Like Father, Like Son

In the late 1980s, former South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson began leading the state's effort to convert an out-of-service Burlington Northern Railroad line into a 110-mile trail through the Black Hills from Deadwood to Edgemont. After he died in a plane crash in 1993, it took another five years to get the trail developed and open. That same year, in 1998, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) featured the pathway in the inaugural issue of its magazine, Rails to Trails, and the trail has since become one of the premier rail-trail destinations in the country.
 
David Mickelson, the governor's son, lives with his wife and children in Sioux Falls on the opposite side of the state, but he still visits the trail often to enjoy what his father helped create. 

"[My father] had a great vision for many things," he says. "I know that this is something he would be very proud of. It has evolved to be a great landmark."
 
The younger Mickelson has developed his father's appreciation of recreation and fitness, and whether he's hunting or fishing, running or bicycling, he says his interests lie in the outdoors. Indeed like his father, he translated that interest into action when he organized the inaugural Mickelson Trail Trek , a cycling event that parallels part of the trail and will take place for its 11th year September 19-21.
 
And then this past June 8, 2008—10 years since the trail first opened—he participated for the first time in the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon , which begins in Rochford and winds to the historic Engine House at the Deadwood trailhead. Aside from a short stretch of road that leads out of Rochford, the race remains entirely on the trail—including all of the half-marathon route, which David Mickelson ran. 
 
His father's legacy remains etched into the trail, and Mickelson has now begun shaping his own lasting presence in South Dakota's recreational landscape.