Sunny Meadows Trail - Cross Country Skiing

There is something about the majestic beauty of a sunny winter day, gliding through the deep snow on a pair of cross country skis. Besides the wind, it was just a perfect afternoon to enjoy some exercise and time with friends. 

​We tried a new trail - Sunny Meadows, which is part of the Eagle Cliff trails near Lead, SD. This trail head is 9.4 miles from the 

Cheyenne Crossing intersection and has a "Sunny Meadows" sign posted at the parking lot. ​

From the parking lot, we went through the metal gate and onto the trail. The first section of the trail took us though a meadow that was very wind blown so the snow had a icy crust on it. 

This section was a slight incline almost the whole way until we came to the intersection of trail What the Hell. We continued on the Sunny Meadow trail down a little hill to this beautiful area filled with light, fluffy powder.

I am sure you can guess what happened next...I fell and struggled to get up! Luckily my fiance was nice enough to save the day, though not before taking a few photos. And of course my dog, Pippe, had to come and make sure I was ok!

She was such a trooper in that snow. Between her Ruffwear down jacket and hot pink dog booties she was having a great time, though she was definitely tuckered by the end.

The next leg of our journey took us through my favorite part of the whole day...this secluded section that had perfectly packed snow where I just glided right along, no wind, and I was surrounded by such beautiful pine trees.

But of course that peacefulness didn't last long. The next section was UP Hidden Basin which doesn't look steep going up but when you are pretty much duck walking up the whole trail in cross country skies, it is a challenge for sure!

​Once we made it to the top we enjoyed a fun ride down the other side!

Once we made it to the bottom of the hill, we connected up to The Loop trail and took that back to the Bratwurst trail and back to the vehicles. 

This area is one of my favorites in the Black Hills for cross country skiing, though to be fair, I haven't made it to many other ones yet! 

Directions: From Spearfish, take Hwy 14A south through Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway to Hwy 85 at Cheyenne Crossing. Take Hwy 85 southwest for  9.4 miles to the trailhead.

Eagle Cliff Trails 
Lead, SD
Trail Map

Blog post written by Amy Karras
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