Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory

May's Must-See Places:
 Discover the Ghost Towns of the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota

In 1876 the United States was celebrating 100 years of independence and gold miners and gold miner hopefuls were trying their luck in the Black Hills. Some left with pockets full of gold, but more left with pockets full of stories. Most people just left. In only 50 years more than 400 towns appeared and disappeared in the Black Hills.

Not all the mining towns disappeared. Hill City, Keystone, Deadwood, and Custer are a few of the leftovers that turned their attention elsewhere and have survived. But plenty of evidence of other towns, ghosty or not, is scattered across the Black Hills. The fun is finding it.

If your idea of a ghost town is a wind-swept street lined with weathered wood buildings, and tumbling tumbleweeds you’ll have to rethink that in South Dakota. Pactola was a mining town named after the ancient Greek placer workings on the river Pactolus. Now it requires scuba gear to explore. The reservoir that supplies much of the water for Rapid City is now called Pactola and in the clear summer waters, visitors can still see the foundations of buildings that were home to more than 300 miners’ hopes.

One of the true ghost towns—one that has been abandoned entirely to its ghosts—is Spokane, near Keystone. It was settled in 1890 and the mine there produced lead, zinc, gold, silver, hematite, graphite, beryl, mica, and copper. Today a few buildings and foundations are left. It is located on public property, so visitors are welcome to explore at their own risk. The explorers’ mantra applies: “Take only photographs. Leave only footprints.”

For a less ghosty ghost town, check out Rochford, west of Hill City. The town saw little violence in its 22 years of boom-time, so there may not be many ghosts around. In December 1878, Rochford had 200 houses, a population of 500, a solid block of stores with wooden, canopied sidewalks, a couple of doctors and a good school. By 1900 only a post office and 48 residents remained. Today some residents still call it home and visitors take in the ambience of the Moonshine Gulch Saloon and the Rochford Mall/antique shop. It is also a trailhead for the Mickelson Trail, a 109-mile trail that was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed.

Not far from these ghost towns is family-owned Prairie Berry Winery, which is anything but ghostly. Though the Vojta family’s history of winemaking in South Dakota dates back to the gold boom days of 1876, it’s very much alive and well today. The winery, which is located in a building that was designed to reflect the mining heritage of the area, makes award-winning sweet and dry wines from the berries and fruits of the prairie, as well as traditional wine grapes.

In 1876 when miners were filtering into the Black Hills in search of gold, the Vojta family was immigrating to South Dakota from Czechoslovakia in search of a new start. They found what they were looking for and today share their winemaking roots and pioneer spirit with visitors at the winery three and a half miles northeast of Hill City, in the heart of ghost town country.
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