Hill City to Lead to Deadwood

I mentioned in the previous footprint for Spearfish Canyon — part II of today’s activities — that we visited a couple of towns as well, making this the third footprint that covers today’s story.

From Mt Rushmore, we headed north to Hill City and Lead, drove through Spearfish Canyon from south to north, and stopped in Deadwood on the way back. Our route was sort of a lollipop, with US-385 serving as the “virtual stick.”

We didn’t stop in Hill City as it appeared to be a place where one might visit the shops and such, maybe grab a bite to eat or a cold brew. Or ride the 1880 Train to Keystone. I had read that there was some public art, but the wood carvings didn’t appeal, perhaps because I saw no clear angles to photograph them without the clutter of shops getting in the way. I’m sure others who’ve visited the town would probably disagree with our impression ... and that’s perfectly OK. Each to his own.

We liked Lead. Coming up the hill into town, we parked in the municipal lot (free). The reason we chose the lot was that I glimpsed a couple of murals. Turns out that there is an overlook from the lot that looks into the Homestake Mine, once said to be the largest and deepest gold mine in North America. It apparently closed in 2002. The site is also famous in scientific circles for the underground laboratories set up here ... in the 1960s and again in 2007.

After walking up a short trail for a better look at the mine, and stopping to photograph the murals, we wandered up the street for a quick look-see. The town was very quiet ... very few people out and about ... restaurants and shops mostly closed.

So, we moved onto Spearfish Canyon for a picnic lunch and a drive through the canyon. Exiting through the north allowed us to loop around to Deadwood, which is on the National Historic Landmark registry.

We had no interest in the “gaming halls” as they refer to the casinos in Deadwood, but the Wild West ambiance had us parking the car for a wander down Main Street. Lucky us ... a driver who was leaving the lot offered us his parking ticket with still an hour left on it.

Turns out we were just in time for one of the Wild West re-enactments. It wasn’t terribly crowded, so we put on our face masks and “pulled up a sidewalk” to sit and watch the action in which Jack McCall, who killed Wild Bill Hickok, engages in a shootout. A small bit of fun. Mui tried to video the shootout, but the two gunslingers were too far apart, so we got no useable footage.

After a stop in an ice cream shop, we took a short walk, but the streets were now getting crowded. Hardly anyone was wearing a mask. No one was social-distancing. Time to call it a day.

Heading home, we decided to drive through Custer, fill-up the CR-V’s tank for our next driving adventure, and go back to the campground via the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. The bison herds were gone, but we did see a number of them heading into the hills. A mule deer buck stayed put when we stopped to take a couple of photos, but the pronghorn buck refused to turn around and look at us.

It was 8:00p when we got back to the campground. A long 11-hour day of sightseeing ... but lots of fun, so no complaints.Read more