From the campground on State Highway 79, a mile north of Highway 34 and just outside downtown Sturgis, five rides cover most of what people come to the Black Hills for. Bear Butte is about 10 minutes north. Deadwood is roughly 25 minutes through Boulder Canyon. The Spearfish Canyon loop runs three to four hours with stops. The southern hills day — Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore and the pigtail bridges — takes most of a day, with about 90 minutes of riding just to get down there. Devils Tower is a little over two hours each way and works best as an early start. Because Highway 79 puts you on the edge of town instead of in the middle of it, you can be rolling before the Main Street traffic builds.

How far is Bear Butte from the campground?

About seven miles straight up Highway 79, which is ten minutes at most. Bear Butte is the lone mountain you can see from camp, and it is a sacred site to several tribes, so prayer cloths and bundles along the trail should be left alone. Riders staying with us often go up in the evening after the steak dinner, when the light is low and the parking lot has cleared out. Bear Butte camping is available at the state park itself, though most people ride out and come back.

What is the quickest ride to Deadwood?

Take Highway 14A through Boulder Canyon and you are in Deadwood in about 25 minutes. It is a short, curvy stretch with a creek alongside it and no real elevation to speak of. If you want to stretch it, come back over Vanocker Canyon Road to Nemo and pick up the Nemo Road toward Rapid City, or turn back north toward Sturgis. That loop adds an hour and puts you on some of the better pavement in the northern hills.

How long does the Spearfish Canyon ride take?

Figure three to four hours round trip from camp. Run I-90 west to Spearfish, drop into the canyon on 14A, and follow it up to Cheyenne Crossing. From there you can come back through Lead and Deadwood and finish in Boulder Canyon, which makes a clean loop without repeating any road. The canyon walls keep the pavement shaded, so it stays noticeably cooler than the plains during a hot August afternoon. This is the ride to save for the day the temperature climbs.

What does the full southern hills day look like?

Plan on eight to ten hours. From Sturgis it is about 90 minutes south to Custer State Park. Most riders take Highway 87 through the granite spires and the one-lane tunnels, then work over to US 16A and the switchbacks and pigtail bridges that frame Mount Rushmore in the tunnels. Add Crazy Horse and the Wildlife Loop and you have filled the day. Gas up in Hill City or Custer — services thin out inside the park. Bison have the right of way and they take it.

Is Devils Tower doable in a day?

Yes, if you leave early. It is roughly 150 miles each way, a little over two hours on I-90 through Spearfish and into Wyoming. Many riders pair it with Aladdin or Hulett on the way back. Leaving camp by seven gets you there before the lot fills and back for dinner.

Being close to all of it is the point of this Sturgis campground. Whether you are in a tent under the trees, dry camping, parked on one of the full hookup RV sites with electric, water and sewer, or in a cabin or the four-bedroom Rally House with your group, you sleep minutes from the rally and start every ride from the same spot. Ask us at breakfast which way the weather is going — we ride these roads too.