South Dakota Tacomas

For the number of Tacos I see in town, a bit surprising that I've yet to encounter any of them on here.

 

I thought the same thing when I was back home. There's a few out in the hills too, but still slim numbers compared to nearby states. WY has a good following. Not the biggest crowd, but the guys there are very dedicated. Although, it sounds like most of you are on the eastern side of the state.

 

New guy here but I'm on the western side of the state... I know what hills look like

 

Hey guys, I am from Colorado and will be forced to take a trip to Iowa this summer and thought it would be a great opportunity to go through your beautiful state. I will be pulling a camp trailer that will have to be on mild roads but want to park it and do some wheeling. Does anyone have suggestions for where to do this and/or perhaps want to meet up with us while we are there to guide us on a trail or two?

 

Well... I'm not real sure how you're going through SD going from CO to IA... but maybe mention what parts of SD you'd be in to help. Really not much for wheeling east of the Missouri. I know there's a bunch of trails in the Black Hills -- the west river guys would have more info. I've spent some time in the Nat'l Grasslands, which I enjoy for nice casual, simple wheeling.

Edit: ^^^ Missouri refers to Missouri River. It's an obvious boundary and folks commonly use terms "east river"/"west river" to refer to geography, people, anything really. When I moved here 10 years ago I was surprised really how strong a divider the river is.

 

I'd say your best bet for wheeling is going to be in the Black Hills. I live on the east side of the state (but oh do I wish I lived west river), and like cyakker said, not much for wheeling over on this side. I do know there are a lot of forest service roads that you can take in the hills. I was recently out in the hills for a fishing trip and spotted plenty of trails that I made a mental note of for future reference. These maps will come in handy for you http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/blackhills/maps-pubs/?cid=STELPRDB5203036 The west river guys can probably tell you specifically which trails are the best etc etc. I know I am itching to get my suspension done so I can get out there and do some wheeling.

 

Chillin' in Buffalo Gap National Grassland. In the distance is the main part of Badlands National Park, view is to the north (-ish).

 

Thanks guys! The SD part of the trip is out of the way, but is more fun than anything directly between here and Iowa. The black hills is where we were planning on going. The wife wants to see Rushmore again so I'm sure we will go that way too.

 

No sweat. Here's another useful piece of info: http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/blackhills/recreation/ohv

Any wheelin' in the Hills likely on Black Hills National Forest. While I don't have trail specific info, I do know that you NEED the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) to avoid stiff fines for being on wrong roads and a vehicle permit. Glancing at the above link you can get both online. FYI, Mount Rushmore is surrounded by Black Hills NF -- so camping opportunities abound. Again, maybe some of the Black Hills guys will chip in here.

That photo I posted is from Buffalo Gap NG. Buffalo Gap surrounds Badlands NP and both are an hour or so from the east side of the Hills. No permit needed for Buffalo Gap -- but you do need the MVUM for the Grassland, which afaik you can only get at the Forest Service visitor center in Wall. Which, imho, is the only reason to go into Wall...

 

Hit me up with a PM if you need any info on the hills, I've done a lot of wheeling around these parts

 

@cyakker @Mike90
I use Avenza maps app for my iPOS and it works awesome and you can normally download gps trackable MVUM maps for free. I just have to find out in which ranger districts are the roads I want to wheel. I will start looking now but if anyone knows trail names or ranger district names for cool areas, that would be great info!
I will be hitting you all up in a few weeks when we get dates firmed up. Thanks for everything Already.

 

while not a trail make sure you take Needles highway...without the camper. but there are thousands of roads around here, but i found more than a few that suddenly get skinny or just end. And don't be surprised if you start on one trail and come out on a completely different one. As long as your not tearing things up most of the GFP guys are forgiving if your lost because it happens to them more than they like to admit

 

Forgot to say thanks to you guys for the info earlier. My wife got a new job that kept us from being able to visit this year. I plan to come see your state when sturgis is NOT going on and I hope I can gather even more good info to check out some of the wheeling opportunities. Cheers all.

 

Hello all Black Hills people. I'm soon to be moving up that way, maybe I'll run across some of you.

 

This is what I want to do. I'm from MN, but took the family out to the Black Hills this past spring and I loved it. I want to get back - maybe just myself - with the truck and do some real camping. Any advice on how to do this in the Badlands? Not sure what the restrictions are for dispersed camping, or where we can drive our trucks.

Primarily interested in camping in the Badlands/Buffalo Gap area. I'll get back to the Hills another time.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Anybody have any thoughts on the Baja ORV area? Seems ideal, and very close to the Badlands formations, but I'm also looking for peace and quiet too. Not sure if that area will have the constant drone of ATV's or something....

 

you can camp any where in the Black Hills for up to 14 days, just need to buy a off road tag for 25$ they have all the maps you'll need up there. BUT I dont know any thing about camping in the Badlands sorry.

 

If I were you, I would honestly make the extra hour long trek west into the southern hills. You'll find your peace & quite, as well as some decent trails to camp off.

Edit: I might add that people of the Black Hills & surrounding areas are extremely protective of their trails. It may be useful to hop on a local forum and get some info/guiding from the jeep guys. Toyota following is slim out there, but Jeeps are more populated. Hop on here and start asking questions: http://www.bh4wheelers.com/

 

Just say on the trails that the map tells you and dont tear anything up, pack out want you packed in ect... DeerField lake is nice for camping fishing, camp5 rd. some good trails.