Scouting the Route in South Dakota’s Custer National Forest

Last week, Strider and I endured untold deprivations in South Dakota to complete a trail scouting trip that has been on the docket for far too long. We spent a couple of days in Custer National Forest (The Slim Buttes area) connecting a dead-end forest service road to Reva Campground all through public land. There is no official trail there as yet, but we proved it could be done, and have a reasonable degree of confidence that the forest service will consider building a trail based on our pioneering route.

The trip involved an eight mile bike ride, then an ill-advised bushwhack into territory that, while pleasant in its own way, is sure to never become part of the GPT due to our current inability to commission large bridges across wide gorges. That was followed by a nearly three mile “hike-a-bike” through undulating terrain and, at times, chest high vegetation, all while watching our water bottles drain away to nothing in the hot afternoon sun.

Here are some photos from our adventure (not necessarily in chronological order).