Mt. Rushmore & Badlands Bike Tour

Meet in Rapid City. Shuttle out to Badlands National Park – a stunning 244,000-acre preserve of mixed-grass prairie punctuated with enormous needled buttes, pinnacles and spires. Once blanketed by a warm, shallow sea, it boasts one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Rhino, horse, and saber-toothed cat once roamed here. Today it’s home to bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, black-footed ferret, and awe-inspiring bison. Bicycle through its haunting beauty and spend tonight at the Red Rock River Resort. Take a little time to explore the history and red-brick architecture of the town of Hot Springs before walking to Silk Road for a privately hosted al fresco dinner.

This morning, visit the active dig at Mammoth Hot Springs Site which contains the largest number of mammoth remains in the world. Keeping to the ‘largest in the world’ theme for the day, we head from there on to one of the longest and most complex caves in the world: Wind Cave National Park. To the Lakota (Sioux) who live in the region, the cave is the sacred location where their ancestors first emerged from the underworld. Pioneers in the region did not discover it until 1881 when brothers Tom and Jesse Bingham heard wind rushing out from a 10-inch hole in the ground. According to the story, when Tom looked into the hole, the “wind” (exiting cave air) blew his hat right off his head! We ride through the Park – this is the first place we should see bison! – and have a chance to check out the Visitor’s Center and the Bingham’s original cave opening; there is not time to do the cave tour. Wind Cave is the first cave in the world to be designated a National Park. Continue riding to Custer State Park in the afternoon, where scenic loops wind through its 71,000 acres. Today, bicycle the Wildlife Loop in the southern section of the park. The prairies and ponderosa pine-studded hills here are home to some 1,300 bison, as well as pronghorn antelope, mountain goat, deer, elk, wild turkey and a band of friendly burros. Tomorrow: the northern loop road has some familiar faces in store. Stay tonight at the State Game Lodge.

Bicycle Custer State Park’s Northern Loop and Needles Highway – two of the most scenic (and challenging) rides on a tour that is chock-full of magnificent routes. In 1922, South Dakota’s Governor Peter Norbeck marked out the Iron Mountain Road on foot and on horseback. With its wooden ‘pigtail’ bridges and one-lane tunnels, it’s an architectural marvel carving through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen, rugged granite mountains and more needle-like granite formations. Ride through 11 tunnels in all today, right up to stunning Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. Back in 1922, Governor Norbeck advised, “To do the scenery…full justice, you should simply get out and walk.” But we think the bicycle is a great alternative. Lunch is on your own here, so spend as much time as you like. We spend the next two nights at Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Sylvan Lake Lodge – Custer State Park’s ‘Crown Jewel’.

Today you have choices to make. In the morning, most folks join us for a hike to Black Elk Peak. At 7,200′ of elevation, it’s the highest point east of the Rockies, and the views are astounding. In the afternoon, visit Crazy Horse Memorial, the world’s largest sculpture-in-progress. This fascinating memorial has been under construction since 1948 and receives no government funding. It’s so large that if Mt. Rushmore could be moved, it would fit inside Crazy Horse’s shoulder! Or you can choose to take a ride to Hill City, a picturesque former mining town that is the oldest in Pennington County. Or just relax at the lake. Lunch is on your own.

Deadwood, once a wild-and-wooly gold rush town that hosted the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, is the Lawrence County seat and a National Historic Landmark District. Ride here today on the famed Mickelson Trail and unleash your inner-outlaw! The Mickelson trail surface is mostly hard-packed and smooth crushed lime and gravel with some shorter sections of hard-packed dirt with some rocky bumps. Dinner’s on your own tonight, with plenty of restaurants to choose from and plenty to explore before and after. Stay at the Holiday Inn Express Gold Dust in Deadwood tonight and tomorrow.

If you want to tackle a century ride, today is the day – you can ride from Deadwood all the way to Devils Tower, Wyoming! Or begin your day in a more a leisurely fashion with a cruise through Spearfish Canyon. Bicycling Magazine named Spearfish Canyon one of the country’s Top 50 Scenic Bike Routes. Older than the Grand Canyon, the spectacular 1000-foot walls and limestone palisades of this creek-carved gorge offer some of the most breathtaking scenery in the Black Hills. Visit the Vore Buffalo Jump before pedaling on to Devils Tower National Monument. Visit the iconic landmark held sacred by Native Americans and made famous by the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Ponder the various theories as to how it was formed while we load up bikes. Once you’re sufficiently awed, we will hop in the van to shuttle back to Deadwood.

Known as one of the best-kept secrets in South Dakota, Nemo Road wends its way through lovely scenery with good shoulders and low traffic. Tie your bike to the hitching post outside the Guest Ranch Store in the town of Nemo for an historic photo opportunity. Finish the week on your bike (not in the van) riding the rest of the way back to Rapid City.

*Bicycle Adventures operates under special use permits while on Federal Lands managed by the National Forest Service (USDA), National Parks and Bureau of Land Management. In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination: write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.