We only spent the one night in North Dakota before turning south. Late in the morning, we found ourselves in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere, in the Geographic Center of the 50 United States, located in northwest South Dakota. It was almost on our way as we headed toward the Black Hills, but only if we drove more than 30 miles of gravel road, which of course we did.
Tom in the middle of everything
Jana in the middle of nowhere
This spot is strictly for the geography nerds of the world, as there is NOTHING else around, but there are more geography nerds than you might think, and before we left, a fellow nerd had arrived. The site features a hand-made sign, a cairn, a logbook, an American flag, and not just one, but TWO survey markers. We saw it all!
Proof of center
Whee!
Belle Fourche, 20 miles to the south, is the nearest town to the Geographic Center of the U.S. So if one can't be bothered to go to the actual site, no worries – a Geographic Center of the U.S. Monument is conveniently located right in town. Kind of anticlimactic after seeing the REAL THING, but we went there too. They also have a small but interesting museum and all the visitor brochures one can handle.
Faux geographic center of the U.S.
Official monument in artificial location
Now on to the Black Hills! Just beyond Deadwood, we stopped in Lead, South Dakota, at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center. This is the site of a former vast underground gold mine where scientific experiments are now conducted. There's also a former large open-cut mine on the surface, but most of the mining here was below the earth.
Home of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF)
When the Homestake Mine closed, it left more than 370 miles of tunnels, reaching as deep as 8,000 feet. Scientific experiments began in the abandoned mine in 1965 with the Homestake Experiment, which was an effort by particle physicists to hunt for elusive neutrinos. The science labs are housed at the 4,850-foot level. At nearly a mile underground, experiments are shielded from interference by cosmic radiation present on the earth's surface. The Sanford Underground Research Facility is still an active scientific lab today, with dozens of employees performing all kinds of research.
Homestake Mine open pit
Cross-section of huge tank used in the neutrino experiment
The Mickelson Trail is a 109-mile rail-trail running through the Black Hills of South Dakota from Deadwood to Edgemont. The trail crosses more than 100 bridges and passes through four tunnels. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our bikes, but we decided to hike a small section of the trail. We parked at the Daugherty Trailhead, south of Mystic, and hiked 2.5 miles, passing through two of the tunnels. Nice!
Tom at Tunnel A
The Mickelson Trail
Tunnel B
Lodging: Allen Gulch Cabins, 320 Park Street, Hill City, South Dakota. This was an airbnb rental. We stayed in Unit #9, which was part of a triplex and set up like a typical motel room. The room was large, with a king bed, microwave, fridge, and Keurig coffee maker – nice and comfy and everything we needed. Our only complaint was the weak WiFi. We'll be here for three nights.
Allen Gulch Cabins, Hill City, South Dakota
Behind the cabins, they've set up a small tap room serving up local craft beer, with arcade games, shared grills, and a fire pit. The airbnb host's aunt Maggie serves as bartender and raconteur. We stopped in for a fun flight and lively conversation.
Fun flight behind our airbnb
We had to leave Maggie sooner than we would have liked in order to get some food before the streets of Hill City roll up at 8:00 p.m. It was a short walk downtown to Bumpin Buffalo Bar & Grill, where we got a great dinner at a reasonable price. The pot roast was excellent!
Bumpin Buffalo