A thirty-year vision for forest land south of the city of Sturgis is coming to fruition.
All twenty-one miles of the non-motorized Sturgis Trail system are complete and open for hiking. It’s part of an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the forest service.
The extensive, multi loop trail system winds through the area of Vanocker Canyon, Deadman Mountain and Veterans Peak south of Sturgis.
Kevin Forrester is a founding member of Black Hills Trails, a volunteer organization that seeks the proliferation of recreational and back-country travel opportunities for mostly non-motorized users.
Forrester says this is the largest trail system in the Black Hills.
“We’ve had stacked loop systems,” Forrester says. “The city of Rapid City—Skyline Drive, M Hill, those are systems. They’re not nearly as expansive and offer more of a back-country experience like this does. You can find yourself feeling lost in a wilderness like experience but still only be a couple miles from town.”
Forrester says Black Hills Trails has already invested over 200-thousand dollars into the new trail system.
The City of Sturgis set up a special TIF district in the subdivision where the trailhead is located to help fund it’s part of the operations. Over five miles of trail is located in the city and winds its way up to the Sturgis Reservoirs.
Steve Kozel is the district ranger for the Northern Hills Ranger District.
“It’s in an area of the hills that was difficult to get into if people didn’t know how to get there,” Kozel says. “With the information that will be coming out about the trail and how to get there and way-finding, its going to give people an opportunity to connect with a piece of public land that they probably had little opportunity before.”
The Sturgis Trial also links into the existing Centennial trail.