09-09-2012, 09:33 AM
If you have never been to the Black Hills of South Dakota...frankly I am not surprised. They don't tend to get a great deal of press, but then they are also not crowded. My family lives around the Spearfish area which is the northen Black Hills and also I think the most beautiful. There is a very nice city campground with a trout stream running right through the middle of it. There is also a state fish hatchery adjacent to the park with museums.
From Spearfish you are:
-15 minutes from famous Deadwood (you know the HBO series) that is a must see. You can see where Wild Bill was shot and his grave along with other famous gold rush settlers
-Minutes away from trailheads to the George S. Mickelson bike trail. this is 180 miles of world class biking trails through the hills (even tunnels). since it is all on former railroad beds there is never more than a 3% grade and all of them ar hard packed so you can take almost any bike except maybe a road bike up them.
-45 minutes from Mount Rushmore
-45 minutes from Crazy Horse
-Minutes from hiking trails some marked and some not (this is where hanging with a local like me ghelps you)
-12 minutes from Sturgis which is home to the world famous Sturgis Bike Rally. Each year the tiny little town swells from its meager population of 10,000 people to anywhere from 500,000 to 750,000. next year will be the 74th year of the rally. This spills onto Spearfish big time so we will not likely want to be there during the rally which typically the first week or two of August...beleive me we will see many Harley folks anyways as they all come to run the twisting raods of the hills.
-Trout fishing is everywhere so practice your flycasting
-45 minutes from Devils Tower (remember Speilberg's aliens landed there in the movie)
Dawn and I could plan many must see and do things for anyone who wants to meet there. We know many out of the way hole in the wall spots to go. So do some googling (is that a word?) and see what you think. Since we have four kids and fulltime jobs we will likely peg our week or so on the calendar in the next few months and let you all know. Here is the URL to the campground if you want to peruse that. I think they let folks who help man the fish hatchery and other things stay free so you fulltimers may want to give this a really good look.
http://www.spearfishparksandrec.com/camp...tions.html
From Spearfish you are:
-15 minutes from famous Deadwood (you know the HBO series) that is a must see. You can see where Wild Bill was shot and his grave along with other famous gold rush settlers
-Minutes away from trailheads to the George S. Mickelson bike trail. this is 180 miles of world class biking trails through the hills (even tunnels). since it is all on former railroad beds there is never more than a 3% grade and all of them ar hard packed so you can take almost any bike except maybe a road bike up them.
-45 minutes from Mount Rushmore
-45 minutes from Crazy Horse
-Minutes from hiking trails some marked and some not (this is where hanging with a local like me ghelps you)
-12 minutes from Sturgis which is home to the world famous Sturgis Bike Rally. Each year the tiny little town swells from its meager population of 10,000 people to anywhere from 500,000 to 750,000. next year will be the 74th year of the rally. This spills onto Spearfish big time so we will not likely want to be there during the rally which typically the first week or two of August...beleive me we will see many Harley folks anyways as they all come to run the twisting raods of the hills.
-Trout fishing is everywhere so practice your flycasting
-45 minutes from Devils Tower (remember Speilberg's aliens landed there in the movie)
Dawn and I could plan many must see and do things for anyone who wants to meet there. We know many out of the way hole in the wall spots to go. So do some googling (is that a word?) and see what you think. Since we have four kids and fulltime jobs we will likely peg our week or so on the calendar in the next few months and let you all know. Here is the URL to the campground if you want to peruse that. I think they let folks who help man the fish hatchery and other things stay free so you fulltimers may want to give this a really good look.
http://www.spearfishparksandrec.com/camp...tions.html
Todd & Dawn Flickema
Former owners of a Classic 1984 Newell
71 Karmann Ghia
Sioux Falls, South Dakota