually have a cover and a picnic table under the cover. (Sometimes people sleep on the table(s).) This one also has a restroom, which was always very clean (as seen in the background). Many also have a bench on which to lie or sit.
Here is another view of the trail stop. The other common feature that is appreciated is a pump for water. Of all the pumps that we encountered, only one did not work. Note that we stopped at every water pump and I always refilled. It was hot for most of the days in the afternoon.
We then headed for Custer (44.5m; #10). We checked on the Dairy Queen, but it was closed (since early Sunday morning). We bought a frozen Snickers bar at a nearby convenience store for $2.75. We then headed for the car, but Lou didn’t like that I didn’t go back to the trail; instead, I took the direct route. I traded things that I had on the first leg that I didn’t want for things that I forgot to bring in the first place, and then I also made some peanut butter tortillas as well. As we were ready to leave, Lou found that one of his gloves was missing. He was talking with a man riding the trail, and perhaps he accidentally took it. I tried going ahead to see if I could catch him, but when a walker said that she had last seen him 10 or 15 minutes earlier, and he was on an e-bike on an uphill, I abandoned the pursuit. We never found out what happened. From Custer, we climbed up about a 7-mile hill and then coasted down about an 8-mile downhill to Hill City (60.1 m; #8). They had a really nice trailhead, even having electrical outlets to charge devices. I had left my watch in the car, but even my phone was dying. However, I had brought my battery pack. After getting some food into us and refilling our water bottles (done at every station that had water), we continued onward and upward (both literally).
Here is another flower that we saw a number of times along the trail. The app identified it as Dame's Rocket.
Occasionally, as we went north, we saw some open prairie areas. Here is one about 2/3 of the way to Mystic Lake from Hill City.
We arrived at Mystic Trailhead (74.7 m; #7) towards the bottom of a long downhill. To get there, we did about 8 miles of uphill and then about 7.5 miles of downhill. The latter was done in less than half the time of the former. This was also a nice trailhead. It could have made a decent place to spend the night, but it was too early in the day (being early evening). So, off we went for the Rochford Trailhead (82.6 m; #6), starting with a little bit of downhill and the rest being uphill.
This is a bridge that we went over several miles past the Mystic Trailhead. It was quite high, as the next photo shows.
This is looking down on the bridge just shown. We are fairly high up.
This is another photo taken from the bridge shown earlier. I think we are looking at the other side.
Sometimes the trail had just a bench to sit on, particularly when there were nice views. This was on the other side of the bridge.
Here is a view looking up the hill on the trail that we are climbing near the bench.
This is a close-up view of the rock that is seen on the right side of the previous photo. Note the structure of the rock.
As we climb up the trail, the stream coming down drops. Here it is over some falls. Note that occasionally we had a road close to us, but quite rare. This is about halfway between the Mystic Trailhead and the Rochford Trailhead.
This close-up of the waterfalls shows how much of a drop the stream had here. The trail smooths out the ups and downs, so that it was easier for the trains from the past.
At Rochford, we found a water pump there, but little else. We were wondering about the weather, so I biked into town to see if anyone had any information. It seemed like nothing much different weather-wise, and there was nothing in town but a bar and grill, so we decided to go on and look for a place to camp along the trail. Sure enough, about two miles up the trail (literally, since uphill), we found a spot that seemed reasonable for both of us (especially after looking at two other spots that were less suitable). It actually seemed pleasant since we had just crossed a bridge over a creek that was yielding pleasant sounds of running water. We set up our tents and got things in place, and then proceeded to supper. That was when I couldn't find my spoon. So Lou ate first, and then I cooked mine, washed his spoon, and ate my biscuits and gravy (tolerable, but not great). While eating, we saw the pair of guys that we had seen in the morning, and twice more went by us on the trail. Ironically, before they biked past, I had said that we wouldn't see anyone on the trail except possibly them. Likewise, Lou had said that Murphy's Law would suggest that when we go a little further on the trail in the morning, we would find a better campsite (again stated before we saw the pair). When Lou wanted to dispose of his evening meal since he didn't like the taste after eating half, he walked further up the trail a bit to put some distance between us and his disposal. He saw the two guys had set up camp just before Tunnel D at mile marker 85, and the campsite looked great. While I was eating, I walked down the trail some, and I saw a woman and a dog walking my way. Then I found a man walking with her. They were coming to photograph the tunnel. I talked to her later while she was waiting for her husband to catch up with her, and she mentioned that the winds shouldn't be as bad as Lou thought they would be. (But this turned out not to be the case for the afternoon.) Later that evening, I found my spoon in my shorts' pocket. We went to bed, and we had another thunderstorm that night with lighter rain than the first night.
This is the tent site that I chose and prepared. The stream we camped near was just over the edge of my tent, about 25 feet. Note that the rockslide is on the other side of the stream.
This is Lou's tent site that he chose and prepared. He was across the trail from me, so we didn't hear each other as easily. Mostly, the sounds we ever heard were the noises of our inflated sleeping pads that responded to our shifting bodies.
Lou is beginning the process of making his supper, and then I will eat mine afterwards. (One stove, two pots.) All of what we needed is in the photo. The orange, blue, and white bags are our freeze-dried meals. We add boiled water, stir, let it sit about 5 minutes, stir again, and let it sit again. Generally quite tasty.
Monday, June 29
We woke up at our tenting location adjacent to a bridge over a stream, and within 150 yards of Tunnel D (mile 85). In the evening, we ended up spending the night adjacent to this Tunnel D. I think Lou woke up shortly before me, and I heard him walking by to retrieve his "bear-bag" with the food that we each had. We worked on breaking camp. (Link gives my steps while bikecamping.) We had our oatmeal breakfast (with my newly found spoon, and I was able to add my old-fashioned oats--from the car--to the sugared packets), cleaned up our breakfast items, and packed them up. We did a final check on the bike and the campsite and headed north (uphill) on the trail. As we headed past the tunnel, I was able to see the camp setup of the pair of friends that we had met the day before (and saw them again later as we were heading back and they were heading toward the end). We tried to be quiet since they were still sleeping. Our first 10 miles were uphill, and it was a beautiful morning. Our next target was the Dumont Trailhead (92.6 m; #5).
When we were about 2/3 of the way from Rochford to Dumont, I saw this building with the weird roof, and then I noticed the weird siding. The photo includes some details, but these circular disks were lids of cyanide containers that the local miners used and threw away. This person (and others) found a good use for them. However, I wonder how this affected the health of the inhabitants of this building.
We stopped at the Dumont Trailhead, used the bathroom, got water, and liked the place, even if it was a bit off the trail. We then got ready for the last two miles of the climb to the highest part of the trail (abt 6225 ft, whereas the lowest was in Edgemont at 3454 ft). After this, there were 4 miles of mostly downhill to the Englewood Trailhead (98.5 m; #4). We stopped there and rested a bit. It was a nice place and relatively flat coming in and going out. We had about another 10 miles at this point, and most of it was downhill. However, before we got to the next trailhead, there was a fork in the road. One way had a switchback and seemed to be the "standard version," and the other talked about the Kirk Trailhead. We decided to go with the first fork. Not too much longer (recall that we are going downhill), we came to the Sugarloaf Trailhead (103.3 m; #3). We may have stopped briefly, but not for long, since we had been going downhill and the rest to the end was the same. There was more traffic in these parts, but they seemed to be mostly local traffic, not those heading south on the whole trail. We kept heading into town and tried to carefully navigate the additional roads and people walking or biking. We finally coasted into the end at Deadwood (108.8 m; #1) and took a selfie at the marker 108.8.
We saw several large fields like this with these yellow flowers. They might be the meadow buttercup or some other flower. We did not have a close-up of this field, but we saw the meadow buttercup along the trail in abundance.
The Dumont Trailhead was the only trailhead that had a completely enclosed shelter. This is used in the winter for snowmobilers. (It even has a wood stove.) After first seeing this, we initially thought we might sleep here for the next night. Later, I had second thoughts, and a conversation on the way back (as given later) clarified that it was not a good plan.
Here is a view of the same valley we saw earlier, but it is north of what we saw. Many yellow flowers as earlier. This road followed us for a short while. We had to cross it to get to the Dumont Trailhead. As we biked this short section, we saw a grandmother (mother?) and two kids waving at us. (We were much higher up.) We stopped, and the kids yelled something that the adult rephrased as "We are going to ride bikes today for the first time." We congratulated them and told them to have fun. It was cute.
We tried to get a joint selfie at the 108.8 marker in Deadwood.
We had already decided that we both wanted to look for a place that had omelets on their menu. We asked one person, but his "Deadwood" T-shirt was a dead giveaway that he knew nothing. I stopped inside a bank, and they recommended a place called Miners, about 1.5 miles away (they said). Lou didn't want to go that far. We checked at a Dollar store (some other name, but I don't recall) because I was looking for a charging cable for my bike computer since it was close to running out of power. Then we saw a couple walking, and we asked them. They suggested that there was a "greasy spoon" up the street and gave us some specific directions. We eventually went for that, and it turned out to be Miners, but not nearly as far as suggested by the bank. We ordered our omelets (which were excellent), and I had the audacity to ask the waitress if she (or someone else) had a phone charger with USB-C (I showed her the slot type). She quickly unplugged her phone, gave me her charger, and was happy to do so. That alone deserved a great tip, but the food and service were also good. Lou and I also charged our phones while charging my bike computer.
We packed up and headed back to the trailhead and started our 13-mile uphill (with some flattish sections of several miles altogether). We stopped for a bit at the Kirk Trailhead (105.3 m; #2) that I hadn't even seen as we zoomed by it an hour earlier. I renewed a Grand Rapids library book that was due that day. This location was where we could have gone as an alternate way of getting back, but we both thought that the switchback sounded more appealing now. We took our time up that hill partly because we had just finished eating a big meal, but Lou was also concerned about the 30-40 mph wind gusts that might come later, and he was in no rush for them. As we were in the last mile before arriving at the Englewood Trailhead (98.5 m; #4), we could feel some strong gusts. But this was because we had entered an open valley and were out of the protective forest area. Since we needed a break anyway, we stopped, ate, and drank. Indeed, strong gusts came up and were whirling the dust from the gravel road toward us. Another couple came (with e-bikes, which I guess about half the bikers on the trail were riding). While talking to them, another squall came up and knocked over the man's bike, breaking his kickstand. I indicated that I was going to sit outside the shelter on the other side so that the shelter could block the wind. (The wind was also making me a bit cool.) We talked about what to do, and Lou suggested waiting until 4, 5, 6, or 7 until the wind died down, while I was inclined to at least bike ahead to the next trailhead, which would provide better shelter, since it was fully enclosed. Lou didn't want to ride against those winds since we were really already ahead of the schedule that he had envisioned. I dried out my tent's fly (which was wet from the rain the night before and stored separately for such an occasion), but it was not an easy task with the strong winds. I had to find some rocks to help hold down the fly, but I also didn't want it to rip. I had rocks and my things on the perimeter, and I laid in the middle (mostly dry by this point). I then packed it up.
I was fairly confident that a good portion of the 6 miles between Dumont (our destination) and Englewood (current location) would be in the woods, and the winds would be greatly reduced. I told Lou that I was going to ride about 1 to 1.5 miles to assess the winds away from this open plain where we were situated. The first quarter of a mile was open and windy, but then some aspens cut the wind a lot, then opened a bit, and then into the woods with a great reduction of wind. I only tested about 1 mile, and I could see a difference. I relayed this to Lou, but he wasn't interested in going at this point. He was getting internet on his phone there, and we didn't know if we could at Dumont. He also didn't want to tackle the wind then. He suggested that I could go then, if I wanted, and he would come when the wind died down. So that's what we did. Once there, I relayed a summary of the wind in the trees (which was not bad at all for a large portion - no worse than what we had just experienced coming from Deadwood). At first, my message didn't go through, but I came out in the field again, and it was sent that time. I worked on writing up my journal for the first two days and organizing some other things (and raising my bike seat a tad). I also finished drying out my fly on the picnic table inside. Lou had earlier thought we could sleep inside the enclosed trailhead, but I was not keen on that. Later, a pickup with a trailer came, dropped off a person and a bike (who put it on his car). I went and talked with him, and he turned out to be a Custer bike-shop owner and carries bikes around as customers need if they don't want to do the full trail twice (as we did). He asked about me, and I explained our situation. He said that he didn't have any issue with us staying there, but he thought it should be out in the extended area (away from the shelter) since sometimes a deputy sheriff comes and checks on the place, though he may have just been applying pressure. Lou did come about 6:45 or so. I was almost all ready to bike if he was willing. I explained what the guy said, and Lou was willing to move on since our last camping spot was not that much further. I let Lou lead and set the pace, and he turned it on and pedaled, but the wind had also died down by then. We decided to aim for the campsite by the tunnel (if we thought it was good), or go to our place from the night before. On arriving, we looked it over and found it very suitable. We set up our tents and things inside and then started supper. It was a great place to spend our last night, but it was close to dark before we both finally retired.
This pretty aspen canopy occurred just a half mile south of the Englewood Trailhead.
Tuesday, June 30
I woke up once in the early morning, about 3, to urinate. (I was glad that I had been drinking water well.) It was very cold, and I could see my breath. When I got back in my tent, I put on my long pants, socks, and long-sleeve top, and I got back to sleep. I then woke up about 4:40 as it started getting light. Lou must have heard me working since he also started getting up. I put on all the clothes that I had except my sleeping shorts and the extra pair of socks. It was likely in the low 40's. We made oatmeal again for breakfast, but after my water was heated, Lou's canister of fuel was empty, and he needed to open a second one. It was really nice that the tent was quite dry, except for the ground tarp. We were finally all packed up and ready to leave at 6:30ish. We had a downhill (not steep) for the first section. Just after we passed Rochford, there were several cows on the trail, scrambling to get out of our way. Later, when I asked Lou if the cows had concerned him, he said: "What cows?" He was emphatic that he never saw them, though the last cow to leave was within 5-10 feet of him. He thought, at first, I was making this up. We continued going slightly downhill, or it was flat, for a total of about 10 miles, when we noticed that the stream we were following started flowing toward us (and so we started an uphill - obviously a different stream). We took a brief break at Mystic Trailhead (74.7m; #7) about a mile later. From there, we had about 7-8 miles of uphill and then a 7-8 mile downhill to Hill City trailhead (60.1m; #8). We took a longer break there. Lou wanted an ice cream place, but it was out of the way. Then he remembered the DQ in Custer that wasn't open earlier, so we took off. Since we had just had a long downhill, it was now our turn for an uphill, which was about 7-8 miles long. After a bit of downhill (~2 miles), we arrived at the Mountain Trailhead (49.6m; #9). Finally, we had the last 4.5 miles to our Custer trailhead (the non-official one). It was nice to finish on a downhill. We arrived about 1:30 or so, unpacked our things from the bikes, and loaded the car with our belongings and bikes. First, we went to the Custer DQ and bought an expensive (almost $9) malt/blizzard and then headed out. We then headed to Rapid City and then got on I-90. We decided to try to drive the rest of the way back. We stopped at the first rest area to use the facilities and swap drivers. Lou wanted to get gas at the same place where we stopped before (Vivian, SD). He fell asleep quickly, but I was weary by the time we got to Vivian. I asked him to drive the next portion, though my last shift was shorter. He drove two hours, I got about 1.5 hours of sleep/rest, then we swapped again, and Lou slept/rested. I took us into MN and stopped for gas at a Casey's in Mountain Lake. He went to the bathroom, but it was after midnight, after I filled up the gas, and they wouldn't let me in. Later, Lou found a rest area, and I was able to relieve myself. He then drove the rest of the way and I stayed awake and we talked some. We arrived at Lou's house about 1:30.
This is the morning view looking south from our campsite by Tunnel D (mile 85). Under this bridge is the same stream that was next to us the night before, about 150 yards further south.
This is the view of our campsite at 5:24 in the morning. It worked really well for us.
This is the view of the tunnel standing about 30 feet from my tent. The wire mesh is placed there to help prevent any rocks from falling down.
This is the view of our trail as we begin the last leg of the journey up and down the Mickelson Trail. The sun reached the hills, but not us yet.
This mining trolley from times past is being used as a sign for this person's fire number (address). This was between the Rockford and Mystic trailheads.
Related links
- Crazy Guy on a Bike
- A guy named Thomas has pictures and stories about his ride on the Mickelson trail. This link takes you to the second part of his trip (our first part), Custer to Edgemont. Use the navigation button in the upper left to see the first part.
- SeniorTrails.com
- One person's chronicle of riding the Mickelson Trail with commentary and photos.
Published on 2026-07-09.
If you find any errors in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail.com. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]