The Family of BackBone Bikepacking Routes

Ooh, you're simply the best

Better than all the rest

Better than anyone

Anyone I've ever met

Simply The Best, Michael Donald Chapman & Holly Knight (1988) 

Black Hills BackBone roads - simply the best.

This time of year I regularly field questions from folks planning to explore the Black Hills by bicycle.

For bikepackers, here's the progression of my family of Black Hills BackBone bikepacking routes (90, 205, 424 and 902 miles), with links to posts with descriptions, images, and RideWithGPS files. For these rough road bikepacking loops, I would start and finish in Hill City, which is an easy half hour drive from Rapid City.

1. BackBone BreakOut (90 miles)

For a 2-3 day ride (at 30-45 miles/day), I suggest the BackBone Breakout, a 90 mile loop out of Hill City. A 2 day/45 mile per day rider can camp at USFS Black Fox Campground. A 3 day/30 mile per day rider can camp at USFS Castle Peak Campground and then USFS WhiteTail Campground at Deerfield Lake. Of course, the BreakOut is also a great one day, 90 mile ride on an unloaded bike. BackBone Breakout; BackBone Breakout - RideWithGPS file. 

2. BackBone Buffet (205 miles)

For a 4-5 day ride (at 40-50 miles/day), I suggest the BackBone Buffet, a 205 mile loop out of Hill City that follows the first 50 miles or so of the BackBone Breakout before venturing deeper into the Hills. Introducing The BackBone Buffet; BackBone Buffet Update - It Gets Better; BackBone Buffet Update v.2 - New Single Track; BackBone Buffet - RideWithGPS file.

3. BackBone Bonanza (a work in progress, currently 424 miles)

For an 8-10 day ride (at 40-50 miles/day) or a 6-7 day ride (at 60-75 miles/day), I am finalizing a new route to be called the BackBone Bonanza, a 424 loop out of Hill City that combines parts of the BreakOut, Buffet, Grande, and Double Grande with new connectors. The Bonanza follows the first bit of the Breakout and Buffet, bursts out of the Northern Black Hills on the Grande, sling-shots around and back into the Black Hills on the Double Grande, stretches further into the Southern Black Hills, and eventually climbs back to Hill City on the Grande and Buffet.  I'll post detailed information and maps as I confirm this route over the Summer.

4. BackBone Grande & Double Grande (902 miles)

For an 18-22 day ride (at 40-50 miles/day) or a 12-15 day ride (at 60-75 miles/day), I suggest the BackBone Grande/Double Grande, a 902 mile loop that combines the Grande (NE border to ND border) with the Double Grande (ND border to NE border). To make the start/finish of this loop more accessible than those remote border spots, I suggest starting from Hill City, ride northbound on the Grande to the ND border, connect to the Double Grande to ride southbound to the NE border, and then re-connect with the Grande to climb northbound back to Hill City. Of course, one could start from Custer or Spearfish, or even Edgemont or Buffalo, or anywhere else on the loop, for that matter.

The BackBone Grande/Double Grande is the granddaddy of them all. 

It's what I consider to be the best of the best of Black Hills rough road bikepacking. 

BackBone Grande & Double Grande Page; BackBone Grande & Double Grande + Alternative - RideWithGPS files.

The Black Hills BackBone family of bikepacking routes.
BackBone BreakOut, BackBone Buffet, BackBone Grande & Double Grande, and all their alternatives.
The BackBone Bonanza will be added later this year.

Simply The Best, Tina Turner (1989)

Simply The Best, Jimmy Barnes & Tina Turner (2013).

Resolute Memorial - Gettysburg Address 1863

If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd worked for all my life

And I had to start again, with just my children and my wife

I'd thank my lucky stars, to be living here today

Cause the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today

Cause there aint no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA

God Bless The USA, Lee Greenwood (1984) 

On Memorial Day, the exceptional nation that is America gratefully honors the men and women who have died protecting it. 

Back in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln solemnly addressed a divided, weary nation on the grounds of the Battle of Gettysburg, paid homage to those who died there so that our nation might live, and encouraged Americans to continue to fight for the noble principles on which our nation was founded:

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met at a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far beyond our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died on vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

November 19, 1863

God Bless The USA (Rock Version), Lee Greenwood & Drew Jacobs (2024)

BackBone Buffet - Dive In

I'm diving in, I'm going deep, in over my head I want to be

Caught in the rush, lost in the flow, in over my head I want to go

The river's deep, the river's wide, the river's water is alive

So, sink or swim, I'm diving in (I'm diving in, I'm diving in, I'm diving in)

Dive, Steven Curtis Chapman (2011)

USFS Secondary Road 376 through Red Bird Canyon

The Black Hills BackBone Buffet.

A 200 mile rough road bikepacking loop out of Hill City.

When it's time to dive a little deeper into the Black Hills.

Getting out there on Gillette Canyon Road (USFS Secondary Road 296).

The BackBone Buffet cherry-picks the best rough roads found on the original BackBone, DoubleBackBone, BackBone Grande, BackBone DoubleGrande, and even some Bounty routes to showcase the best of the Central Black Hills in a memorable 200 mile loop.

If you're looking to bikepack more than an Overnighter, but less than a week, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, here's a 200 mile loop that samples a sweet smattering of each of those BackBone routes. At 40-50 miles/3,200'-4,000' gain per day, that's a tantalizing 4-5 day tour. Great all on its own, or a shake-down for something bigger.

Of course, one could more aggressively tackle the BackBone Buffet as an Overnighter of back-to-back centuries or even a through-ride of a double century. It's just a route, after all, not an event. You do you.

For the RideWithGPS file, go to Black Hills BackBone Buffet.

Here's an overview.

Start at Hill City riding north on the Mickelson Trail. Follow the BackBone Grande route north to Black Fox Campground (Gold Mountain, tunnels, Castle Peak, Moonshine Gulch). See, BackBone Grande Page.

Continue on the original BackBone up Black Fox Camp Road, over Flag Mountain (taking the spur to the lookout), down to Deerfield Lake (with a short stretch of single track Trail 40L), and down Williams Gulch Road. See, BackBone & DoubleBackBone Page.

Jog a bit west on the DoubleBackBone and some Bounty roads (Jasper fire area) to pick up the BackBone DoubleGrande over to and down Red Bird Canyon. See, Bounty Page and Red Bird Canyon.

Continue south on the BackBone DoubleGrande, veer off on Bounty roads to McKenna Springs (abandoned road), and pass Jewel Cave National Monument. See, Connecting.

Take more Bounty roads up Hell Canyon on Double Grande roads and trails and onto another part of the BackBone (overlook view of Crazy Horse Memorial) to drop into Custer. 

Finally, Custer to Hill City on the BackBone Grande Mt. Rushmore Alternative (Sylvan Lake, Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road, Mt. Rushmore). See, BackBone Grande - Mt. Rushmore Alternative.

Total = 202 miles/16,200' gain.

Here are a few approaches.

1. 4 day tour (average 50 miles/4,000' gain):  Day 1 = Hill City to USFS Whitetail Campground at Deerfield Lake (60 miles/5,300'); Day 2= Whitetail to McKenna Springs (62 miles/3,500'); Day 3 = McKenna Springs to Custer (38 miles/3,200'); Day 4 = Custer to Hill City via Mt. Rushmore (42 miles/4,600').

2. 5 day tour (average 40 miles/3,200' gain, for a Bounty-type experience): Day 1 = Hill City to USFS Black Fox Campground (40 miles/3,400'); Day 2 = Black Fox to disperse camp (40 miles/3,500'); Day 3 = disperse camp to McKenna Springs (42 miles/2,200'); Day 4 = McKenna Springs to Custer (38 miles/3,200'); Day 5 = Custer to Hill City via Mt. Rushmore (42 miles/4,600').

3. 2 day ride (100 miles/8,100' gain average, training for a Tour Divide-type racer): Day 1 = Hill City to McKenna Springs (122 miles/8,800'); Day 2 = McKenna Springs to Hill City (80 miles/7,800').

+. One also could add 50-60 miles by riding from Rapid City to Hill City to start the Buffet and then from Hill City back to Rapid City afterward.

With many miles of solid Black Hills National Forest Service roads, the BackBone Buffet route may seem pretty tame. While some miles roll fast, others do not. More than a few miles of Low Standard roads await, along with abandoned roads and some single track. Also, those 100 miles from Deerfield Lake (mile 60) to Custer (mile 160) offer no services and no resupply. Cell service is spotty or non-existent. On the other hand, there is some surface water, as well as a spring at McKenna Springs (mile 122) and Water Draw Springs (mile 134). So, it should be a nice bikepacking challenge, without being too much for most. When loaded for multi-day bikepacking, I prefer a mountain bike with 2.2 inch or wider tires for this route.

For introductions, ride reports, images, maps, and other details of the routes that contain most of the roads on this BackBone Buffet route, here are links to the Black Hills BackBone & DoubleBackBone Page, the Black Hills BackBone Grande Page, and the Black Hills Bounty Page.

Dive, Steven Curtis Chapman (2011)

BackBone Breakout - Get Out There

If you start me up

If you start me up, I'll never stop

If you start me up

If you start me up, I'll never stop

Start Me Up, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (1981)

Castle Peak Road (USFS Low Standard 181).

The BackBone BreakOut.

A 90 mile rough road overnight bikepacking loop out of Hill City.

Nothing like an overnighter to get started.

Mickelson Trail tunnel.
(image by Paul Brasby)

From charming Hill City, the BackBone Overnighter explores about 80 miles of rough, remote USFS back roads and almost 10 miles of rails-to-trails Mickelson Trail for a two day tour showcasing the best of the Central Black Hills of South Dakota.

This forested, hilly loop passes a restored, abandoned gold mine, crosses over a trestle, eeks through old railroad tunnels, follows trout-filled streams, sidesteps to the iconic Moonshine Gulch Saloon, climbs along a beaver damned creek to an abandoned stone lookout, and meanders up and down back roads through prime elk country back to Hill City. An experiential Black Hills feast.

About 40 miles into the 90 mile loop awaits idyllic USFS Black Fox primitive campground, a sweet spot to spend the evening. Of course, one may choose to disperse camp throughout much of the Black Hills National Forest. In particular, one may wish to gradually climb another 12 miles past Black Fox to camp atop Flag Mountain by the lookout tower. 

Black Fox Camp Road (USFS Secondary 233).

This is a gravel and dirt road route, with about a mile of mellow single track, covering about 90 miles and 7,400 feet of elevation gain over 2 days. Several sections can be rocky, rutted, loose, and/or muddy, such as Horse Creek Road, Castle Peak Road, the spur up Flag Mountain, Williams Draw Road, and a few unnamed connectors. Stretches of this route have earned their way onto parts of the Black Hills BackBone, the Black Hills Bounty, the DED Dirt Ride, several Black Hills Gravel Series rides, and even the BackBone Grande. If you only have two days, here's a choice taste of bikepacking the Black Hills.

When loaded for an overnighter on this route, I prefer a bike with 2 inch or wider tires. When riding it on soft roads in late May a few years ago, I comfortably rode my loaded Jones 29+ with 2.35 inch Bontrager XR2 tires. If unloaded, narrower tires can be fun. I have ridden my single speed Black Mountain MonsterCross with 40 mm tires on an unloaded day ride of this route.

The out-of-service lookout atop Flag Mountain.

Potable water is available at the Mystic Trailhead of the Mickelson Trail (mile 16.5 of Day 1), at the Moonshine Gulch Saloon, the Rochford Small of America, and the Mickelson Trailhead in Rochford (mile 32.5 of Day 1), and at the USFS White Tail Campground (mile 19.2 of Day 2). The Moonshine Gulch Saloon also offers bar food and drinks, while the Rochford Mall sells light snacks.

Located an easy 26 miles from Rapid City, Hill City is a thriving tourist town of about 1,000 residents. It offers a variety of shops and art galleries, motels and campgrounds, and restaurants and bars. Hill City is also minutes away from Mt. Rushmore National Monument, Crazy Horse Memorial, and the granite towers of Cathedral Spires along Needles Highway.

Turning off Williams Draw Road (USFS Secondary 691) onto USFS Low Standard Road 301.1R.

For a longer experience with shorter riding days, one can make a 3 day/2 night trip by riding 26 miles to camp at USFS Castle Peak Campground on Day 1, ride 33 miles to camp at USFS White Tail Campground on Day 2, and ride 31 miles to finish on Day 3.

Of course, one could also go the other way, ditch the camping altogether, and ride the entire 90 miles loop in a single day. It's great fun on a stout gravel bike.

This route is publicly available on RideWithGPS at BackBone BreakOut - 2 day map and BackBone BreakOut - 1 day map. 

Start Me Up, Rolling Stones (1981)

Gumption & Grit - Take A Chance

You can tell your old man

You'll do some largemouth fishing another time

You just got too much on your plate to bait and cast a line

You can always put a rain check in his hand

'Til you can't

If you got a chance, take it

Take it while you got a chance

If you got a dream, chase it

'Cause a dream won't chase you back

If you're gonna love somebody

Hold 'em as long and as strong and as close as you can

'Til you can't

'Til You Can't, Cody Johnson (2021)

Bikepacking is not for everyone. More than anything, it requires gumption and grit. 

Gumption to get out there. Grit to see it through.

But that's really all it takes. Most cyclists probably have a bike and camping gear that would work for a night or two.

To get started, you just have to start. You probably won't be ready. Take a chance.

Five years ago, I wrote a short blog post about a mom who took her daughter and a friend on a three day bikepacking ride on the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills. It's worth posting again, with summer approaching and people thinking about trying this bikepacking thing for the first time.

Take a chance.

Gumption & Grit, Black Hills BackBone, June 24, 2021.

More and more people are expressing interest in bikepacking, but many say they don't know how to get started. I often suggest an Overnighter, where you ride on the first day to a fun place to camp and ride back the next day. Neither ride has to be far or hard. And it's only one night. Right now, you can probably piece together stuff to make it work. Just get out there.

At this point, many hesitate, not sure how to respond. Then they often say that they don't have the right bike, or the right gear, or the know-how, or a place to ride, or whatever else comes to mind to put off trying something that may be a bit outside their comfort zone. It sounds fun, but it also sounds like too much. Someday. Maybe next year.

Tell that to Jessica Reimer Tindall, a Girl Scout leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota who took her daughter and a friend on a 3 day bikepacking ride of the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills.

Last week, cycling friends Lucas Haan and Chris Grady were racing the 210 mile Mother Lode gravel grinder, which allows support crews at designated check points along the way. While they crushed gravel, I relaxed in front of the Moonshine Gulch Saloon in Rochford, with drinks, snacks and bike bits at hand, waiting for them to arrive. A steady stream of tourists came and went.

Then a young woman and two girls soft pedaled heavily laden mountain bikes to the front of the saloon. They were utterly spent. Overheated, exhausted, and well beyond the time to stop. But all bore a steely resolve that must have carried them this far. They'd made it through their first day of bikepacking the Mickelson Trail.

Jessica said that her daughter and friend were Girl Scouts who decided to go for a few merit badges on a 3 day bikepacking ride of the Mickelson Trail. No, none of them had ever ridden a bike that far, or carried camping gear on a bike, or even been on the Mickelson Trail. But they researched the route, prepared their provisions, loaded up the bikes they had, with gear they had, and went for it.

At first, they quietly, almost reluctantly, talk of their ride and their plans. Gradually, however, their voices rise in pitch, tempo and volume, as they begin to express their day and feel the depth of their experience. 

I want to listen to more from each of them, but sunlight is waning. They have camp to set up, bikes to attend, and dinner to prepare. And tomorrow will be another big day. I wish them well, marveling at their gumption and grit.

Three adventuresome ladies on a three day bikepacking ride.

It's all out there.

'Till You Can't, Cody Johnson (2021)

Commitment Beats Conditioning

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown

Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of living in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain

You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today

And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

Time, Richard William Wright, Nicholas Berkeley Mason, David Jon Gilmour, George Water Rogers (1973). 

Another long, winding road leading to the next pass on the Great Divide.
Plenty of time to build physical, mental, and emotional fitness.
(image by Paul Brasby)

You're thinking about riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. You study the route and prepare body, bike, and gear. You consider a time frame, which somehow pushes forward. Again. Next month. OK, next year. You'll be better prepared next year. Yeah, next year.

And so it goes. Time slips away. You missed the starting gun.

Newsflash: You will never be ready for the rigors of such an endeavor. Never.

Go. Just go.

You will ride yourself into better shape, if you allow your body and mind time to adapt.

A challenging 4 mile heft-a-bike up Lava Mountain.
Even here, maybe especially here, commitment beats conditioning.
(image by Paul Brasby)

The physical ability to ride a loaded mountain bike 8-10 hours a day, day after day after day, on rough roads through remote backcountry, with certain adversity of unpredictable kind and duration, cannot be built on in-town bike commutes, once-a-week long rides, regular group rides, or indoor trainer sessions. Not even an Overnighter or two or ten.

It can only be built by riding a loaded mountain bike 8-10 hours a day, day after day after day, on rough roads through remote backcountry, with certain adversity of unpredictable kind and duration.

Likewise, the mental and emotional ability to ride a loaded mountain bike 8-10 hours a day, day after day after day, on rough roads through remote backcountry, with certain adversity of unpredictable kind and duration, cannot be built by watching YouTube videos, reading journals, or attending clinics. Or even riding through an occasional thunderstorm.

It can only be built by riding a loaded mountain bike 8-10 hours a day, day after day after day, on rough roads through remote backcountry, with certain adversity of unpredictable kind and duration.

Crawling up the final pitch of Fleecer Ridge on Day 11, I gather myself in a lonely sliver of shade.
I'd like to say this picture was staged.
(image by Paul Brasby)

That doesn't mean to start a bikepacking trip unprepared.

In the long run, you will have more fun bikepacking 1) the better you are conditioned to long, hard efforts on the bike; 2) the better you select and maintain your bike and gear; and 3) the more you understand the route and country that's ahead of you.

However, none of that develops the physical fitness, mental acuity, or emotional resilience required to successfully complete such an adventure. None.

That can only be built by doing it.

The prior day's monsoon created these unrideable roads out of Pie Town.
You never know what's ahead. Embrace the uncertainty.

How, then?

Set a date certain, commit to it, prepare the best you can, and go. Just go.

Commit to the ride. Commit to the date. Commit to the preparation. Then just go. Preparation will almost certainly be short of your targets. Maybe far short. Go anyway. 

A stubborn, attentive, patient rider will build the requisite physical fitness, mental acuity, and emotional resilience during the ride, if you allow your body and mind time to adapt.

You will likely need to re-set your concept of speed and distance. This adventure is a different beast. Start slowly. Gentle pace. Gentle mileage. Far slower and far shorter than that to which you are accustomed. For at least a week. Pay attention to body and bike. Attend to even seemingly minor aches and noises. 

Every day, give yourself a chance to ride the next day. Then ride the next day. 

More specifically, give your body a chance to adapt to the new strain of hours and hours and hours, day after day after day, on the bike over difficult, variable terrain under unpredictable conditions.

Contact points like bottom, hands, and feet, as well as less obvious areas like neck, shoulders, and back, need time to adapt and time to recover each night. Similarly, connective tissues like tendons and ligaments are susceptible to inflammation when stress loads suddenly increase. Given sufficient time and attention, each night's recovery builds the body for the next day. Done right, you don't wear down, but actually grow stronger over time. The human body is amazing, if you let it be.

Equally important, give your mind a chance to adapt to the new strains of unpredictable weather, variable road conditions, route navigation and detours, uncertain water and food re-supply, unknown camping spots, spotty communications with family, surprise mechanical breakdowns, skittish domestic and wild animals, forest fires, flash floods, and a mind-boggling array of unknown unknowns that can crop up at any time. Shorter, less demanding days at the outset provide opportunities to successfully manage the mental and emotional stresses of such variables, as well as the immediate physical challenge.

A gradual buildup also allows one to develop heightened situational awareness and solid decision-making when merely tired, rather than being thrust into doing so when utterly exhausted. That alone can be the difference between riding through adversity and bailing out.

Start slow and short. Commit to it. You will be able to add effort and distance over time. You will adapt.

But start.

Time waits for no one.

Time, Pink Floyd (1973).

Addendum from my blog post The Great Divide - Top 10 (2022). No amount of preparation prepared me for the first 600 miles of my Great Divide ride.

The start of this ride is so hard, I don't know if I'll ever cross Montana. As I tell Paul, I do not want to be That Guy who said he was riding his bike across the country but never left the first state. I struggle for 12 days before starting to figure out how to balance day-after-day-after-day effort and recovery. The sheer elation of reaching the Idaho border is exceeded only at the Mexican border.

And then this from my blog post The Great Divide - Believe (2022).

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 weeks.

Pie Town and the Toaster House

Without pain, I'd never know Your peace

Why is this the place You always meet me

I know, I know I will be alright

I know I can make it through the night

'Cause You are my home away from home

You are my home away from home

It only takes a moment in Your presence to know I'm not alone

'Cause You are my home away from home

Home Away From Home, Zahriya Zachary, Michael Gentile, Bobby Strand & Jessie Early (2025).

Chicken pot pie, salad, and muffin for lunch, with Coconut French Caramel pie for desert.
Much of that turned to take-out for my long drive ahead.

Lounging in Phoenix with some family after the 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo, I gaze at an atlas to consider possible routes for the 1,300 mile drive home to South Dakota. The possibilities are many and varied, such is the vastness of the American Mountain West.

Then I spot Pie Town, a dot on the map just across the border into New Mexico. Some quick math reveals that swinging by there likely adds at least an hour to an already long drive. But it's Pie Town!

The legendary Toaster House in Pie Town, New Mexico.

Pie Town, New Mexico is a storied stop for through-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail and for bikepackers on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. For South Bound riders on the Great Divide, Pie Town is the only town for the 260 miles of dry, mountainous remoteness between Grants and Silver City. So, the prospect of pie animates the imagination of many cyclists in the midst of that stretch.

Pie Town also hosts the legendary Toaster House, a private home converted to a donation-based, volunteer-managed hostel for cyclists and hikers. Its name derives from the multitude of old toasters affixed to wooden posts and fences around the property. Its legend stems from the generous, serving spirit of Nita Larronde, who first opened her home to CDT hikers in 1982 and kept it open when she moved across town. After she passed in 2023, her children have continued her legacy.

Well equipped and stocked kitchen at the Toaster House.

The Toaster House was a destination stop on my through-ride of the Great Divide, engraved into my psyche like the Ovando Jail, Lost Llama Ranch, and Brush Mountain Lodge. One way or another, I was going to spend a night there during that ride.

Late afternoon on a weekday in 2021, I rode into Pie Town just in time for a green chili cheeseburger and Strawberry Lemon Rhubarb pie. Even with a ravenous appetite, I had to take the pie to go. That made for a memorable evening snack and tasty breakfast treat, with some leftover for the ride ahead.

Family room at the Toaster House.

I then rolled over to the Toaster House for a quiet evening, hot shower, and early bedtime. 

As it turned out, I needed that respite from the rigors of the Great Divide. The next morning started the most challenging, rewarding three days of my entire ride. See, Three Days Of The Gila.

All those memories, and more, flood back just from seeing the words Pie Town in small type on an atlas. That's the power of a life-changing experience like riding the Great Divide.

 

There's my route home.

Stairs to the bunkhouse room on the second floor.

Leaving Phoenix before dawn to beat the weekday traffic, I wind up twisty, mountainous Highway 60 from Apache Junction through the mining town of Globe and then Show Low to drop onto high desert plains. The two lane highway is relatively slow going in my Jeep, but nothing like riding to town on a loaded bicycle on rutted, monsoon-infused dirt roads.

I first bee-line to the Toaster House. Surprisingly, it's open in mid-February, well before even the northbound CDT hikers will start to appear. So, I step inside, wander around, and soak in the memories.

Everything looks the same as it did five years ago. Nita's kids and other locals work hard to keep this place open and it shows. And if their goal is to make time stand still, it looks to be working.

Hikers' shoes adorn the outside wall of the Toaster House.

Over to Pie Town Pie Company. They offer a short lunch menu written in chalk on a single board, so I suspect the list changes regularly and any one item is likely limited in number.

In any event, one thing on that lunch menu jumps off the board for me. Chicken pot pie. At a famous pie shop, it has to be good.

It is amazing.

A big, stuffed chicken pot pie, served with an extra bowl of savory filling and an extra, specially seasoned piece of crust, a salad, and a muffin (look back to the first picture of this post!). Amazing. And so much food that I have to take almost half of it with me.

Oh yeah, I also order a slice of their French Coconut Caramel pie, with ice cream. That whole desert leaves with me, too, although it doesn't last long on the drive.

Lunch at the Pie Town Pie Company, one of two pie shops in a town of about 160.

The small inside seating area is about half filled with people enjoying lunch, which doesn't seem too crazy for shortly after noon on a Friday in February. On the other hand, the number of people coming in just to buy pie is staggering. It's a non-stop stream for the hour I was there.

I note the activity to Sarah Chavez, the owner of Pie Town Pie Company, between her scurries to take orders, serve lunches, and dash into the kitchen to bring out more pies. Sarah says that Friday mornings are their busiest times and they always scramble to keep up with demand.

They bake pies early in the morning and throughout the day, continuously re-stocking a selection of 5-6 types of 6" deep dish pies and a different 5-6 types of 10" pies. They generally start the day with one of each on display and then bake replacements as they sell. Know that they also sell the 10" pies by the slice, so a pie that catches your fancy may not be available as a whole pie, at least not until they bake the next one.

So, if you want a whole pie, get there early for the best selection, pick what's available, or prepare to wait.

Fully stocked inventory. Image by Pie Town Pie Company.

With that inside information, I beat feet up to the counter to select a pie to take home. Lemon BlueBerry Buttermilk not only sounds great, but also evokes fond memories of discovering huckleberry, a cousin of blueberry, in isolated corners of Montana during my Great Divide ride. We'll see if it makes it home whole.

Pie Town, New Mexico. 

Not just for CDT hikers and Great Divide riders.

Home Away From Home, Zahriya Zachary (2025).