Mickelson Trail Forum

We’re staying in Custer next weekend. If we did a 50 mile out and back, which direction should we go from Custer? We are experience MTB and Gravel bikers. Can we rent a gravel bike in Custer (for my wife)

Thanks!
Tim

My preference would be head north from Custer, short climb up to crazy horse, then a long decent…north of Hill City is very pretty!

I will be riding up for the rally, but I planned on riding around the area on my gravel bike (I haul it on my Harley). I will be in a cabin south of lead. Would be willing to ride south until we link up and then head back. It would have to be on the 5th though as I won’t get there until the 4th.

I’ll be out in the Hills, and plan to ride Custer to Deadwood either Monday August 4th or Tuesday August 5th. I ride a gravel bike…if anyone would like to join, let me know. I am a somewhat experienced rider, I should be able to ride it in about 5.5 hours…but who know.

Are e-bikes allowed on Mickelson Trail, specifically class 2.

The Mickelson Trail bill allows only the slowest class of e-bikes, Class I, on the trail.

The governor signed the bill approved by the state legislature on March 13th. You can read the link below.

https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/13/south-dakota-governor-larry-rhoden-signs-school-cash-mandate-mickelson-trail-ebike-limits/82366367007/

MY Buddies and I are thinking staging in Custer and leaving Tag/camper Safe?
and riding 50 miles each way and staying in deadwood one night and edgemont one night and reversing rides. We come from altitude and if trail is relatively flat is 50 mile days doable on fast gravel bikes?

Thanks and cheers . we did Katy trail self supported over 1 week 2 years ago!

Sounds like you have the experience and good bike choice. I did Deadwood to Custer on day one, plus a side trip up to Crazy Horse. That day was 66 miles, 3524’ of elevation climbed and 6:10 riding. The hardest part of the ride is the lengthy uphill segment out of Deadwood….12 miles maybe. In the Lead area there are two Mickelson trail routes. I suggest the shorter/steeper route going northbound because of the two short hills that are hike-a-bikes for some riders. Heading south take the longer flatter route closer to Lead.
My day two was Custer to Edgemont, 45 miles, 526’ climb, in 3:13. The initial climb from Custer was the only challenge. Deadhorse Canyon and just beyond it was a highlight before descending into the flats before Edgemont. The last few miles before town was pretty blah. I have RidewithGPS links if you want me to send later, but the trail is pretty straightforward. I imagine if you stay somewhere in Custer a night or two you could arrange to leave a vehicle longer. Do not miss Purple Pie Place.

For your consideration…I saw a recent YouTube video from a guy who found a way to ride to Mt Rushmore somewhat safely. He reduced the time on highway 244 from I think 9 miles to 6 miles. He rode out of Hill City taking Old Hill City Road to Palmer Gulch Road then south to the service entrance to the Mt Rushmore KOA. Then he got onto 244. This was interesting to me, so I did some map exploration and figured out one could ride even further east on Old Hill City then turn south on the Centennial Trail. It’s only one mile via trail to 244, then 3 miles to Rushmore with rideable shoulder most of the way. I was not able to figure out what the trail was like, but suspect it’s walkable at least. That video title is Cycling to Mount Rushmore, and it’s by Dave Kline. Not sure when I will return to ride the Mick again, but want to ride this, the Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop Road at Custer State Park.

Hello, eyeing this area for Sept- Oct this year and also wondering about leaving toy hauler for a few nights while I stay out on trail… so, following! :).
Wish I had your experience level but, got to start bikepacking somewhere sometime

We're thinking of biking the trail in the fall for the colorful leaves. Can someone point me to a "better time" for seeing the colors? Thanks!

Greetings folks! How ridiculous would it be for me to attempt to ride my recumbent (non-electric) trike for the full mileage? Thanks in advance for your advice!

1. With the elevation that this route does have, is it better to do East to West, or opposite?
2. Best time of year for Western SD?

I think you mean North to South. I believe most people start in Deadwood on the north end and finish in Edgemont on the south end. You'll be going downhill from Hill City to Edgemont most of the way at the end of the trail which will probably be a nice change at that point.

I totally knew the N-S! LONG day and from another recent 12hr drive, I am lacking brain power today!

Oh, and as far as time of year, I know it's been pretty hot in late July/August when I've been on the trail. If I go again, I'll probably try the first few weeks of September, as I like the cooler weather. But if you don't mind heat, any time from now through August should be great.

Im swinging thru next week and will have only time for a 25 mile out, then back. I can start from pretty much any trailhead. Where\what direction would be my best bang for my buck thinking bridges\tunnels\cool stuff?
No wrong answers.

If you start in Hill City at mile marker 60 and go north to Rochford at mile marker 82 that would get you close to the mileage that you are looking for. I also think north of Hill City is more scenic than south of Hill City, but I guess that's subjective and just my opinion.

Going north from Hill City to Rochford, you will go through Tunnels A, B, and C...and you could get to the last Tunnel D north of Rochford by adding just a few more miles to your trip.

Deadwood at mile marker 108 (the northern end of the trail) south to Rochford at mile marker 82 would also get you the mileage you're looking for.

I think either of the two suggested routes above would be great. I'm assuming you'll be on gravel type tires. The crushed limestone can be very loose in some areas. Road tires...well, I wouldn't go on any tire narrower than 35c. Although, I know some have.

Below, I have attached a map showing you the distances and the elevation. I like to be going downhill at the end of the day. But at some point, you'll have some hills to climb. Not extreme, but they are there. The map I've added will show you where the elevation gains are, the distances, and other relevant information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XFs2s09xrtDfwRGwJZe5G62P2crsyW4l/view

Good luck.

Thank you. Helps me a ton!

Great, hope I helped. I just noticed that Tunnel D at mile marker 85 is exactly 25 miles north of the Hill City trailhead at mile marker 60. So, there's your 25 miles out and back.

And that particular section is fairly flat with some nice views.

Dan, let us know what you end up doing. Will be headed that way from WI in August

What parts of the trail are paved? I have an urban lectric bike and do not think the tires are appropriate for unpaved trails.

I'd say 95% of the 106 miles is crushed limestone. You will find a little pavement as you ride through Hill City and a few other places, but not very much. Worth the trip even if you have to rent a bike...which you can.

Good luck.

Here's a video that I put together of my ride on the trail, showing the trail conditions pretty much the entire way. It's a great ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdvmpHyPPEI

Here's the longer version without any music, that REALLY shows a lot of the trail:
https://youtu.be/Yo2W0mdD2oI

Hello...I've ridden my trek bike, that has hybrid tires, on a packed rea-gravel trail before and it was fine but can any experienced Mickelson Trail riders tell me if they would or would not recommended hybrid tires? Thanks!

pea not rea

Sounds like the perfect choice. When I rode the trail two years ago it was well maintained crushed rock, pretty hard packed. It rained buckets one night and the next day the trail was dry

I'll be biking this trail in August 2025. Which is the more scenic route, Mickelson Trail main route or Mickelson with Sugarloaf fantail route?
The extra miles don't matter, we just want the more scenic route.

We’re doing the trail, Edgemont to Deadwood, in a few weeks and planning to camp for 3 nights along the route. We have a tent site reservation at Oreville and are will ride off trail up Castle Peak road to the Castle Peak campground one night. But we need a spot on our first night out of Edgemont.

Looking at Open Street Maps, there appears to be spots on public lands about 5 miles before we get to Pringle. Does anyone have experience finding dispersed camping between in that area?

Thanks!

Anyone have current or anticipated trail conditions for week of 5/5/2025? We are planning on riding on Wednesday, 5/7 and Thursday, 5/8/2025 departing from Deadwood.

Any update here on current trail conditions leaving from Deadwood? Hoping to go on Friday! Thanks!

My son and I will be starting in Deadwood June 8, riding to Hill City, Edgemont, Custer, then returning to Deadwood to camp June 11. Where do people leave their vehicles when they are on the trail?

This was an answer I gave to (I think) the same question last week:

Right next to the Mickelson Trailhead sign in Deadwood at 103 Charles St. you'll find a large parking lot. I parked my SUV there for 4 days in 2023. At least at that time, there was no charge to park there.

There are also 219 free parking spaces at the Deadwood Welcome Center at 501 Main Street. Although they probably fill up fast in the summer.

https://www.cityofdeadwood.com/community/page/welcome-center-parking-lot

Good luck.

Planning to ride from Deadwood to Edgemont and shuttle back over 3-4 days. I seem to remember something about free multiday day/overnight parking at DEadwood but can't locate the post. Any suggestions?

Hi Rick,
Right next to the Mickelson Trailhead sign in Deadwood at 103 Charles St. you'll find a large parking lot. I parked my SUV there for 4 days in 2023. At least at that time, there was no charge to park there.

There are also 219 free parking spaces at the Deadwood Welcome Center at 501 Main Street. Although they probably fill up fast in the summer.

https://www.cityofdeadwood.com/community/page/welcome-center-parking-lot

Good luck.

Thank you for the info.

We are going to ride the trailing a couple weeks. I would like to start at the Red Fern TH
Ride to Deadwood spend the night, then return/bike to our van the next day. Is this doable? Safe? Thoughts... suggestions ??

I don’t know about that trailhead, other than it exists. Seems like it’s very rural which suggests it’s probably fine. Of course like anywhere you do not leave any valuables or any bags visible in a vehicle. That bag might have your dirty underwear, but thieves see a bag that might contain something of value….anyway. I can offer a possible more valuable tip. The Mickelson actually has two different paths in the area of the Kirk trailhead. That path is easy to spot there in Kirk, going southbound. Since you’re going northbound initially it MAY be harder to spot that fork before Sugarloaf. I do know as you reach that fork it will be off to your right and will go downhilll….you may see some sort of overhead conveyor bridge slightly down trail. If you search for Flatiron City on the map and follow that trail south you’ll see that bridge thing and then the fork. I suggest you open google maps, and zoom in to see Kirk, Sugarloaf and Flatiron, then spot both possible routes. Going northbound I suggest taking the Flatiron section in order to ride the two steep but short sections going downhill. Going southbound on day two you should ride the longer but flatter Sugarloaf sections. The Flatiron is noted to be more scenic but those two steep sections might require hike-a-bike two times for a few hundred feet. If I remember correctly the Flatiron section was developed for local trail users as a loop trail by incorporating it into the Mick…..it’s not part of the original railroad. Keep in mind that the Mickelson is already uphill leaving Deadwood for I think 12 miles……rail trails generally aren’t steep, because trains don’t handle uphill very well, but even a slight uphill climb for a cyclist might be a challenge for some riders. I personally rode from Deadwood to Custer including climbing up to Crazy Horse in one day, 66 miles. Day two I rode 45 miles to Edgemont. I have not ridden northbound.
FYI if you like cycling jerseys they’ve got a combination shop jersey/Mickelson trail jersey at Acme Bicycles in Rapid City. Alternatively in Spearfish they have a nice shop jersey with a Black Hills theme at Two Wheeler Dealer. I don’t do spandex, but I do like collecting bike jerseys from places I’ve traveled to and done some sort of memorable bike ride.

There is no parking of any kind at the Red Fern resistor, just restroom, shelter & cistern. Better to leave you vehicle in Hill City, 8 miles south.

Coming to do the entire Mickelson. Might do it round trip, but if we do it one way, we are looking for maybe some other good detours, side rides, etc.

Questions:

- It looks like Rushmore is about a 10 mile detour from the trail on Highway 244, which doesn't look like the most awesome ride around due to traffic and small shoulder. Any other routes to get to Rushmore that are better?

- Any other ideas for rides in the general area. We aren't completely against some hills, but (based on a drive through Custer last year) don't want anything as crazy as the Needles Highway. Thoughts on a 10-50 mile ride that is pretty and not Matterhorn like in its hills?

Thanks!
Dave

You can avoid the main highway for about half the ride from Mickelson to Mt. Rushmore. Here's a short video I put together on this topic, with all the directions and some information that could be handy. I hope it is useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THClfN7EwQk

Thanks!

Two Dave’s, no waiting! That was a great video, I wish I knew this “safer” route in 2023 when I rode the Mick. I skipped it due to numerous reviews discouraging the practice. It appears Dave found a way to manage the risk. I did some map exploring after watching and figured out how to reduce the miles on Highway 244 from six miles to three miles. Instead of turning off Old Hill City Road onto Palmer Gulch, continue east another three miles until you reach the Centennial Trail. Take the trail one half mile south to the Big Pine Trailhead then you’ll be at Highway 244. Continue three miles to Mt Rushmore.
If you aren’t aware, the Mick goes under the driveway leading up to Crazy Horse. It’s an easy climb/ride up to the monument and museum….they will charge you admission just like a car. They have a bike rack directly across the road from the museum ticket office. A lot of people will be passing the bike rack as they walk from the parking lot, so consider securing anything of value….just in case, but it’s a very visible location.

Really nice YT video from Dave from Sacramento below. Thanks Dave!

I'm glad the video was helpful! When I looked on this forum before doing the ride, I was surprised that nobody had covered the Rushmore side trip option, so I decided to try to fill the void.

When I was mapping it out, I remember seeing the Centennial Trail, but I don't remember why I ruled it out! If it turns out to be a good route, post something here.

Looking for suggestions for company to rent 2 standard hybrid adult bikes from. Need to be directly along/very close to trail and looking for a four day rental in June.

Banning Class 3 bikes has become pretty common for recreational trails around the country, and is emerging as a nationwide standard. Banning Class 2 is a bit unusual, because they don't go any faster than Class 1 - and maybe more importantly, because almost no Class 1 bikes are sold in this country! Nearly everything is Class 2 or Class 3. I won't be surprised if the Legislature revisits this AGAIN in another year or two to rectify this.

It will be interesting to see how GFP enforces this and how the rental outfits respond, since the Mickelson sees so many rental e-fatbikes that are probably Class 3. Most should be "downgradeable" to Class 2 via the control panel by setting the max speed to 20 (even my lower-budget Class 2 Aventon e-bike has a menu-adjustable max speed setting). Also, most can become Class 1 by doing this plus simply removing/disabling the throttle: I have actually done this on my own rig, not to comply with any laws but simply because I prefer to pedal and never use the button. But I suspect that very, VERY few bike owners will actually do that.

Whether or not you have a throttle is a fairly meaningless distinction, so I suspect that enforcement will be mostly focused on the Class 3 bikes.

"Almost no class 1 bikes sold in the country"??? In Utah there are loads of Class 1 eMTB. They are slowly becoming acceptable on trails. Class 2 & 3 are still pariahs because of the throttle on the class 2 and the speed on the class 3. Maybe the issue here is I'm looking at eMTB, not all the other kinds of electric assist bikes that are not really suitable for single track. So.Many.Bikes.So.Little.Time.

I and my wife and friends ride class 3 e-bikes because they were the ones that are lightweight , not because they can go fast. We ride about 60-70% of the time with no power turned on. We use power on hills only and ride the same speed we do on regular bikes, average 11 mph or so. The restrictions I read about for class 3 bikes seem to tell me that we would be completely under the radar. Are people like us ticketed for being on class 3?

Well, if they enforce the law they just passed you SHOULD BE ticketed. If people can just say "I only use the power on hills and only go the speed of regular bikes" to avoid a ticket, then everyone will be riding Class 3 bikes using that logic. Why wouldn't they? I certainly would.

I'm not saying you would be ticketed, because I don't know how strictly they will enforce this new law. But the law won't have much teeth to it if all you have to say is "no worries, I never go over 11 mph, you can trust me."

Maybe not a great analogy, but let's say I carry burglary tools in my car. Can I tell the arresting officer, "no worries, I never actually use them." No one would believe me. Yeah, I know that's a stretch, but you get the idea. Legally, you're riding on a prohibited bike regardless of the speed you are going.

If they don't ticket everyone on a Class 3 e-bike, how do they justify giving anyone a ticket for riding a Class 3 bike? Selective enforcement almost never works.

Here's the legal thing: If you run over and hurt someone riding your Class 3 bike when you knew they were prohibited, do you risk being sued? I don't know, but I wouldn't chance it myself.

Either enforce the laws or tell legislatures to quit wasting time and money passing them. JMHO.

Full disclosure: I'm an old-school rider on a ME-BIKE who has had two major accidents since 2018 (one on the Mickelson) caused by E-Bike riders on throttled bikes. So, I didn't lose any sleep when South Dakota banned Class 2 and 3 on the Mickelson. We'll see if the new law actually works. I have my doubts.

I AM savvy enough to know that e-bikes ARE the future. It's the American way. That doesn't mean I have to like them! :)

My advice to anyone who finds the few hills on the Mickelson difficult to ride is to get off and walk your bike for a stretch. I have. You'll enjoy the scenery that you might otherwise miss and be ready to coast down the other side! It's a beautiful trail.

It's interesting that around here most e-bikers on local trails are 20-30 somethings that at least appear in rather good shape. Just an observation.

Dandy Don, you are correct about that. Almost every e-bike I saw on the Mickelson Trail last year was being ridden by a person well under 30 and probably closer to 20 years old. And in good enough shape not to actually need the electric assist. My local bike shop owner says e-bikes are the first choice of most young people. And they aren't shy about looking at higher-end models.

He predicts that within a decade regular bikes will be about as common as cars with manual transmissions. I find that hard to believe, but I still have (and like) RIM BRAKES on my Trek SL 6. So that shows you how far in the past I am. :)

Hello all,
I am planning to backpack the Centennial Trail in mid May south to north from Wind Cave National Park to Bear Butte State Park. Parking my car at Wind Cave. Does anyone have a suggestion for a place to safely leave my bike near Bear Butte or the north end of the Mickelson trail so I can ride south back to my car?

Doesn’t look like a lot of options along the trail since it’s outside of the urban areas. Thinking outside the box here: The VA has a campus there and the trail goes right by. On that campus is a fire station. If it were me I would show up with a gift card to the local grocery store along with a box of donuts. It’s further away, and means more backtracking, but the Black Hills national cemetery might let you store it there too…..like in the maintenance barn area. Even chained up outside in a safe spot might be an option for you.

You could check with the bike shops in Custer or Hill city. I'm confident they would store your bike. I believe they both provide shuttle service, so they could ferry you and your bike to any trailhead on the Mickelson Trail.

Thanks! Awesome suggestions!