Deadwood and Spearfish Canyon

Route description

Rapid City has bronze statues of the presidents on its downtown street corners and serves as the gateway to the Black Hills. Head north on I-90 or US-385 to Deadwood, a Wild West gold rush town with a restored main street, casinos and the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Next door, Lead has a huge open-pit gold mine.

US-14A, the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, follows Spearfish Creek through limestone cliffs, pine forest and spruce. Bridal Veil Falls is right beside the road, and short trails lead to Roughlock Falls and Spearfish Falls. The canyon is especially beautiful in fall, when the birch and aspen turn gold.

The byway ends at Spearfish, a college town at the mouth of the canyon. From there, I-90 heads west into Wyoming, and a side road leads north to Devils Tower National Monument. The 867-foot column of rock, sacred to many Plains tribes, is circled by a 1.3-mile trail around its base.

During the Sturgis motorcycle rally in early August, the area is packed and campgrounds fill up months ahead. Climbers are asked to voluntarily avoid Devils Tower in June out of respect for tribal ceremonies. Spring and fall are quieter, but snow is possible from October.