Like some other towns located in the Black Hills, Hill City
is another gold rush settlement founded in the 1870s. Deadwood is in the
northern hills, Hill City is in the southern hills.
It’s located on Hwy 385. Which route you take to reach it
will depend on where you’re coming from. Hwy 16 from Rapid City, Hwys 40/244
from Hermosa, Hwy 385 from Custer in the south and Deadwood/Lead to the north.
While there is more to do, for us, Hill City is the place
to eat and drink. Especially for mommy – daughter outings. Our daughter had a
list of activities she wanted to enjoy while we were visiting. Now that she’s a
college grad in her mid-20s, her tastes are more sophisticated. Kristal’s
birthday was a couple of weeks away during our last visit. Kristen hadn’t been
home for them since leaving for college, so she wanted to take her mother to
some of her favorite places.
Their first outing was at Prairie Berry Winery. The Hill
City location does wine flights. Patrons can sample up to 5 wines for free and
be entertained by the wine experts serving them. The winery also serves food.
The patio, with its grapevine covered pergola, is a nice place to sit when the
weather is pleasant. If you don’t have wine drinkers in your party, they can
still enjoy the food and find other products in the retail space. Kristal
bought South Dakota honey, Kick-Ass Compote (delicious on pork and poultry),
and Red-Ass Roast Coffee. Kristen likes the Frost Bite Wine Freeze. (Kristal
didn’t buy any wine during that outing, but she did purchase one bottle each of
Calamity Jane and Strawberry Fusion a couple of weeks later, while we were in
Sioux Falls.) Fall in love with some wines you can’t live without? Prairie
Berry has a wine club and does ship in case your address is outside their
retail distribution area (SD & WY). 12 bottle cases get free shipping. Like
beer instead of wine? They have a brewery next door.
Alpine Inn was the choice for a birthday lunch two days
later. This restaurant is known for its Bavarian fare. In case you visit any
popular travel websites, and read reviews mentioning a limited menu, that’s the
evening service. Want to take a taste bud trip to Munich, Germany without
actually leaving the States? Alpine Inn will take you there during the mid-day lunch.
The luncheon menu is a bit larger. Kristen had Schnitzel and Mom tried the
Kassler Ripchen. While there is a Spaetzle meal on the menu, the pasta can also
be ordered as an additional side dish with the other meals. Which of course we
did. Everything was delicious. And filling. Unfortunately, there was no room
for dessert, but that was easy to fix by enjoying it later. Since we were
taking half our meals with us anyway, we ordered some dessert to go – apple
strudel and cheesecake with strawberries. Payment here is cash only, and they
were closed on Sundays while we were in the area. Before you plan to go, check
the restaurant’s website for hours and menus, just in case something has changed.
The 1880 train is another Hill City attraction. We’re
actually more familiar with seeing it stopped in Keystone. However, the larger
main depot/rail museum is in Hill City. The choo-choo was leaving the station
as the ladies left the Alpine Inn. Which was OK. The train wasn’t on the agenda
that day. The train ride is a two-hour narrated round trip. The amount of time
you spend in either Hill City or Keystone can be determined by your party. Want
to stay longer than the 15-minute turn-around? Follow the train’s guidelines for
using the schedule to determine what time you want to leave and return. Children
are allowed on the train, but parents considering going might want to read thru
the FAQs page on the website. According to the site, the engines are working
vintage/antiques. To keep them in good working order, they can’t travel at very
fast speeds. One-way trips aren’t mentioned on the website, probably
for the simple reason most tourists won’t have transportation waiting at the
other end. Another option is to visit the Hill City depot, and tailor it to
suit your party’s interests/attention spans. It’s a neat place to take some
photos. They also serve food. If you want to see the train in action, plan your
time there to coincide with the train’s arrivals/departures.
Adults only activities on the train are available too. They
can be found on the special events schedule. Look for Rails & Ales, Wine
Express and Octoberfest. Our daughter has heard good things about the Wine
Express and is interested in trying it. We have yet to ride the train ourselves.
When we do go, it will probably be one of the regular rides, as a treat for our
uncle. His father was a depot agent, and he’s just old enough to remember some
steam engines still being on the tracks when he was a small boy. By the time
Grandpa retired in the 1970s, diesel had fully replaced steam. The 1880 Train
has both kinds of engines. What they’re running on any given day depends on
maintenance schedules. While steam does have a certain romance attached, it’s
pretty impressive to listen to the low hum of the generators on diesel engines.
