I’m learning about great places to find local produce in the Black Hills all the time. I picked up the colorful carrots above at the Deadwood Farmers Market.
They were grown by the Moonrise Mountain Ranch in Spearfish. They also sell their produce at the Spearfish Park Farmers Market.
Where is your favorite place to find great local food?
The Black Hills Steam and Gas Threshing Bee is a great place to see some old machines at work. Giant Engines like the 100 ton, 750 horse power Corliss Engine that was moved from Hill City. To little engines that run washing machines. And, hundreds of antique tractors and steam engines.
The Threshing Bee is held the third weekend in August each year with activities on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are parades, tractor pulls and many historic displays. There is a train for the kids and at least two different places serving food. There is also a shingle mill and a saw mill in operation. And, of course the thresher runs periodically.
The show is held East of Sturgis on Hereford Road about 1/2 mile past the airport (or about 1 mile past the Buffalo Chip).
If you have any interest in old farm machinery be sure to include this in your late summer plans.
Here is a video of some of the stationary steam engines.
Visit the Western Dakota Antique Club website for more information.
The Mystic Trailhead of the Mickelson Trail is located 12 miles north of Hill City on Mystic Road (Forest Service Road 231).
This is the former location of a mining town that was called Sitting Bull and renamed Mystic when the railroad came through. It was a busy town for many years, the decline came when the saw mill closed in 1952. Some of the historic buildings remain. The Assay office can be seen behind the trailhead shelter in the photo above.
Eight miles to the North on the trail will be the Rochford Trailhead and 15 miles to the South will be the Hill City Tracy Park Trailhead.
Like other trailheads, fresh water is available during the summer season. There is also a vault toilet.
If you travel to Hill City I recommend checking out the South Dakota Railroad museum and you should consider enjoying a meal at Alpine Inn.
