If you have been to the Sturgis Rally or in Custer State Park, you’ve heard of Spearfish Canyon and Iron Mountain Road. Spearfish Canyon is one of my favorite rides ever. It is slow speed through a beautiful canyon and can on, on a good day, include a mountain goat or two (hoping to get pictures soon). Iron Mountain road is famous for curves, something called pigtails, and views of Mount Rushmore through tunnels. That’s where our intrepid group went today. The entire route we took is shown below (sorry it’s a little cluttered but it makes sense if you use route planning software you recognize the waypoint markers). Once the rally actually starts (next week) this is one of the roads that gets so crowded with motorcycles that there are delays.

Once you are in Spearfish Canyon, there is a lot to take in, including a water falls called Bridal Veil Falls (doesn’t every location have a falls named Bridal Veil?). We had to stop there and take our group picture just like we did 2 years ago.

The temperatures through the canyon were in the low 60’s which felt very good after the heat that has been around us this entire trip.

Iron Mountain Road is not my favorite kind of route. I am not the typical motorcycle rider who is looking for twisty, technical roads. I want to cruise along at a leisurely pace and look at the scenery. That is not possible on this road. The pigtails (360 degree, corkscrew turns), and the switchback curves really keep my on my toes. I am not as technically proficient at this as my friends so I tend to lag behind. They do a great job of making sure I am OK. I appreciate their thoughtfulness. The views from the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road are really unique. You get great views of Mount Rushmore.

Once the ride on Iron Mountain is complete, the road settles down but traffic increases as Rapid City appears on the horizon (waypoint 33 in the first picture) then it’s back on the super slab (Interstate 90) to complete the loop back to our house in Spearfish.

Down the road from the house is a small Mexican restaurant. It looked inviting enough that we pulled in. The ice tea and soft drinks were cold. The food was declared mediocre in a unanimous decision. It was close to home and not too crowded. It felt good to walk in to the coolish house and take my boots off. Another 218 miles in 90 degree heat. I’m ready to call it a day. Thanks for rambling along with this band of Hoosiers.