Join Senior Cycling in riding the Hall of Fame Mickelson Trail and pedal through the Black Hills of South Dakota. Enjoy the endless views and the tranquility of riding without traffic The trail's surface is crushed limestone and is very well maintained. It takes you over 100 rail bridges and through four rock tunnels and provides you with many opportunities to learn the region's rich history (33 interpretive signs).

Because it’s a long way to travel there, Senior Cycling has designed and enhanced this version of the Mickelson Trail tour to minimize uphill riding as well the number of transfers from one hotel to another throughout the week, AND to enable you to experience all the highlights of this unique region of the U.S. during your trip. We begin and spend four nights in Hill City, South Dakota, followed by two nights at a grand lodge in Custer State Park, and conclude with two nights in Hot Springs, South Dakota. For 2026, we have scheduled this tour to allow you participate in the Crazy Horse Spring Volksmarch, an organized woodlands walk to the world’s largest Mountain Carving in progress in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota, by choosing an OPTIONAL night’s stay at the conclusion of the trip.

As improvements over past tours, we have dispensed with the boring tourist steam train ride and visit to the touristy casino town of Deadwood, and instead will stay two nights in one of the historic timber lodges of Custer State Park, the Sylvan Lake Lodge, from where we will embark on a narrated Jeep Tour of the famous Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road one day, and the next visit Wind Cave National Park for a guided Cave Tour and viewing of the park’s famous herds of bison and elk. 

As for the majority cycling portion of the tour, there will be no disappointments riding the entire 109 miles over five days surrounded by the beauty of the Black Hills. The trail begins in the little ranching community of Edgemont and winds northward through the Black Hills to the historic old west town of Deadwood, known for its gold rush history and Old West legends such as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. While the Mickelson can be a more challenging rail trail because it was a narrow gauge railway, meaning the grade can be as much as 4%, Senior Cycling has created a tour where you can enjoy the downhills of these steeper grades!

Spring is a beautiful time to ride the Mickelson, when birds are singing and the hills are vibrant with wildflowers.  No matter your disposition, you will end your tour feeling relaxed and renewed because we spend the last two nights in the quaint town of Hot Springs, soaking in -- you guessed it, natural hot springs and visiting the Mammoth Site, a museum and paleontological site nearby.

Meet in Hill City, South Dakota at our hotel for the first four nights of the tour, the Everspring Inn & Suites. Bike check and assignment/adjustments in the parking lot starting at 3:00 pm; gather at 5:00 pm in the breakfast room for our introductory meeting, followed by dinner at a highly rated local restaurant nearby. 

23 miles.  We'll begin the day with breakfast at the hotel and then jump into the van to shuttle 26 miles north to Rocheford, where we will continue north enjoying breathtaking views of the Black Hills through dense forest, arriving at the historic Old West Town of Deadwood. Today's ride takes us past the Dumont Trailhead, the highest point on the Mickelson Trail at 6,100 feet. As you enter Deadwood keep your eyes and ears open for sounds of The Wild Bill Hickok reenactment in front of the famous Saloon #10. After enjoying the historic, if somewhat touristy ambiance and lunch in Deadwood, we’ll return to our accommodations in Hill City by van.

23 Miles. Today we'll ride out from the hotel (the trail is at the front door) north to the little community of Rocheford. We'll be gifted immediately with the beauty and the heart of the Black Hills, along with riding through 3 rock tunnels. The ride begins with a gradual climb for 7 miles, followed by a gradual descent for 7 miles to the Mystic Trailhead, where we'll enjoy a picnic box lunch from the High Liner eatery which offers many locally sourced and organic options made fresh daily. Healthily recharged, we'll ride 8 miles of flat terrain following creeks and riding through aspens and ponderosa pine forest into Rocheford. After a rest (and perhaps a refreshment at the Moonshine Gulch Saloon), we'll load into the van and shuttle back to our charming little town of Hill City.. 

11.5 or 23 miles. In the morning we'll ride south to visit Crazy Horse National Monument. The ride is 11.5 miles, with a gradual ascent of 100 feet/mile (barely perceptible to the eye). We'll spend 2-3 hours there exploring, learning, and having lunch at the monument's cafe. Those who'd prefer to skip the "uphill" ride to Crazy Horse can shuttle there and have more time to spend. After lunch we'll enjoy the easy return ride to Hill City.

Today is the first of two sightseeing, non-cycling days. After breakfast and checkout, we’ll depart the Everspring Inn and Hill City and make a half-hour scenic shuttle over to Custer State Park and the Sylvan Lake Lodge, our accommodation for the next two nights. After lunch, we’ll get into some custom stretch open-air Jeeps for a scenic drive of the famous Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road, two spectacular sections of the Peter Norbeck Scenic byway that feature all six tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore, as well as Needles Eye, scenic overlook stops, and the pigtail bridges! There’ll be plenty to talk about over dinner in the Lodge dining room!

After breakfast we’ll load into the van for a second day of sightseeing off our bikes — this time, visiting Wind Cave National Park (a 40 minute shuttle due south). We’ll have a timed entry guided tour of Wind Cave from the Natural Entrance, which features 300 steps (mostly down), and a return elevator ride to the surface. After lunch at the Visitors Center, we’re free to explore more of the Park via the hiking trails to look for elk, bison, or smaller wildlife, or by van, before returning to Custer State Park and Sylvan Lake Lodge.

33 miles.  Today is both the longest ride of the week, and longest shuttle, as we ride back south for 52 miles to the Mountain Trailhead so we can begin riding with a fun 5 mile descent into Custer. This southern portion of the trail gradually leads us out of the Black Hills and into the prairie. Continuing south out of Custer for 12 miles, we stop for lunch at the Hitchrail Bar and Grill adjacent to the Pringle Trailhead. Don't miss the funky gigantic bicycle sculpture made with hundreds of bikes! The afternoon's ride is a very enjoyable 16 mile downhill pedal to the Minnekahta Trailhead, from where we'll have a short shuttle to the quaint town of Hot Springs. The rest of the afternoon is yours to soak at Moccasin Springs Resort or the city owned hot springs water park. Both places are less than 1/4 mile from our hotel, the historic Red Rock River Resort. 

16 miles.  We'll shuttle back over to the Minnekahta Trailhead (11.5 miles) where we'll begin today's ride with another gradual downhill to our final destination, the small ranching community of Edgemont and the southern terminus of the Mickelson Trail. The scenery is lovely with its endless horizon views and the quietness of ranch and farmland. A highlight as we approach Edgemont is riding through Dead Horse and Sheep canyons with their towering rock formations. At the conclusion of the ride, we'll shuttle back to Hot Springs. We'll offer an afternoon shuttle for anyone interested over to The Mammoth Site, located just on the south side of town.

After checking out of our hotel and enjoying breakfast at a local restaurant, we'll load into the van and shuttle back to where we started, Hill City. It's been a great week on the Mickelson Trail exploring the famous Black Hills region of South Dakota!  Anticipated arrival back in Hill City is 11:00 a.m.