Mountain bike trails of the Black Hills Part I: the Bone Collector

Mountain bikers in Minnesota oftentimes face the conundrum of the lack of “real” mountains on which to ride. If you find yourself in this dilemma, head to South Dakota’s Black Hills.

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You’ll find thousands of miles of singletrack through forests, sunny meadows, towering granite crags and remote canyons, fast-flowing downhills, steep climbs, short climbs, boulder hopping, creek crossings, step-ups, step-downs, and some incredible scenery.

As one of the premier trails of the Black Hills, the Bone Collector is characterized by its namesake. Trail markers are constructed with the sun-bleached bones of various indigenous critters. Whether it's a testament to South Dakota's commitment to recycling, or just whimsy, Bone Collector embodies the features of the best bike trails in the world: Sedona, Moab, Flagstaff, Whistler and Tahoe, without the long drive or expensive plane ticket.

Getting to the trailhead

There are discrepancies to the actual location of the trailhead, but as of Memorial Day weekend 2010, this is how to find it:

Take Highway 44 west of Rapid City. Between Hisega and Johnson Siding, turn right on Log Porch Road (if you get to Johnson Siding, you’ve gone too far). Drive about a quarter of mile back on the dirt road and park at a closed gate.

There is a private home at the end of the road. As a courtesy to the homeowner, ask if it is okay to park there. The owner’s son is a mountain biker, and very friendly, but little gestures of courtesy go a long way in ensuring goodwill between the mountain biking and non-mountain biking communities.

The trail

Pass through the gate and ride approximately 1.73 miles up the dirt road with a relatively steep grade. Look for a cow pond on the right. Ride about one-third of a mile past the cow pond and turn left onto a nondescript singletrack trail marked by an equally nondescript, hard-to-see orange arrow trail marker right before the turnoff. The key to not missing it to look for the cow pond.

Turn left onto the singletrack trail and you will come to a barbed-wire gate. Unhook the gate and ride through it. Don’t forget to rehook the gate. About 50 yards beyond the barbed-wire gate, you’ll come to a “Y” in the trail. Turn left. Look for the bones attached to a tree on the left. This is the start of the Bone Collector.

Here the trail is very narrow and technical with sharp Basalt rock. I recommend running your tire pressure at 35 to 40 psi to avoid pinch flats.

At 1.96 miles, you’ll come to a series of skinnies. I’ve seen worse, fallen from worse, but there is a nice ride-around if you don’t want to start the ride off with wounded bike or body parts. Another rocky technical section follows and then the trail smooths out for about a quarter of mile until it turns technical again.

In this second technical section, you will pass by two very scenic overlooks and one more gnarly technical section where you ride a skinny and descend the rear face of a rock. You have about two miles of technical singletrack following the gnarly skinny-and-boulder section.

At mile 3.0, the trail crosses over the dirt road you rode up earlier. This section of trail winds up a series of switchbacks with rocks and sharp off-camber hair-pin turns to the top of a mountain. Once you reach the top, you will be rewarded with quite a few scenic overlooks and enough short climbs and descents to keep it interesting.

At around mile 6.5, you will hook up with a double-track forest service road with screaming downhill, washouts, boulders, loose gravel, sand, and mud so control your speed.

The road ends at a rock quarry. Take the road out to Highway 44. Pass through a gate (you pass through a lot of gates in the Black Hills) and take a right on Highway 44. Ride along the shoulder to Log Porch Road. Take a right and ride back to your car at the trailhead.

Total ride

Approximately 10 miles through advanced singletrack with lots of hill climbs, technical sections and descents. 

Important

The average elevation in the Black Hills region is about 5K-6K feet above sea level. If you're coming from Minneapolis, you'll feel the elevation. A lot of the trails will literally take your breath away with the thinner air. The switchbacks are long and numerous because most of the trails reward you with scenic vistas. Prepare to climb and drink plenty of water.