Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
I think I was figuring better scenery? What we rode past was nice, absolutely. I can get riding alongside a river and fields of soy all around me though and dont need to drive then hop a train for that.
Have you done the Mickelson Trail? Some very nice scenery that changes as you head south. It sounds rougher that the Katy. It's more of a dirt/gravel surface, except for a bit of pavement in Deadwood and Custer. There are also some noticeable grades. When I did it last year there were a few washouts on the final southern segment caused by the insane amount of spring rain in the Black Hills, but nothing I wasn't able to skateboard through. The first day I had to lift by bike over a downed tree.
This image up to No. 140-0043 were taken from the trail:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105349...7655263744881/
The next two were taken in the small town of Edgemont at the southern terminus. Former uranium mining town. It's also a crew change point for the BNSF Railway. Massive coal trains coming out of Wyoming's Powder River Basin would rumble by the town campground every hour or so. They had at least three lead locomotives and two or three helper locomotives at the rear of the train. Not the ideal sleeping situation.
Because you don't pass through a lot of towns along the way they have water and shelter stations at various points along the trail.