Deadwood to Hill City
A spectacular ride beginning out our back door. A fifty mile ride
ending in the Central Hills permier town of Hill City. The ride can be
done in a moderate amount of time, and easily done at recreational
speeds. With five trailheads and three rest areas the ride is very
condusive to a leisurely pace.
The ride begins with a gradual grade from Deadwood toward Kirk. From
Kirk Trailhead one can either take the Spur or stay on the main trail
toward the Sugarloaf Trailhead.
Once at Englewood a four mile grade takes you to the highest point on the
trail just north of Dumont. When you get to a point that the road and trail are
side by side, another 300 yards through a gate, and you are at the top.
The Dumont Trailead lies accross the Rochford Road from the trail and
has water and a warming hut used by snowmobilers in the winter. From Dumont
a 10 mile descent takes you into the small mining town of Rochford were
food can be found at Moonshine Gulch, taking a left on to the road at the
Rochford Trailhead leads you right to the Moonshiner.
Another
8 miles of downhill coasting gets you to the old ghost town of
Mystic where remnants of the Black Hills gold mining past can still be seen.
Only water and toilets are at Mystic Trailhead.
From Mystic begins a seven-up-seven-down climb toward Hill City. Two
tunnels part way up the seven mile climb break up the beautiful scenery below.
Around 5 1/2 miles up the climb, a gate, followed closely by a road, a bench and
a wooden corral signal to some the top of the climb--but alas, the faux-top only
offers up a 1/4 mile descent that leads to a bit over a mile more of climbing.
Once at the rest area, the final seven miles of descent with regularly spaced
mile markers the countdown to the Tracy Park Trailhead goes quick.
Once in Hill City, cross the highway, follow the sidewalk to the right, around
the 1880 Train and Museum a mile up the road to the Tracy Park.
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