Sturgis Bike Week, Inc.

Of course, this is where it all started - and we’re not talking about Sturgis Bike Week. The indigenous tribes of the Great Plains hosted a great summer gathering at the base of “Mato Paha,” known today as Bear Butte. Like Sturgis Bike Week, it was full of festivities, victories were recounted, warriors were honored and it served as a time for friends and loved ones to come together to celebrate life.

As you ride on your iron horse along Highway 79, among the gentle waves of prairie grass, your senses are freed to an endless horizon and your spirit is awakened by the energy and mystique that surrounds this sacred area. Continue your ride westbound over the rolling blacktop of US Highway 212. This region you are now traveling through was a natural land passage for General George Custer. General George Armstrong Custer led the first government expedition into the Black Hills in 1874 to investigate if rumors of gold were true. The history he left upon this region has remained to this very day.

Belle Fourche and Hulett are great stops during bike week. Say ‘Hi’ to Ron at the Rodeo Bar in Hulett and get greeted with a little Sturgis 1970’s-style hospitality. If you make it out of Hulett alive - another sacred site awaits you - Devils Tower. This monolith of stone is believed by some geologists to be the core of an ancient volcano. It was the film site for the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and if you take this ride with thoughts of those who traveled before you - it can be truly a spiritual experience. Take this ride during the late afternoon or early evening with the shadows cast low on the horizon, words cannot describe it.