From Deadwood to Edgemont 4 or 5 nights

I'm curious how others planned their trips:

How did you deal with the lodging dead spot between Lead and Hill City?

Some have shuttled, some have stayed at a cabin for an extra night.

I have a party of 6 trying to figure it out.

Sounds like you or some in the group don’t want to ride the 45 miles between the two towns? If you have more than one vehicle perhaps you could stage one of the vehicles at a trailhead along the way as an option. Another option is if there are two riders in the group that can’t ride 45 miles in a day, one could ride the first half while the other drives a support vehicle that first half. They could switch roles at a trailhead along the way. This support role could also come in handy in case of a mechanical or personal issue. You could also check the Mickelson Trail Affiliates website for shuttle services. Some companies will even shuttle your personal vehicle which as a solo rider doing the trail over two days is how I did it. My truck was waiting for me at the trailhead in Edgemont. I was worried about my keys being with my truck so I bought a real estate type lockbox off Amazon. I set the combo to courier Bills phone number for his ease and he locked my truck keys in the box and secured to the truck bed. I was going to return the box afterwards since Amazon has a generous return policy but kept it for future use. The company I used was Black Hills Discovery Tours HOWEVER, Bill the owner has retired since I used him in 2023. He sold the business to Black Hills Shuttle. That business is among the companies on the Affiliates website.

Thanks Eric! I will keep this in my options list

Keep in mind that massive stretches of the ride will be downhill, so you can make great time without much work on those sections, after you have done the work on the climbs. If you divvy up the ride too much, you might have days that are pretty much all uphill or all downhill. For me, that is less fun than having a more balanced day where the hard work and payoff occur with less interruption. Check the elevation chart on this site to get an idea of where things happen. There are sections where you can go 10-15 miles without pedaling.