Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In the summer of 2025 I made my first ever visit to the stunning Paha Sapa (English: Black Hills) to see the sights this corner of South Dakota has to offer. I happened to be there right at the start of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so the roads throughout the area were chock full of bikes which you will hear constantly in the background of the video. The unique Black Hills Central Railroad runs 20 miles between the towns of Hill City and Keystone on a former CB&Q branch line with intense gradients in both directions. To handle trainloads of tourists on this rollercoaster of a line, the railroad relies on a pair of Baldwin-built 2-6-6-2T mallets, built in the mid 1920s for use on logging railroads in the Pacific Northwest. These compact brutes put on a fantastic show climbing the grades at Tin Mill Hill and Oblivion, and make the Black Hills Central a must-visit for any steam fan. A short distance from Keystone station is Six Grandfathers Mountain, known to most Americans as Mount Rushmore, which has been defaced with the likenesses of four US presidents. A few miles south of Hill City stands the incredibly controversial Crazy Horse Memorial, which if ever completed will rival Rushmore as the largest mountain carving in history. Nearby lie the Black Hills National Forest, Custer State Park, and Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks, which showcase the natural beauty and wildlife of the region. The day and half I spent in South Dakota was not nearly enough and I look forward to returning someday.
In the summer of 2025 I made my first ever visit to the stunning Paha Sapa (English: Black Hills) to see the sights this corner of South Dakota has to offer. I happened to be there right at the start of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so the roads throughout the area were chock full of bikes which you will hear constantly in the background of the video. The unique Black Hills Central Railroad runs 20 miles between the towns of Hill City and Keystone on a former CB&Q branch line with intense gradients in both directions. To handle trainloads of tourists on this rollercoaster of a line, the railroad relies on a pair of Baldwin-built 2-6-6-2T mallets, built in the mid 1920s for use on logging railroads in the Pacific Northwest. These compact brutes put on a fantastic show climbing the grades at Tin Mill Hill and Oblivion, and make the Black Hills Central a must-visit for any steam fan. A short distance from Keystone station is Six Grandfathers Mountain, known to most Americans as Mount Rushmore, which has been defaced with the likenesses of four US presidents. A few miles south of Hill City stands the incredibly controversial Crazy Horse Memorial, which if ever completed will rival Rushmore as the largest mountain carving in history. Nearby lie the Black Hills National Forest, Custer State Park, and Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks, which showcase the natural beauty and wildlife of the region. The day and half I spent in South Dakota was not nearly enough and I look forward to returning someday.
