3,000 Miles of Trails Mapped in SD’s Northern Hills Region

The trails of the Black Hills will be much easier to navigate come the spring of 2022. The Black Hills Pioneer reports that the Northern Hills Recreation Association has taken on a project to map about 3,000 miles of trails within South Dakota’s Northern Hills Ranger District to improve access and the ease of navigation for ATV and UTV users. The map will be available in printed and digital formats.

The map will include trails and points of interest. The Black Hills Pioneer report says the map will indicate trail connections, descriptions, and so on. It also will include exciting places for riders to explore in nearby communities. The effort reflects those we have seen in areas like Maine, New Hampshire, and others. Generally pushes like this are primarily aimed at increasing the economic benefits seen by these neighboring communities, and more room to ride is a bonus.

The effort comes after five years of work in conjunction with invested organizations such as the US Forest Service, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, the Bureau of Land Management, the cities of Lead and Deadwood, and the Department of Transportation. Maps will be available at all ATV and UTV rental facilities. Better yet, the digital version of the maps will be downloadable into the GPS units that are making their way into a wider number of machines, like Polaris’ Ride Command. The group’s next project is to continue the renovation of the trail systems in the coming years. This is a big effort and we appreciate the strides already taken, and look forward to exploring the trails on our own in the future.