Throw a dart at a map of the Black Hills, go there, and you'll experience something not masked, cowering in a cubicle staring at a screen waiting for the chance to microwave a Hormel Compleats chicken alfredo. Or you can plan. You can ask, "What's over there?
Your SDPB Outdoors Correspondent recently asked, "What's in the area West of White Elephant?" The trailhead on the Mickelson that is. West of White Elephant has a nice ring to it, and the area is laced with two-tracks and ATV trails — the Martin ATV trail system spans fifty-two miles of intersecting loops.
South of Jewel Cave National Monument, this area of the Western Hills' arid limestone plateau expanse offers some interesting formations.
On your way, down the aptly named Pleasant Valley road, to the Bluebird trailhead, you can stop and ponder Buffalo Rock, a modest monument to the alleged site where the last buffalo in the Black Hills (at the time) was killed. Fortunately Scotty Philip was already growing his preservation herd by then. GPS: 43.69497, -103.70072.
Two miles east of Pleasant Valley Road, just off Forest Service 314, there's a Natural Arch/Bridge that you might not spot from the road. You can park in a pull-off and walk to the top or to a lower ledge, where a bridge separates twin skylights in a small cave. GPS: 43.64891, -103.69980.
Further west, off of Mann Road, FS 1D climbs up onto a grassy table. About 1.8 miles in, you can park where a well-worn trail winds down to a half-domed chamber some maps designate as Jumpoff Spring. This must have been a prized camp site. Nowadays cattle might disturb your slumber.
With hundreds of miles of Forest Service Road and ATV trails to explore from White Elephant to the Forest's western boundary (till it picks up again in the Elk Mountains), including the Luciferian descent into Hell Canyon, rocks are sure to rock you.