Hi everyone,

This is my first post here. I saw trail717's links to my blog so I thought I'd give a little more detail on the Black Hills Tour. BTW, the time that trail717 and I tried to ride this route, it was late July and the temps were well above 100F (I think it was 106F the first day on the trail) and there were a few wildfires burning near the trail. I bailed on the loop about halfway down the Centennial trail because I knew finding water on the southern end could have been difficult.

I think the best way to get around the wilderness area is to exit the Centennial Trail at Hwy 244 and head west for about 3 miles. Turn south on a dirt road (Palmer Ck Rd) then turn south onto Hwy 87 (Needles Hwy). Ride the pavement through the needles then rejoin the trail at Iron Ck.

To connect the Centennial Trail with the Mickelson Trail:
At the Wind Cave NP boundary, take the dirt road to the east and then south. It will come to a "T" at the mouth of Red Valley. Then head west back to Hwy 385 and into Hot Springs on 7-11 Rd. Go south out of Hot Springs on Rt 71 as soon as you cross the Cheyenne River, turn west onto Rocky Ford Rd (dirt). After a couple of right turns you'll head down a steep grade to a ford crossing the Cheyenne River. Rocky Ford Rd. will take you to old Hwy 18. From there, you can turn north and catch the Mickelson Trail about 10 miles in or you can turn south and ride into Edgemont for the official start of the Mickelson.

I'll pull my GPS tracks together and see if I can convince Scott to add it to the routes page.