Deadwood, Lead, and Spearfish Canyon

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast in the motorhome and then set off for a driving tour of the nearby towns of Deadwood and Lead, South Dakota, and Spearfish Canyon.

Our first impression of Deadwood was scenic:

We had expected Deadwood to be a town of nothing but casinos, and it had some, but it also had a charming downtown area that we would have walked if it hadn't been so hot.

Post office and courthouse

The Deadwood Trolley

We followed Highway 14A south, and in a few miles, we arrived at the town of Lead (pronounced Leed).  This is a hilly town, and the downtown of this town wasn't as scenic as we expected, but we enjoyed the views of the Homestake Gold Mine open cut area.  We stopped at the visitor's center and watched a movie about the mine.  No tours were being help today because there was a car show in the parking lot--we didn't quite get the connection about why that meant that they couldn't have tours.

The mine buildings were located about a mile down the street.  The mine operated from around 1878 until 2001.  They began shutting down the mine when gold prices dropped in the early twentieth century. 

Next to the Lead visitor's center was an old Finnish Lutheran Church, built in the late 19th century .  It is now being used as an art museum and gift shop.

We continued on Hwy 16A to the south end of Spearfish Canyon, more of the scenic drive.  We were not sorry that we did this drive!

We stopped at Roughlock Falls.  We could hear the falls as soon as we got out of the car.  After a short walk, we saw the roaring creek and then the refreshing falls.

We finished up the drive with more views of the rock formations in the canyon.

We explored the town of Spearfish and liked its clean, wide streets but somehow we managed not to take any pictures except for this welcome sign.

We came back to the motorhome to eat lunch and we've been vegging out here ever since.