Which Deadwood Trails Keep Going After October?

"Best used from April until October." That's how the City of Deadwood describes the Homestake Trail, the route that links Deadwood and Lead. Less than a month ago, on September 12, roughly 250 people walked that trail for the first Homestake Trail Volksmarch. Then they came down to Deadwood City Park for a dedication ceremony for what organizers called Deadwood's new trail system.

If you read the city's trail pages one by one, the system splits into two groups as the weather turns. The trail to Lead, the short loop at the Friendship Tower and the in-town stretch of the Mickelson carry the April-to-October note. The routes the city calls year-round stay closer to home. They wind through Mount Moriah Cemetery, and one runs from downtown all the way up to Mount Roosevelt. Your cold-season walking map in Deadwood centers on the cemetery hill.

The trail everyone just walked

The Homestake Trail shows how fast a trail's season can close. The city lists it as a 5.7-mile out-and-back. It was first dedicated on September 9, 2017, and it passes through rock walls, so the city warns that "naturally, rocks end up on the trail." The September Volksmarch walked it one way, starting at the Lead Dog Park/Homestake Trailhead and finishing at the Mickelson Trailhead in Deadwood. The event page put that distance at 3.5 miles, and KOTA described the route as a repurposed historic railroad grade.

The current route isn't the same trail that opened in 2017. A Black Hills Pioneer report on the city's trail build says Homestake was realigned so it no longer runs through residential neighborhoods or crosses private property. Jesse Allen of the Deadwood Trails Committee told KOTA the group hopes to hold the walk again next year. Since the city's own guidance ends in October, a walk to Lead fits best in the next three weeks or after the snow melts next spring.

Here's how the city describes each route on its Deadwood Trails System pages:

The city's season notes are recommendations, not closures. Even the city doesn't fully agree with itself on Homestake. One page rates it easy, and another says it's "good for all skill levels."

Mount Moriah keeps going through the cold months

The Mount Moriah Cemetery Loop is the clearest year-round option on the list. The city describes a 1.0-mile loop that takes about 33 minutes. It's paved asphalt, usually at least six feet wide, and it passes the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane before a steep climb to Seth Bullock's grave. Parking is in a paved lot off Mt. Moriah Drive at the south end of the trail. Most of the loop runs at a 5 to 8 percent grade, and it gets steeper between about 0.3 and 0.6 miles if you walk it northbound.

Winter changes things at the cemetery itself. The Mount Moriah Visitor Center at 1 Mt. Moriah Dr. is open May through September, so the self-guided tour pickup has already closed for the year. The cemetery stays open year-round from dawn until dusk, with no winter maintenance. With that paved, steep stretch and nobody plowing it, the loop you walk in January won't be the one you walked in July.

Dog owners need to know one rule. Dogs aren't allowed on the Mount Moriah loop. On the White Rocks and Seth Bullock Grave Loop, which shares the same hillside, leashed dogs are welcome. The city lists it as a 2.4-mile moderate route that takes about an hour and a half, good for birding, hiking and running, with no motorized vehicles. The Pioneer traced the larger White Rocks route from the Deadwood Welcome Center along Whitewood Creek, up Boulder Ditch and around Mount Moriah Cemetery, with a second access point in the Presidential District near Sherman Street. So you can reach the hillside from downtown without driving up Mt. Moriah Drive.

The city doesn't list the Saint Ambrose Cemetery Trail as seasonal. It's a 0.6-mile loop through historic neighborhoods and a cemetery, and it's the shortest climb in the system.

Two ways to reach the Friendship Tower

The Mount Roosevelt Friendship Tower has two routes, and they come with different season notes. The short Mount Roosevelt Loop is 0.8 miles. The city recommends it April through October and warns about steep slopes, loose rock and uneven ground. The Forest Service describes the walk as about a mile round trip from the Mount Roosevelt Picnic Area. The picnic area has five sites and is reached by Forest Road 133. The Forest Service hasn't said whether that road can be driven in winter.

The Downtown Deadwood to Mount Roosevelt Loop starts in town. It's a 6.2-mile moderate loop, and the city lists it as open year-round. The tower site is open sunrise to sunset all year, with no entry fee. Seth Bullock built the tower in 1919 as a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. The same Seth Bullock is buried at the top of the Mount Moriah climb across town, so in the colder months the long loop on foot is the year-round way to link the two Bullock sites.

The Mickelson once the snow comes

The George S. Mickelson Trail runs through town on its 109-mile route. According to South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, it's open dawn to dusk year-round, and the stretch from Deadwood to Dumont is the trail's longest incline at 19 miles. The city's own route page puts the full trail at 106.5 miles and recommends April through October.

GFP's trail policies cover the winter details. Everyone 12 and older needs a trail pass, except on the stretch inside city limits. The trail is open to hiking, biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Motorized vehicles aren't allowed, with one exception: the section between Deadwood and Dumont is open to snowmobiles. Pets must be leashed. GFP lists passes at $5 for a day and $20 for a year. The city describes Deadwood's segment as about 2.5 miles and says it gets groomed in winter as part of the snowmobile trail system.

The trailhead itself is also getting work. At its September 8, 2026 meeting, the City Commission approved a two-inch overlay at the Mickelson Trailhead, capped at $31,100.50. The city's 2026–2030 Capital Improvement Plan also schedules a $275,000 replacement of the trailhead restroom for 2030. As of early October, we haven't found anything confirming the overlay is finished.

The plan behind the year-round loops

The trails that circle Mount Moriah were part of a plan. The Pioneer reported that K4 Trails produced the Deadwood Trail Master Plan under a $90,475 contract. The plan describes a "stacked loop system of trails" north and south of town, meant to connect the Mt. Roosevelt Monument, Mount Moriah Cemetery and downtown Deadwood. The work was funded by a $212,762 state outdoor recreation grant awarded in 2023, plus money from BID 8, Deadwood's hotel room tax, and the South Dakota Gaming Commission. The trail land was acquired through the Historic Preservation Commission. RCS Construction cut the White Rocks route. The full corridor was planned at nearly 10 miles once the Bureau of Land Management cleared trail work on its land, which was expected by the end of 2024. We haven't confirmed whether that full length is open.

The city has kept funding the system. Its 2026–2030 Capital Improvement Plan sets aside $50,000 to $100,000 a year for ongoing Master Plan work, drawing on city general funds, BID 8 and SD Game, Fish and Parks grants. Minutes from the Historic Preservation Commission's November 25, 2025 meeting record work with local gardeners on trail plant identification, planned for 2026. The work is organized by Deadwood Trails, a subcommittee of Deadwood's Main Street Initiative.

At Real Properties of Lead-Deadwood, we pay attention to which trails a property can actually walk to, because that changes with the season. If you're weighing a home in the Presidential District, near Mt. Moriah Drive or along the Homestake corridor, Real Properties of Lead-Deadwood can tell you which trailheads are close by and how those walks change once winter arrives. Speak with a Deadwood Neighborhood Expert, or request a free home valuation.