Riding the George S. Mickelson Trail: Tunnels, Bridges & E-Bike Lessons

Kim Martinez
May 16
3 min read

**Over 100 miles of prime Bicycle path**

Two years ago, we discovered the incredible George S. Mickelson Trail — one of the best “Rails to Trails” conversions in the country. Stretching more than 100 miles through South Dakota’s Black Hills, the trail features over 100 converted railroad bridges, historic tunnels, creek crossings, forests, and small mountain towns — all for just a small daily trail pass fee.

On our first visit, we chose the Rochford Trailhead and rode south toward Mystic. That section quickly became one of our favorite bike rides anywhere.

The trail wound through heavily wooded areas, crossed several old railroad bridges, and passed through three historic train tunnels. Much of the route followed a beautiful creek, creating long peaceful stretches away from roads and traffic. After the ride, we rewarded ourselves with a stop in Rochford at the little café there before heading back. It was one of those rides where you immediately start saying, “We should have gone farther.”

Unfortunately, our e-bike batteries had other plans.

Trying a Different Section of the Trail

This year, we decided to experience a completely different section of the Mickelson Trail and chose the Deadwood Trailhead simply because it was close to where we were staying and the weather looked questionable later in the day.

The ride turned out to be very different from the Rochford section.

Instead of immediately feeling remote and forested, this section began in town. The trail was still separated from traffic and very well maintained, but it crossed roads several times and featured something we had not really experienced on the earlier ride — a long, steady uphill climb.

Normally that would not have been a problem on our e-bikes… except for one small detail:

We had not fully charged them.

After several miles of climbing, my battery level suddenly started dropping much faster than expected. I quickly switched into conservation mode, lowering the assist level far more than I normally prefer. The upside? I got a much better workout and warmed up fast in the cool Black Hills air.

After passing the Kirk Trailhead — which we both agreed would probably be a smarter starting point next time to avoid the town section — the ride became much more scenic. The trail crossed bridges, followed the creek again, and moved farther away from the roads into the quiet wooded landscape we remembered from our earlier ride.

Along the way we passed several picnic tables sitting in idyllic creekside settings that immediately went onto our “next time” list for a future lunch stop.

The Battery Lesson

We would have continued much farther if not for the rapidly shrinking battery bars. Ironically, after years of saying “we wish we could ride farther,” we had finally purchased and brought an extra battery for the trip…

…we just forgot to bring it on the trail with us.

Almost prepared.

Thankfully, the ride back toward Deadwood was mostly downhill. At one point I even walked the bike down a steep section -saving my brakes - and actually regained a couple battery bars from the downhill regeneration.

Final Thoughts

Both rides reminded us why the Mickelson Trail is considered one of the premier rail trails in America. But they also showed how dramatically different sections of the same trail can feel.

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