Black Hills National Forest

As the “Stretch My Legs” tour continues, I find myself in South Dakota. Did you know that gambling is legal in Deadwood, South Dakota and there are quite a few casinos here. However, this is not a gambling page it is a hiking page and I digress. Between the towns of Deadwood and Spearfish in South Dakota you can find yourself driving on ALT-14 through the Spearfish Canyon portion of the Black Hills National Forest. This is a really pretty drive that snakes its way following the path of Spearfish creek and will take you up to Spearfish falls. There are plenty of pull off area’s that allow for some nice views. There are also some nice water features like this water fall at a pull-off section.

There is also this one that is called the Devils Bathtub. I’m not really sure why but it seems like the locals like to use the name Devil a lot while naming things. There are some small areas to walk around, which seem mostly used by fisherman as the “bathtub has a small parking area near it.

A little further down the road there is a small parking lot and nice paved, very easy path to get to Spearfish falls. The walk and the falls are very nice and able to be accessed by any skill level.

Here is another angle of Spearfish Falls.

In total you can do the entire trip in about 45 minutes depending on how long you stay at each spot. Lets just say if you spend too long at the casinos the night before and need a slower start to your day, this might be a good quick trip to change your perspective a bit. Some more pictures from the trip.

If you have a suggestion for a hike that you would like me to try, feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on the below social media platforms. I have also added this hikes and all the hikes to the interactive map that you can find here.

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Make sure you check back often this week as I will have more from South Dakota.