Thursday, August 6, 2009

Black Hills National Forest: Little Spearfish Trail

When Noelle and I had gone up to the Beartooth Mountains in May we had stopped at the Ranger Station in Sundance and picked up some literature about several different hiking trails in the National Forest. Today we finally made it up to the northern hills to check out some hiking in Little Spearfish Canyon. The drive up there was interesting considering it is Sturgis Rally Week and there were a lot of people riding their bikes through Spearfish Canyon.

The hike along the Little Spearfish Trail was great.
It was fairly level hiking along the creek at first.
Then there was a climb up a ridge before dropping into Ranger Draw. At the bottom of Ranger Draw is the foundation of an old Ranger Station and root cellar.
From there the hike paralleled Little Spearfish Creek and the road.

After the hike we were ready for a beer, so we headed back into Spearfish to the excellent Crow Peak Brewing Company. We tried all 6 ales that were on tap. Not surprisingly my favorite was the India Pale Ale while Noelle’s was the Porter. After a pint of our favorites and a sample of each other brew we split a pint of my second favorite beer: Spearbeer. This place is excellent. Unfortunately, there isn’t any food and no way of taking the beer home with you unless you have a growler. If you ever make it to Spearfish, South Dakota do not miss Crow Peak Brewing Company.

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