Moments from the Spring Creek Loop Trail
Spring Creek Loop Trail outside Rapid City, South Dakota is one of my favorite trails to hike in the Black Hills. This trail has a little bit of everything with a mountain stream, rock walls, and tall pine trees. It offers scenic views of Sheridan Lake and the surrounding mountains. And it leads across part of the historic Flume Trail and through one of the flume tunnels. This one hike has it all!
The trailhead parking area can be a little tricky to find because there currently are no signs at the Sheridan Spillway Road turnoff. The entrance is approximately 11 miles from Rapid City on Sheridan Lake Road – or about 3 miles from Highway 385. From the turnoff, you will follow the dirt road less than half a mile before you reach the parking area.
From the trailhead, you have a few options to take. Because the trail starting at Spring Creek Trailhead connects with several other trails, there are a several different places you can go. On this day I decided to hike Loop A which follows Spring Creek up to Sheridan Lake, then takes you up along the Flume Trail, and then back to the trailhead parking lot. Overall, this hike around 2.5 miles over some moderately difficult trails.
The first mile of the Spring Creek Trail is relatively flat and follows along the creek. There are lots of little rapids and falls in the creek and beautiful rock walls lining the canyon. The trail itself is a little rocky in parts, but generally is not that difficult. There are four water crossings where you have to walk across a long plank bridge. These can be a little tricky if you don’t have good balance, but they are a lot of fun to walk across.Â
After about a mile, the trail reaches Sheridan Lake and you have a couple more choices to make. You can turn around and walk back, making this an enjoyable and mostly easy 2-mile hike. Or you can turn right and walk up onto the dam that overlooks Sheridan Lake. Or you can turn left, cross the ravine, and continue on the Loop A trail. Personally, I like to make a point of walking up on the dam. This spot provides some spectacular views of Sheridan Lake surround on three sides by the Black Hills. If you walk to the far end of the dam, you will find an awesome stone stairway that leads up to connect with the Centennial Trail. Seeing this stairway always feels like discovering the remains of some old fortress in the middle of the forest.
Â
Once you return to the Loop A trail near the dam, make your way across the rocky ravine and pick up the trail again on the other side. As you go along, just make sure to look for the trail number 50 marker. This section of the trail gets a little more intense as it takes you up the side of the hill and onto the Flume Trail. You will also see signs calling this the Deerfield Trail.
This section of Loop A has some of the more interesting sights along the trail. As you follow the Flume Trail you will cross over a rock retaining wall. If you looked closely at the mountainside on the way up the lower section of the trail, you may have noticed this debris field on the side of the hill. After a few twists and turns, you will then come to the first of the two Flume Trail Tunnels. These really are amazing to see and even more fun to walk through. The first tunnel is the longer of the two. When you first step through the entrance you cannot see the other side, so you are surrounded by almost total darkness. But as you go forward only a few feet you will begin to see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Just be sure to watch your head as the tunnel has a low ceiling. You can always bring a flashlight or use your phone to light the tunnel if it makes you feel safer.
Once you are on the other side of the tunnel, you will continue on the trail for a few more twists and turns. Soon you will begin to see a few trails branching off to the left. Just look for the main trail that is marked with the number 50 sign. That is the final stretch of the Loop A trail. (As a side note, if you want to see the second Flume Trail Tunnel, you can keep going on the Flume Trail for about a quarter of a mile until you reach the tunnel, then turn back and pick up the final leg of Loop A.) As you follow the Loop A trail back down to Spring Creek, you will find one more bridge to cross over the water before ending up back at the trailhead parking lot.
This really is a perfect hike because you get to see Spring Creek, Sheridan Lake, cross over bridges, walk up a stone staircase, and walk through a long tunnel – all while being surrounded by peaceful pine trees nearly the entire time. And you can hike the entire loop in around an hour and a half. I think Spring Creek Trail Loop A should definitely be on everyone’s to-do list for hikes in the Black Hills.
