Originally Posted by
jppe
As always thank you for your insights. When I looked at the elevation charts it seemed like riding from Deadwood to Edgemont might be more downhill than riding in the reverse direction. I don't know if that's the case but if I rode it that would be the direction I'd plan to go. That is a long one day ride on the gravel bike so maybe I need to think about doing it in two days. Especially since I'll be heading out to Oregon for a week's plus riding right after that.
I believe north to south does more down hill. Definitely take two days. The trail is not all crushed limestone. There are sections of dirt, sand, etc. I was absolutely wiped the first day to Hill City, but that was due in part to riding up Spearfish Canyon and some other roads to get to the trailhead. At one point I came upon some young kids with a chaperone who were walking up the climb from mystic. I was all out of snacks and bummed some from them. I made it to Hill City at dusk. At the rate they were going, I cannot believe they made it to the top and then down the hill into town before total darkness. At least they had hotel rooms waiting for them in Hill City. Hill City to Custer was also a long day. But keep in mind that I was self-contained with camping gear (but no cooking dear). I think you could pull it off in two days with a light load.
The hotel in Edgemont is pretty basic and not large. Might want to make a reservation a day ahead if you plan to stay there. There not much in that immediate area. You don't want to camp at the muni campground at the south end of town. Edgemont is a crew change point on the busy BNSF Powder River Subdivision. At the height of traffic there was at least one coal train every 30 min. Other trains as well. And there are two crossings in town where they blow the horns. Makes for a lot of noise.