Living Positive: Cruising the Mickelson Trail

Monday, August 28, 2023

We arrived in Hill City, South Dakota yesterday. We stayed at the same campground as last year which we think is by far the best campground ever…that is why we’re here again. Last year our site had an outdoor kitchen with wine fridge. This year we went for the creekside spot with our own deck and gas firelplace. Of course we brought our favorite neighbors with us - Gary and Karen - who are right next door.

Another reason why we like this campground is that it backs up to the Mickelson Trail which was a Burlington train route in the 1800’s. The train quit running in the 1980’s and in 1991 a group of outdoor enthusiasts, with the help of then Govenor George S. Mickelson, began turning the old track into a trail for hikers, bikers, etc. The first segement of the 109 mile trail was finished in 1998 but unfortunately the Govenor died in a plane crash in 1993 and never got to see the Project completed. Don and I ventured just a few miles on it last year with the vow that we would come back and do more.

And do more is what we did today! Gary and Karen brought their ebikes and we set out to ride from our campsite to a ghost town called Rochford which is half way between where we are staying and Deadwood. It was a beautiful trail with lots of bridges and four old train tunnels. The path is not paved but is made out of crushed limestone. However it is well maintained and is easy to ride on. Rochford was a little farther than we thought - about 25 miles(!) but we were determined to have lunch at the Moonshine Saloon which is the only thing open in Rochford.

The Saloon is old, the floor is slanting, and is rough around the edges but the food was great! I had chicken wings right out of the smoker which were delicious. It was busy too because it is also poplular with the biker (motorcycle type) crowd as well as adventurous tourists. It was weird though because when we arrived our phones changed to a different time zone. We asked the waitress about this and she said it is because our phones were pinging on a central time zone tower…so I guess you can say that we had lunch in the future!

After “fueling up” we got back on our bikes for the long trip Home. Even though the ebikes dIdaho make it easier, almost 50 miles takes a toll on the old joints and butts (who designs those bike seats anyway?!). Needless to say it was Happy Hour when we finally drove up to our trailers!

It was a fun day but maybe next time we don’t go so far….!