One of the best days of riding thus far.

I wake up to an amazing view from my tent. Unfortunately the bison didn’t show up.

[good morning vista]

I load my gear back on the bike and continue along the dirt road that led me to the campsite. The scenery is diverse and the views are stunning. The landscape vascillates between vast grasslands and deeply eroded rock formations called badlands.

[road through Badlands National Park]

[tough choice]

[great scenery along the dirt road]

[vast nothingness]

[badlands]

After a morning of weaving through dirt roads, I hit pavement again at a town called Scenic, SD. The town is quite literally a ghost town. The only establishment that’s open is the Tatanka Trading Post. Upon entering, I’m overwhelmed by the diversity of options. The trading post is a combination bison butcher, convenient store, local artisan outlet and thrift shop. They sell everything from raw bison burger to beaded belts. I opt for a water and a piece of bison jerky, although some of the antiques are tempting.

[downtown Scenic, SD]

[inside Tatanka Trading Post]

I continue down the paved road for a few miles and again the asphalt makes a sudden departure. The dirt is very soft and deep making it hard to ride in until hearken to my off road roots. I have a great time riding approximately twenty tractionless miles in the dirt before I find pavement yet again.

[riding in the dirt]

After a short stint on route 40, I come to the Red Shirt Table Overlook. The panoramic view of the badlands is breathtaking. The scale of the formations is impossible to fathom. Photos of this landscape cannot do it justice.

[Red Shirt Table Overlook]

[horses on a hill]

In the early afternoon I depart Badlands National Park and head for Black Hills National Forest. I find an incredible winding road that is freshly paved and not over populated with cars. It’s shocking how quickly the arid badlands give way to lush pine forests. It is the most abrupt and dramatic about-face in landscape I’ve experienced thus far.

[Iron Mountain Road through Black Hills National Forest]

A clearing in the trees reveals my first glimpse of Gutzon Borglum’s creation. It surprised me to see the four faces peering through the trees.

[Mt Rushmore from Iron Mountain Road]

As I continue, the road gets even more amazing. After the third consecutive 15 mph hairpin turn in rapid succession, I laugh out loud in my helmet. Then suddenly the opposing lane of traffic departs and I’m riding on an eight-foot wide, single-lane racetrack.

[single lane road though the Black Hills]

Just when I thought that a road couldn’t get any more entertaining, I come to a “pigtail bridge.” It’s essentially a corkscrew that allows the road to double back on itself and therefore drop in elevation rapidly. Apparently this one was designed in 1932 by Cecil Clyde Gideon, a self-taught superintendent turned highway designer. He referred to them as “spiral-jumpoffs.” It’s such an amazing sensation to ride through a turn with such a tight but consistent radius, I immediately turn around and ride it again. I thought these only happened in Hot Wheels.

[pigtail bridge]

I finally emerge from Iron Mountain Road right in front of Mt Rushmore. I head up to the viewing platform to take my requisite photos of the 60-foot tall heads carved into the granite. Honestly, I liked it better when viewed from afar.

[Mt Rushmore]

I decide to head north to check out Sturgis, SD. The small town of less than 7000 residents plays host to a half a million bikers every year for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The place proves to be fairly sleepy with 23 days left until the rally begins. I find a hotel on the edge of town for the evening.