June 2021 • Nebraskaland 43
for hiking diffi culty, I found it doubled the minimum score for
the "extreme" ranking.
Although an occasional ridge or canyon bottom provides
level hiking, the trail does not follow any one valley or
highland. Rather, it crosses a series of steep drainages
through the center of the escarpment. That means many
ups and downs. The elevations range from 3,700 feet near
Chadron State Park to 4,590 feet just east of East Ash Creek.
During the trip, we climbed 5,754 feet and descended 5,662.
Horseback is surely the least physical way to explore a trail
such as this one. A mountain bike is an option, but it surely
will need a lot of pushing.
The trail is not fi nely manicured. Most of it is unkempt
single-track, with an occasional stretch of two-track. At
times, users must search the landscape for the next marker
post. In early June, we found areas of the trail to be choked
with vegetation and ticks to be abundant, especially near
creeks. An occasional cow pie and patches of poison ivy also
needed to be dodged, though each seemed less frequent as
we traveled west.
Because the Pine Ridge Trail intersects others throughout
the Pine Ridge, you could easily stray off -course if not
The author and his son, Sawyer, stand at the Spotted Tail Trailhead before beginning their hike of the Pine Ridge Trail.
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