Black Hills BackBone Grande Page - 2025 Bump

My January 2023 post "Introducing A Bikepacking Route" generated more page views on this blog than any other, including my Great Divide Mountain Bike Route posts. Now, two years later, it still does. And folks from all over continue to discover this route and imagine riding it.

So, here's my annual post linking to the BackBone Grande Page, which describes the route in detail and links to posts sharing maps, images, logistics, and ride reports, including a series on the first through-ride by Paul Brasby and me in June 2023. Give that imagination a stir.

Streaming into the Black Hills from Custer State Park.
(image by Kevin Fox)

In 2014, I created a bicycle route that I called the Black Hills BackBone, which is a North-South cross-state ride of the State of the South Dakota on primarily gravel and dirt roads along the spine of the Black Hills. The Black Hills BackBone blog first published in 2015 to document the route and attempts to ride it. In 2017, I created the DoubleBackBone route as an opportunity to ride the BackBone route south and then turn north to return to the North Dakota border on mostly different roads. I designed these routes as solo, self-supported, continuous rides across the state, in the spirit of the original TransIowa, the Gut Check 212, and similar continuous cross-state races. See, Black Hills BackBone & DoubleBackBone Page.

Over the years since, I have ridden all those miles, and many more, in the Black Hills and surrounding prairie. I love exploring back roads unknown to me, creating interesting routes, and seeing routes created by others. If not riding, scouting, researching, or routing, I'm probably talking with someone about back country roads around here.

Traffic jam on Lame Johnny Road in Custer State Park.
(image by Paul Brasby)

I started bikepacking in earnest in 2019, rode the Cloud Peak 500 in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming in 2020, and then rode the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route across the country in 2021. Those longer bikepacking rides are extensively covered on my blog throughout 2020-2022. See, Cloud Peak 500 Page; Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Page. Inspired by those rides, I created many multi-day bikepacking routes in the Black Hills, including five different one week trips for out-of-state friends, several 2-3 day trips, and many overnighters.

After completing the Great Divide in 2021 and learning of the current development of the Western Wildlands Route and the Great Plains Gravel Route, I took another look at my BackBone and DoubleBackBone. I still love those routes for their intended purpose, but they were not created for bikepacking. The Black Hills deserve such a route.

Here's my take on it. The Black Hills BackBone Grande.

Mickelson Trail tunnel in the Central Black Hills.
(image by Paul Brasby)

As a starting point, I consider bikepacking to be much more than simply blasting across the countryside to see how fast one can possibly cover a distance. Rather, for me, it's backpacking on a bike, taking the time and effort to absorb the local scenery, history, culture, and wildlife. See, e.g., How I Would Bikepack The GDMBR (2019). As such, to create the BackBone Grande, I first identified what I consider the very best of our Black Hills and surrounding prairie and then connected things with a mix of unique, remote back roads. Here are some highlights:

• Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, prairie with dispersed camping (miles 3-11; miles 32-77);
• Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park with buffalo and wild burros (miles 102-124);
• Cathedral Spires views (miles 126-128);
• Mickelson Trail rails-to-trails path out of Custer, with views of Crazy Horse Memorial (miles 134-144);
• historic Gold Mountain Mine (mile 167);
• back on the Mickelson Trail for two hard rock tunnels (miles 174-178); 
• creek side Castle Peak Road (miles 180-191), passing USFS Castle Peak Campground (mile 187);
• Black Fox Road (miles 202-207), passing USFS Black Fox Campground (mile 202);
• northern portion of Spearfish Canyon and Roughlock Falls (mile 234);
• Belle Fouche National Wildlife Refuge (miles 293-295);
• the Geographic Center of the United States (mile 323);
• the historic stage coach stop of Harding (mile 355);
• Custer Gallatin National Forest near the North Dakota border (miles 396-411), especially Fuller Pass Road passing USFS Picnic Springs Campground (mile 402).

Abandoned road through Lost Canyon in the Northern Black Hills.
(image by Paul Brasby)

In general, the BackBone Grande is about 420 miles long and almost 24,000 feet of gain, with 90% on county gravel or Forest Service gravel/dirt roads. It's a fun mix of remote roads, similar to those on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, all suitable for experienced bikepackers on loaded bicycles having tires 2" wide or more. A bike designed for the Great Divide, such as the Salsa CutThroat or Fargo, would work well for many. Of course, I rode the route in 2023 on my Jones 29+ rigid mountain bike with 2.35 inch tires.

Full service towns with bike shops are Custer (mile 135) and Spearfish (mile 262). C-store/restaurant type re-supply opportunities are at Oelrichs (mile 46), Buffalo Gap (mile 95), Blue Bell (mile 124), Hill City (mile 162), Rochford (mile 195), Cheyenne Crossing (mile 227), Savoy (mile 233), St. Onge (mile 281), and Buffalo (mile 382).

For a Great Divide type Zero Day, I recommend Custer and/or Hill City for an off-day, off-route ride of a mostly paved loop featuring Mount Rushmore, Sylvan Lake, Needles Highway, and Iron Mountain Road (aka Pig Tail Highway). For a relaxing Zero Day in a college/mountain bike town, enjoy a day in Spearfish.

Fuller Pass Road through Custer Gallatin National Forest, just a few miles from North Dakota.

To create this route, I received valuable input from Lucas Haan of Black Hills Gravel and Paul Brasby of the Pony Express Bike-packing Adventure. To make this the very best it can be, Paul and I then rode the entire route in June of 2023, capturing images, taking notes, and making a few minor changes. In 2024, I also found an additional 30 miles of rugged two track through Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, bringing that section up to 45 memorable miles.

Barely marked roads in Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.

Immersed in the barely tracked Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.
(image by Paul Brasby)

Here's the link to the BackBone Grande route on RideWithGPS. BackBone Grande. Here's the link to the Mount Rushmore loop from Custer. BackBone Grande - Mt. Rushmore (Custer). Here's the link to the Mount Rushmore loop from Hill City. BackBone Grande - Mt. Rushmore (Hill City).

Note that the "Paved" surfaces data provided by RideWithGPS is wildly inaccurate, as it always is out here. The main route is about 90% county gravel or U.S. Forest Service gravel/dirt roads.

The Black Hills BackBone Grande.

Optional off-route Mount Rushmore loop from Custer.
(46 miles/5,350 feet of gain)

Optional off-route Mount Rushmore loop from Hill City.
(44 miles/4,900 feet of gain)

The Black Hills BackBone Grande. 

A great ride on its own, and a great shake out ride for something bigger, like the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Black Hills BackBone and DoubleBackBone Page - 2025 Bump

Ten years ago, I published the first post on this blog by introducing the Black Hills BackBone.

It was not a race, or public event, or "Grand Depart," or anything like that. It was just a route that I created to ride myself. Then I created this blog to document my journey, in part as a digital scrapbook and in part to share my experience with others. Three years later, I added the DoubleBackBone because, sometimes, more is more.

That all started another 10 years of exploring thousands of miles of gravel and dirt backcountry roads throughout the Black Hills and out into the surrounding prairie. And beyond. It's been a ride.

Here's a link to the Black Hills BackBone & DoubleBackBone Page, which describes the routes in detail and links a series of posts sharing maps, images, logistics, and ride reports.

The broad shoulders of Flag Mountain reveal the granite peaks of the Central Black Hills.

Inspired by the cross-country routes of the TransAmerican Trail and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route of the Adventure Cycling Association, and by the cross-state races of the original TransIowa, Gut Check 212, and similar races, I wondered whether I could create a remote road route on primarily gravel and dirt roads that spanned the height of the State of South Dakota along the spine of the Black Hills. That whimsical daydream led to many hours of scouring maps, scouting back roads, and pedaling all over Western South Dakota. There seemed to be no end of options.

I struggled with this route, primarily because the Black Hills National Forest offers a staggering number of amazing roads to ride. Scouting a promising road invariably leads to more. At some point, I simply had to stop, prioritize, and choose. The Black Hills BackBone is the result. Here are the cue sheets, from the route first published in January 2015 and updated in 2017. Black Hills BackBone Cue Sheets. Here's a link to a RideWithGPS file that I created in 2021 from those cue sheets. Black Hills BackBone - 2021 Digital Map. And here's a Page with links to posts, photos and maps. Black Hills BackBone Page.

Riding into the sunset at the finish of our 2017 Black Hills BackBone.
Rob Sorge, Dave Litzen, Shaun Arritola & Craig Groseth
(photo by Corinne Sorge)

Conceived as a continuous, self-supported, solo ride, the Black Hills BackBone readily lends itself to a multi-day bikepacking trip or even a multi-day supported tour. In 2017, a small group of friends rode the entire route over three days in the heat and wind of a Fourth of July weekend. For my multi-post report on that ride go to An Idea Takes Shape; Gathering; Crossing The Northern Prairie; Up And Into The Black Hills; Focus On The Finish; A Weekend To Remember; Friends.

Over the years, many cyclists have asked about the BackBone and I know of several other attempts. For example, on a cold, rainy Memorial Day weekend in 2019, an intrepid group of eight cycling enthusiasts from Colorado made a run at it. On that particular weekend of difficult conditions, they rode about as much of the route as one reasonably could. They said they had a great time, particularly their Day 3 from O'Neil Pass to Custer, and have returned to ride Black Hills back roads every year since. New Friends On The BackBone.

The Black Hills BackBone is one memorable ride across the State of South Dakota.

But wait, there's more.

Miles and miles of remote back roads on the Black Hills DoubleBackBone.
Self-sufficiency required.

Say you've ridden the Black Hills BackBone all the way to the STOP sign finish at the Nebraska border. A celebration is certainly in order, along with the photo or two. But then imagine turning pedals westerly on Dakota Line Road to access the Wild, Wild Western reaches of the Black Hills. Back there, a serpentine network of barely used gravel and dirt roads await for you to wind generally north for a return trip back to the North Dakota border.

Now, that's one big, bad loop. 330 miles to add to the BackBone, making over 640 miles, all told.

It's the Black Hills DoubleBackBone. DoubleBackBone Digital. DoubleBackBone Cue Sheets.

Sometimes, more is more. More rolling prairie patrolled by herds of cattle, buffalo, pronghorn, and elk. More obscure canyons scoured by flash floods. More twisty ridge lines climbing to soaring views. More hills stuffed with pine and aspen. More dirt near-roads connecting with Secondary Forest Service gravel. And even more remote than the easterly side of the loop, which is a bit hard to believe until you're out there.

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone, like the original BackBone, is just a route that I think is fun and challenging, however one chooses to experience it. Solo or group. One continuous ride, a series of days, or in sections over time. Self-supported, shuttled, or fully supported. Maybe some combination or even all of the above. 

The Black Hills BackBone. Go big.

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone. Go bigger.

The Black Hills. Just go.

New Year - Let's Go!

It's a New Year! I'm dreaming up a ride or two. Hope you are, too!

To spark imaginations and maybe help with some planning, every January I publish a series of posts that highlight my bikepacking Pages on this blog:  the original Black Hills BackBone & Double BackBone, the relatively new, more rugged BackBone Grande, the surprisingly resilient Cloud Peak 500, and the always popular Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. 

Those Pages describe each route in detail and link to series of posts sharing maps, images, logistics, and ride reports. Just the thing to help you get started, and maybe even get out there. Posts bumping individual Pages start next week, although you can go to those Pages anytime.

For 2025, I'm going back for Year 5 of the Black Hills Bounty. Other than that, I'm not sure.

But I'll be out there somewhere, drawing on that big white sheet of paper.

Brain Endurance Training & Paper Maps

"Brain Endurance Training (BET), a combined cognitive and exercise approach, has been shown to significantly improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults."

Brain Endurance Training Combats Age-Related Decline in Focus, Neuroscience News, 10/11/24.

That grabbed my attention. 

Another day finding my way on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with paper maps.
And I thought I was just out for a ride.
(image by Paul Brasby)

As I understand from a rudimentary reading of some published reports, BET is an approach to exercise both the brain and the rest of the body in a structured, complementary training program. This can be achieved with separate mental and physical workouts, but also with cognitively fatiguing tasks during demanding physical workouts. Although developed for elite athletes, it recently has been shown to apply more broadly, including to those in the MediCare race category.

One report summarized BET as follows:

"BET's core principle revolves around using cognitive stress as a catalyst for a broad spectrum of physiological adaptions, extending beyond mere task efficiency to encompass increased mental resilience, enhanced decision-making capabilities under fatigue, and overall physical endurance."

"Brain endurance training is not merely about getting better at specific cognitive tasks. Instead, it's about expanding an athlete's cognitive and physical capabilities, enabling them to perform at higher levels, with less perceived effort, and make better decisions under fatigue. The misconception that improvement in task performance is equivalent to athletic enhancement misses the core objective of BET:  to forge athletes who can outlast and outperform their competitors by cultivating a more resilient and capable neural engine." Understanding BET:  It's Not About Task Mastery, It's About Capacity Expansion, Soma Technologies, March 21, 2024.

Wow.

What gravel cyclist/bikepacker does not want to increase mental resilience, decision-making capabilities under fatigue, and physical endurance?

I read one example of BET training as solving mathematical problems during an endurance bicycle ride at 80-85 percent effort. That sounds to me like most any gravel race of 100-200 miles or more, especially when navigating by cue sheets. Or most any day bikepacking remote roads and trails, when navigating by paper maps.

From riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, navigating only with paper maps and an odometer, I know that both physical and mental resilience improved significantly over the course of seven challenging weeks. Here's what I wrote shortly afterward:

"Working through a difficult first two weeks, I eventually found my rhythm and rode stronger, longer, higher, and faster as the weeks passed, even as the roads and conditions deteriorated significantly in New Mexico. At the end I believed I could have continued to ride even stronger for many, many more weeks." The Great Divide - Believe, BlackHillsBackBone.blogspot.com, April 5, 2022.

This merits more research.

In the meantime, I'll keep riding with those paper maps.

Merry Christmas 2024!

Merry Christmas! 

Peace and good will to all.

Addendum. I love that Linus lets go of his security blanket when the angel of the Lord says "Fear Not!"

The Meaning Of Christmas, by Linus.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965).

Coming Home!

On the last day of November two years ago, my Dad died. So, this is already our third Christmas without him. Seems like yesterday. Seems like a lifetime ago.

When I saw this picture and short story on social media, I thought of Dad. We always had a special connection with baseball.

God bless all of you missing loved ones. May you find peace and hope in this season.

"I recently read about a man who collects pictures of hitters who had hit walk-off home runs. He said that the reason he did this is because this is how he views us entering heaven.

Look at the faces of his teammates waiting to welcome him home. Look at their excitement. They can't wait to celebrate with him.

Look at the fans. Arms raised, big smiles, maybe even hugs for a perfect stranger.

Perhaps this is your first holiday season without someone important who is now waiting for you in heaven. Maybe it's just another one with that big hole in your heart and an empty seat at the table. Either way, I hope you can find some encouragement in this picture, what it represents to the man who collected it, and find joy this year."

Shared via Greg Payne.

2024 Black Hills Bounty (Day 7) - Going Home

Well, I'm going home, back to the place where I belong

And where your love has always been enough for me.

I'm not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong.

I don't regret this life I chose for me.

But these places and these faces are getting old,

So, I'm going home.

Home, Chris Daughtry (2007).

Emerging from Lost Canyon onto Old Baldy Road (USFS Low Standard Road 633.1).
(image by Luke Derstein)

Day 7 of the 2024 Black Hills Bounty.

Rapid City, South Dakota is my home and the Black Hills are my backyard. Riding into the Hills for a day, a week, or longer isn't leaving home for me.

But it is for the rest of the crew on the Bounty. They all traveled hundreds of miles from their regular lives with families and friends in Nebraska and Kansas, just to ride together for a week in the Black Hills. 

So, on Day 7, they're going home.

Descending out of Lost Canyon on an abandoned road. 
(image by Paul Brasby)

Camping at the bottom of a narrow canyon makes for a memorable evening, but also a cold morning. So, we break camp quickly and layer up for the relatively short, (mostly) downhill ride into Spearfish. We're rolling down Lost Canyon long before the first direct sunlight reaches our site.

As customary, the final day of the Bounty is, at most, a half-day so the crew can start their drive home. But this is still the Black Hills Bounty, which means a mix of challenging near-roads, USFS Low Standard, Secondary, and Primary Roads, and maybe even some pavement. And at least one steep pitch. Well, just because.

Tracking another unnumbered road along Beaver Creek.
(image by Paul Brasby)

In no time, the crew drops out of Lost Canyon and onto Old Baldy Road (USFS Low Standard Road 633.1) and then Schoolhouse Gulch Road (USFS Secondary Road 222). The reprieve on that moderately developed road is very short, however, as we immediately turn onto another unmarked, unnumbered, barely two-track winding up a valley alongside Beaver Creek.

Just as the crew settles into a rhythm on that rough near-road, we turn ninety degrees to face a climb directly up to a distant ridge line. Looking up that steep, loose, rough two track is a bit daunting, especially on a loaded bikepacking bike. But all it really takes is a little focus and a little patience. And a willful ignorance of speed.

Bounty riders prepare for a 90 degree turn onto a steep pitch directly up to a ridge line.
(image by Paul Brasby)

Smooth ridge line cruising on USFS Low Standard Road 130.
(image by Paul Brasby)

Cresting that pitch, we t-bone into a curiously well built and maintained USFS Low Standard Road 130, which rides much more like a solid Secondary Road. Many roads and trails branch off this road as it follows along a nice ridge line. Now, we're cruising.

But we're not done yet. We eventually turn off USFS Low Standard Road 130 onto another one of those unnumbered, unmarked two track near-roads for a rollicking two mile descent that's just rough enough to keep your attention. Too soon, we drop onto Higgins Gulch Road (USFS Secondary Road 214) for the final, champagne gravel road into Spearfish. 

Loading up Paul's toy hauler at Rushmore Bikes in Spearfish.
(image by Luke Derstein)

All loaded up for the drive home.

The sun never did warm up those canyons and gulches we descended that morning. We were cold when finally stopping at Rushmore Bikes in Spearfish. Hard to believe that we started this trip a week ago in the blazing oven of Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.

After a quick change into warmer traveling clothes, we load up bikes and gear in Paul's toy hauler and hit the open road. 

They're going home.

Addendum. Here's a link to the Black Hills Bounty Page, which describes and links all blog post for every post for every year of this ride (2021-present). Black Hills Bounty Page.

Home, Daughtry (2007).