By T.D. Griffith
July 2, 2010

Four of America’s great presidents stand as sentinels at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, sculpted from the ageless granite of South Dakota’s fabled Black Hills. But, many visitors are unaware that the colossal carvings honoring Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt gaze over a vast million-acre playground laced with backcountry trails, mountain meadows, gurgling trout streams and free-roaming wildlife.

Roughly the size of Delaware, the Black Hills offer an affordable destination for travelers and their pets, and the highest concentration of parks, monuments and memorials in the U.S. From the ragged ridgelines of Badlands National Park to the finger-like granite spires of the 110-square-mile Custer State Park, this ancient mountain range beckons to be explored.

The 109-mile Mickelson Trail bisects the Black Hills, north to south. With 15 trailheads along its route, the “Big Mick” boasts more than 100 converted railroad bridges, four rock tunnels, and a diverse landscape of which hikers and mountain bikers never tire.

At the trail’s northern terminus stands the 1870s gold rush camp of Deadwood, once known as the wildest and wickedest town in the West. The permanent home of western legends such as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, both buried in its Mt. Moriah Cemetery, today’s Deadwood ranks among the nation’s largest ongoing historic preservation projects. Main Street concerts, daily shoot-outs performed by Wild West re-enactors, and gaming, museums and quaint Victorian facades, make Deadwood one of the Black Hills’ most popular draws.

After a day exploring the history and mystery of the Black Hills, travelers encounter a host of pet-friendly properties. The Lodge at Deadwood provides a free VIP package for pet owners that includes treats and a chew toy, and the lodge’s walk-out rooms access thousands of acres of surrounding forests.

Deadwood Gulch Gaming Resort is located right on the Mickelson Trail, while 20 minutes away, Spearfish Canyon Lodge commands a stunning site amid towering limestone palisades, mixed aspen and ponderosa pine forests, and babbling brooks. One-mile hikes through the woodlands take pets and their owners from the lodge to Roughlock Falls and Little Spearfish Falls.

For more information, including additional pet-friendly accommodations, visit the South Dakota Office of Tourism website.

Check out “DockDogs Rock in Deadwood” on our HAPPENINGS page, too!