2021 SOUTH DAKOTA & WYOMING - Mickelson Trail and Devils Tower

Imagine a path where the ghosts of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane still pop-up, where wild buffalo still roam free, historical landmarks along way, swerving in effort of not colliding with big horned sheep along with the unique trail and beauty of the black hills… welcome to the George S. Mickelson Trail… one of best bicycle rides in the world and we will be riding it ROTR style.

You will experience the real WILD west, you will party in the same saloons that some of most bad ass gunslingers partied in, you have the opportunity to gamble in gold towns and to sleep in a real Indian teepee! You will not only conquer the GMT trail on this trip, but your adventure will continue into the state of Wyoming where you ride around Devils Tower and stay two nights at a real working ranch.

This trip is loaded with history and will be approximately 150 total miles and you will need a gravel or a mountain bike.

The GMT stretches 109 miles from Deadwood in the north to Edgemont and it is a surface of primarily crushed limestone and gravel. The trail currently has 15 trailheads which all offer toilets, tables and meeting spots for our support team. Most of the grades are gradual and gentle, with none exceeding four percent. Portions of the trail are considered strenuous but will be easy for most ROTR riders. The trail is about 10 feet wide and traverses the full range of what nature in the Black Hills has to offer: prairie, mountains, aspen lined creeks, pine forests, high country meadows and the wildlife that lives in each of these diverse ecosystems along with the gun-slinger lifestyle. There are four hard rock tunnels, blasted long ago through hillsides. The remains of old cabins and ghost mines, interpretive signs along the trail and tons of historical landmarks.

Thursday we will leave very early in the morning and travel to the historical town of Deadwood, SD, spend the night there and party like ROTR outlaws just like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane did. Friday we will ride 63 miles to the town of Custer, a mountain town just minutes from world-famous attractions like Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Custer State Park where we will stay in teepees. Saturday we will ride 43 miles to the end of the trail, load up the bikes and celebrate the completion of the state of South Dakota and head to Wyoming.

We will travel to a ranch in the middle of the Utah back country and stay at a really working ranch. The next morning, we will allow will hike Devils Tower and then ride through some of unique areas of Wyoming ending back at the ranch where we will ride horses and party cowboys style.

Monday will be a sleep-in morning and a then travel day back to Rochester.

Useful sites and tools: Interactive Map: https://bikemickelson.com/mileage-chart.aspx?dir=up&cid=7

COSTS: (dependent on number of attendees and these are approximations)

8-9 Riders - $400 per person

*** ATTENTION: the costs do not include hotels or food. You are responsible for your own hotel reservations and food.

HOTELS:

Night #1 - We are staying Deadwood the first night and there are many options available. (we do have 3 rooms reserved and if you want details please contact robinevents1@gmail.com (first to contact first to get the room)

Night #2 - We are staying in Custer and there is also lots of options available. We have a 5- person Teepee reserved (first to respond first to lock in a bed) in this teepee. You can also make your own reservation for your own teepee, or book a room, cabin or tent at the campground.

Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort

245 Centennial Drive

Custer, SD 57730

605-673-4664

Nights #3 & #4 - We are so excited to offer an once in a life-time experience for TEAM ROTR. We will be staying at a real working ranch in the bonnies of Wyoming. 

We will arrive on evening #3 and party ROTR style and retire to "cabin type" rooms (3 with 1 queen bed, 4 with two twin beds, 1 with 3 twin beds). You will not need to make your reservations as TEAM ROTR has taken care of this for you.

In the morning we will wake up to a homemade breakfast with bacon and eggs, fruits, milk products, cereal and "all that" cooked by the ranchers. We will load up and go to Devil's tower, explore, hike and then we will ride our bikes through the parries and forrests of WYOMING back to the ranch followed by a HUGE ROTR party and dinner cooked by the ranchers.

Check this place out: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60488-d6390828-Reviews-Lake_Guest_Ranch-Hulett_Wyoming.html

Lake Guest Ranch

314 Lake Ranch Road

Hulett, WY 82720

*** there is the possibility of the ranchers taking us out for horseback rides for additional costs.