Texas Motorcycle Rallies

Black Hills has heavenly motorcycle rides

Your mission: Find scenic motorcycle rides in the Black Hills.

That's easy. Just hit the starter switch on a motorcycle and look up: Just about any place in the Black Hills is within view of pine-studded hills.

That said, there are plenty of roads in the Black Hills area that are especially good motorcycle routes, both because of the scenery and the curves running through them.

Obvious ones, which practically all bikers who come to the Sturgis rally know about or soon find, include:

U.S. Highway 14A through Spearfish Canyon. U.S. Highway 14A through Boulder Canyon between Sturgis and Deadwood. U.S. Highway 385, which bisects the Black Hills north to south. S.D. Highway 44 from Rapid City west to 385 (Rimrock Highway). U.S. Highway 16 from Rapid to U.S. 385 at Three Forks. U.S. Highway 16A through Custer State Park. The Needles Highway (S.D. Highway 87), is a gorgeous stretch of curvy road through spectacular rock formations. But, during the rally, it's jammed with bikes crawling along in first gear.

 

But there are plenty of other routes that offer twisty roads and beautiful scenery.

Here are some of my favorites, split roughly into northern and southern routes:

 

NORTH

Vanocker Canyon Road, from Sturgis to Nemo. Pick it up off Interstate 90 Exit 32, or if you're in Sturgis, just follow Junction Avenue south. The smooth pavement winds its way up through the pines and past stands of aspen. The road offers plenty of turnouts to stop and gawk and take photos. Vanocker Canyon Road runs about 17 miles to Nemo Road just above the charming village of Nemo.

All of Nemo Road is pretty, but it is especially picturesque from Nemo northwest to U.S. Highway 385, twisting past rustic cabins and barns, lush meadows and a view of Custer Peak, reddened now by mountain pine beetles. You come out on 385 at Boondocks.

U.S. Highway 85 west from Cheyenne Crossing over 6,785-foot O'Neil Pass to Four Corners, Wyo. Newly paved, the smooth blue road climbs through tall ponderosa pines, fields of daisies, placid ponds, big meadows and, on the day I rode through, squadrons of Monarch butterflies. It's cooler up here, too, probably 10 degrees cooler than down in Sturgis or Rapid City. On the Wyoming side, you can take a break at the Buckhorn Bar and Grill and then head down to Four Corners.

Wyoming Highway 585 from Four Corners to Sundance.