Sturgis, Deadwood, and Lead South Dakota. 2026

 After we left Thermopolis, Wyoming, we continued to experience unbelievably wide, open spaces.  Frequently, we were the only vehicle on the road for miles.  We eventually left the rolling plains and began to climb up into the Black Hills.

As we climbed higher into the hills, we began to encounter the remnants of last winter's snowfall. The roads were clear and dry, but it was windy and cold. I don't think this northern country is a place I'd want to be in the winter.

Then it was back down toward the high plains.

Suzie finally got an action shot of the antelope.

After arriving at our campground for the night, we then took a day trip to Sturgis and Deadwood, South Dakota.  Sturgis is famous for its annual motorcycle rally, which is held in August.

It May, the town seems kind of quiet and tame.

When we were in Sturgis and Deadwood in 2009, when the motorcycle rally was in full swing, it wasn't quite so quiet.

Or tame.

It did not take long to check out Sturgis on this trip, and then we proceeded on to Deadwood.  If you have ever watched the HBO TV series call Deadwood, this is the town where that happened.

Many of the events depicted in the HBO series, actually happened here, and the saloons, hotels and stores are still here and open.

I mentioned that there were quite a few motorcycles here when we visited in August 2009.

This is just one parking lot. There were several large parking lots like this that took the overflow from all of the motorcycles that lined both sides of Main Street.

The next day, we drove to the town of Lead, (pronounced Leed), which is just up the hill from Deadwood, where we met with friends who moved here from Northern California several years ago. They bought an old fixer-upper house that they are remodeling and repairing.

They have already done a huge amount of work and the house was very cozy.  It wasn't that cozy because they still go back to California in the winter time to visit with friends and family and avoid the harsh winters.

They took us to an old gold mine that the town was built around.  It is called the Homestake mine. Here is a link to a short video that describes the establishment of the mine and the town.

Link to video about the HomeStake Mine (after watching the video by clicking on the blue numbers, hit the back button to get back to the Blog) 

 3:21  

Eventually, gold mining was ended at the Homestake mine, but miles and miles of deep tunnels were left along with a huge open cut.  The open cut is over 1500 feet deep.

This is a model showing where all of the mine shafts are located in the hillside behind the open cut.  It is very difficult to see exactly where all of the mind shafts are, but you will get the idea that this was a huge underground operation.

This next diagram depicts the basic layout of the shafts and drifts of the mine and reminds us that it is 8000 feet deep.

In order to get down into the mine, large elevator cars were raised and lowered, carrying miners, mining cars and supplies into the mine. This is one of the original mining cars.

As you stand inside the main car and look up, you can see a video of what it would look like coming up from 8000 feet in this mine shaft.  You would also remember that 60 people or 10,000 pounds of cargo could ride in this car. Since I have extreme claustrophobia, I wouldn't be happy riding in this car with two people down 8000 feet.

After the gold mining operation was abandoned, scientists discovered that the deep mine shafts could be used for advanced physics experiments.  

The scientist figured out how to build a huge tank at the 4600 foot level of the mine in order to help discover neutrinos. This is a section of the tank. The sections were actually small enough to fit into the elevator car.  Once at the 4600 foot level, the sections were welded together, forming a very large tank.

 

 This is a description of that experiment.

 

 

Now, the experiments continue, and here's a short video. That explains what they're doing now and shows you what it's like inside the tunnel.  (after watching the video by clicking on the blue "Watch", hit the back button to get back to the Blog) 

watch

 

That's enough for this chapter of the blog.  We hope you are enjoying them, and soon, we will begin preparing the next chapter.  Try and get out there and explore some of this amazing country.

 

Tom and Suzie