My wife and I and two other couples are making a trek to the Black Hills this July and I have a question about the roads. Looking at my atlas, they designate some of the smaller roads as either CR, or FR which I think mean County Road, and Farm Road. I'm trying to determine if these are paved or gravel, and if gravel how well maintained they will be. One I'm looking at is CR284 which turns off 385 to the West just North of Custer. Looks like a really pretty mountain road, but if it's a goat trail, I don't want to be fighting loose gravel. Well maintained gravel would probably be fine. Another example might be the Nemo Road, from just South of Deadwood to Rapid City. Can some of you guys that live up there give me an idea about how these roads are to ride on?

Thanks

David

 

I'm about 350 miles from Black Hills but go there every summer. Here is a good link for motorcycle roads in SoDak.


http://southdakotarides.com/


Nemo Road is one of the best rides in the Hills. Iron Mountain Road is a mini Dragon. 385 runs almost the full length of the Hills and almost all good roads can be accessed from it. One of my favourite roads is Old Hill City Road either from Hill City to Keystone or Keystone to Hill City.


Not familiar with CR284 off the top of my head. In the Hills some CR are nicely paved and some are FAIRLY maintained gravel. Really there is no reason to have to travel gravel in the Black Hills.

 

CR284 is a gravel road, not sure on condition. Winters can be a bit harsh on these roads.
I have rode Nemo Road, I was on it last year and that is paved.
Some great riding out there.
Enjoy your ride!

 

Just go to Google maps.... pick a road, and then use the little orange guy at the bottom right on the map. Drag him to the road you want to look at and you can see images of the road...... that is if the Google map car has been there.

I used that method to plan an 8 state trip last summer, and found some really nice out of the way routes.


Then you can use this to see road conditions and construction http://www.safetravelusa.com/sd/


CR284 is gravel, and Nemo Road is paved according to Google maps.

 

Nemo road.

 

I don't live there but have ridden quite a few of the off the beaten path roads. Make sure to hit all of the usual stuff. Nemo is a great road, low traffic and great sweepers with good scenery. 385 to 44 to norris peak then nemo to sturgis great ride. The part that cuts over to 385 is good too. Boondocks there has good gas. Highest octane in the area. It varies as to whether some of the off the beaten path roads are paved or not. For instance rochford rd (205) is paved from lead but turns to gravel just after rochford and stays that way on 231 almost to Hill city or 261 to 385. Most of the side roads off 385 are gravel. You can zoom in using google earth a lot of the times to tell. I will say a lot of the gravel roads have some great scenery. For instance the gravel roads around Pactola reservoir off 385 lead to good scenery. Definitely stop at the rest stop to look out over the cliffs at the lake. Rochford to mystic to Hill City is a cool ride. There are some actual working old school mines along the way along the creek. There is about 20 miles of gravel but a great ride. Another don't miss gravel road is Roughlock falls road. 222 off of 14 in spearfish canyon. The falls are a great stop. take a picnic.

 

O[QUOTE=472viper;13501890]I'm about 350 miles from Black Hills but go there every summer. Here is a good link for motorcycle roads in SoDak.


http://southdakotarides.com/


Nemo Road is one of the best rides in the Hills. Iron Mountain Road is a mini Dragon. 385 runs almost the full length of the Hills and almost all good roads can be accessed from it. One of my favourite roads is Old Hill City Road either from Hill City to Keystone or Keystone to Hill City.


Not familiar with CR284 off the top of my head. In the Hills some CR are nicely paved and some are FAIRLY maintained gravel. Really there is no reason to have to travel gravel in the Black Hills.[/QUOTE

+1. Nemo to Johnson Siding, Nemo to Van Aker Canyon, Spearfish Canyon. Lots of great roads in the Hills.

 

Been to the Hills several times. Any gas station, restaurant, or store will have a big stack of maps of the Hills free for the taking. All the scenic routes are outlined in a color and are the best routes to ride. Just about all the small roads that run off the main routes are gravel and on a loaded up touring bike that can be real dangerous. Many run up some of the hills but you don't really see anything but trees and a few houses. The scenic rides are on the colored routes on the map. Going out there in July will mean a lot less traffic and getting around will be easier along with being able to shop or hit the quaint restaurants a lot easier. We went out there in June by our pickup and had a great time without all the bike traffic.

 

There's nice scenery in Custer State Park.

 

Make sure you stop at the Chubby Chipmunk for some chocolates…..great roads!