Hiking Bone Collector Trail Near Rapid City: Mushrooms, Bones & a Little Team Building

Sometimes you just need to get out of the office and hit the trails. So that’s exactly what we did for a little Trail Addict team-building hike.

Our crew included myself, Jenn Renner, Tim Soelzer, Rachel Kuhl, and Savannah Jones. The only one missing was Linda Holtz, one of our other owners, who decided to sit this one out.

We decided to check out Bone Collector Trail, part of the Shanks Trail System just outside Rapid City along Highway 44. Jenn was the only one who had hiked it before, so the rest of us weren’t really sure what to expect.

And honestly, we couldn’t have picked a better day. The weather was pretty much perfect.

Finding the Bone Collector Trailhead

Bone Collector Trail is located east of Rapid City along Highway 44, within the Shanks Trail System.

We pulled into a parking area, got everyone together, and started walking. Less than a quarter mile later, we came across another parking area that probably would have been a better place to start. So there’s your first tip. You might want to keep driving a little farther than we did.

From the parking area, you can follow the road or take a singletrack trail that heads off into the trees. We decided to take the singletrack.

The Shanks Trail System has quite a few connecting trails, so there are several ways to explore the area. We had a map on our phones, which turned out to be a pretty good thing.

More Mushrooms Than I've Ever Seen on a Hike

One of the first things we noticed was the mushrooms.

And I mean a LOT of mushrooms.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different mushrooms on one hike. There were reddish ones, white ones with little prickly-looking things all over them, and all sorts of others growing along the trail.

I’m definitely not a mushroom expert, so I couldn’t tell you what any of them were. But we spent a fair amount of time stopping to take pictures.

I’ll include some of those photos here, so if you’re someone who actually knows mushrooms, feel free to tell us what we found.

Between the mushrooms and trying to figure out which direction we were supposed to be going, we weren’t exactly setting any speed records.

Wait, Where Did Savannah and Rachel Go?

Remember how I mentioned this was supposed to be a team-building hike?

Well, apparently part of team building involves temporarily losing two members of your team.

Savannah and Rachel got to talking and ended up walking ahead of the rest of us. Meanwhile, Tim, Jenn, and I were busy taking pictures of mushrooms, checking out things along the trail, and generally not moving very quickly.

At some point, we realized Savannah and Rachel were nowhere to be seen.

Now, the Shanks Trail System has quite a few trails that overlap and intersect. Even with the map on our phones, we had to pay attention to which direction we were going.

And naturally, Savannah and Rachel were the only two people who didn’t have the trail map on their phones.

We tried calling, but cell service was a little spotty, and Savannah didn’t answer.

Eventually, she called me back, and we tried to figure out where everyone was. We were pretty sure they’d ended up on a completely different trail, so they started backtracking.

Turns out, they were on the same trail as us the whole time.

So that worked out.

No search and rescue required, and we managed to finish our team-building hike with the entire team.

I’d call that a success.

Where Are All the Bones?

Of course, the main reason we wanted to hike Bone Collector Trail was to see the bones.

But for the first couple of miles, we weren’t seeing much of anything bone-related.

We were starting to wonder if we’d taken the wrong route.

Then, somewhere around the two-mile mark, we finally spotted some.

And once we started finding them, they seemed to be everywhere.

There were bones wired to trees, some screwed into tree trunks or stumps, and others tucked into different spots along the trail.

It became kind of a game to see who could spot the next one.

At one point, we came across an entire skeleton, so naturally we had to stop and get a group picture with that guy.

Between hunting for mushrooms and searching for bones, we had plenty to keep us entertained.

So if you’re hiking Bone Collector Trail and haven’t spotted any bones yet, don’t get discouraged. Depending on the route you take, you might be a couple of miles into your hike before you start finding them.

What Is the Hiking Like on Bone Collector Trail?

One thing I really liked about this hike was that it wasn’t particularly difficult.

Most of our route was on singletrack trails through the trees. There were some rocky sections, but nothing terribly steep or technical.

We also came across a section that overlooked Highway 44, which gave us a nice view of the surrounding area.

The trails wind around quite a bit, and with all the intersections, you have several options for putting together your own route.

Jenn had hiked here before, but she’d never taken the route we ended up doing. So even she was exploring new territory with us.

We ended up creating something like a lollipop route with two loops before heading back toward where we started.

Our total distance was about 5.5 miles, and it took us somewhere around 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2.5 hours.

Of course, that included a lot of stopping for pictures, mushroom identification attempts, bone hunting, and temporarily misplaced coworkers.

You could definitely hike it faster.

You could also make it shorter by doing just one of the loops, or add more mileage by exploring some of the other connecting trails in the Shanks Trail System.

A Few Things to Know Before Hiking Bone Collector Trail

If you’re looking for hiking trails near Rapid City and want to give Bone Collector a try, here are a few things I’d keep in mind.

Location: Bone Collector Trail is part of the Shanks Trail System along Highway 44 east of Rapid City.
Distance: We hiked approximately 5.5 miles, but there are shorter and longer route options.
Difficulty: I’d consider our route fairly moderate overall, mostly because of the mileage. There were rocky areas, but nothing especially steep.
Trail surface: Mostly singletrack with some rocky sections.
Navigation: Bring a trail map or download one to your phone before heading out. There are quite a few connecting trails, and it can get confusing.
Cell service: We had some spotty service, so don’t count on being able to make a call everywhere along the route.
Parking: There are multiple places to park. We discovered another parking area less than a quarter mile after we started walking that might have been a better starting point.
Finding the bones: We didn’t start seeing them until roughly two miles into our route. Where you find them will depend on which trails you take.

Would I Hike Bone Collector Trail Again?

Absolutely.

I really enjoyed this one. It wasn’t an overly difficult hike, the weather was perfect, and there was plenty to keep us entertained along the way.

I liked that there were so many different route options, too. You could come back and put together a completely different hike without having to follow the exact same route.

And honestly, it was just nice to get the whole Trail Addict crew out of the office and spend a couple of hours together doing something different.

Even if we did temporarily lose a couple of people.

If you’re looking for a fun hike near Rapid City that’s a little different from your typical Black Hills trail, Bone Collector is worth checking out.

You can find Bone Collector Trail on TrailAddict.com, where we’ll have trail information and directions to the trailhead.