South Dakota route

I am looking for an East-West bicycle route across South Dakota.  Any suggestions?  

John,   I'm pretty much going on memory of the state, having been to most of its sights and corners over the past 50 odd years.  Parents grew up on either side of the James River (runs from North Dakota southward through SD until spilling into Missouri River) south of Mitchell, SD and I've seen a fair amount of that SE region.....a bit uneventful to me.  Were I to do such a trip, I would start up in the Coteau around Webster.  That is an unusual region where the glaciers stopped and the NW-angling edge of the Coteau represents the SW 'beach' of old glacial Lake Agassiz, the bed of which makes up the Red River Valley roughly from Sisseton, SD up through Winnipeg, Manitoba.  From there, you may be able to find scenic routes along the James River to get to either Hwy 212 or Hwy 14, both east-west routes.  Not saying you should take these as they are highways, but there should be state highways that parallel these over to the Missouri River near Pierre.  From there, Hwy 14 and state hwy 34 become the same and it meanders west to the well-known burg of Sturgis.  From there, you are a stone's throw to the scenic Black Hills and a trip through Spearfish canyon would be worth taking in.  Not sure how you plan to end the trip, but some cruising through the Black Hills to end up at Hot Springs or Edgemont would provide a lot of scenery.

Again, just some possible notable routes with good scenery in case it helps.....just don't know much about specific roads that are recommended for bicycling.  It may also be worth polling others about an east->west ride vs. west->east as I would think the prevailing winds from the west may pose formidable travelling by bicycle, but just guessing here.  Good luck!

Source of map photo:  https://cdplodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Coteau-des-Prairies-Color-Elevation-Map.jpg

Hi John,

Thanks.  I am at least a year away from trying this.   A few things will have to fall into place for me to try the trip.

If you are going to take a highway 14 is pretty easy riding, flat farmland through lots of small and even smaller towns. Most of it has wide shoulders though you'll have to brace against the woosh of a truck  passing at 80mph. Especially on windier days, it will yank a smaller vehicle easily. Not sure how that affect bicycles. It will take you to the capitol, Pierre where it merges with 34, which is less farmland and more ranching, hillier. Might be a welcome change after the flatland East half of the state. The west side is where the natural beauty lies. Pierre has a neat earthen dam (with the typical horrible history attached), some cool parks for resting and the capitol grounds are pretty. If renovations are finished there is also a great interactive museum about the history of the area and nation. Otherwise a pretty typical midwest town.

Depending on the time of year, you may want to take routes closer to the river which is not Hwy 14, but slightly busier. There you'll get more options for shade from the beating sun, it gets pretty warm out on the prairie. Carry as much water as you can. Be sure to have stops planned out or you may end up stuck with no where to rest/eat/pee/restock...

Most roads here, paved or gravel, run east to west and north to south in a grid. So it should be pretty easy to make some alternate routes. I'd definitely suggest taking one or two backroads just to get off the busy paths.

Enjoy the ride, while the scenery can seem repetitive there is some amazing wildlife out there (like the poor, undeserving of such a name, lesser weasel. I had no clue such a tiny weasel existed until I saw something weird run across the road..), the bird variety is always surprising us. The skies really stole my heart immediately upon moving here. I'm not sure how Montana won the motto "Big Sky Country"