Below are planned field trips for the Plains Anthropological Conference, 2023. Please sign up for field trip(s) on the conference purchasing page.

Preconference Tour – Black Hills Archaeological Sites

Preconference Tour – Badlands and Pine Ridge Reservation

Post-conference Tour – Historic Deadwood

Preconference Tour – Black Hills Archaeological Sites

Wednesday October 18, 2023
7:00 am to 5:30 pm
Maximum of 18 people FULL
$50/person

Description: A unique opportunity to get a “behind the scenes” tour of several unique sites in the Black Hills with Black Hills National Forest archaeologists. Sites include Craven Canyon (an NRHP-Listed rock art site), Miller Cabin (built in 1879, one of the oldest standing structures in the Black Hills), and Pe’Sla (a TCP and cultural landscape in the heart of the Black Hills).

Transportation will be in either 12-passenger vans or Suburbans. This will be a full day tour that will require extensive hiking in remote locations. Participants should bring appropriate outdoor gear, a backpack for personal supplies, snacks, and a water bottle. A brown-bag lunch and extra water will be provided.

General Timeline

7:00 am

Meet in hotel lobby and load vehicles

7:30 – 9:30 am

Travel to Craven Canyon and park at gate

9:30 – 10:30 am

One hour hike down into canyon – expect rough, uneven, and steep terrain

10:30 – 12:00 pm

Tour Craven rock art sites and eat lunch

12:00 – 1:00 pm

One hour hike back to cars at gate

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Drive to Miller Cabin access point, park at the Kinney Canyon Walk-In Fishery parking lot

2:00 – 2:45 pm

Hike to Miller Cabin – expect a mile hike on relatively level terrain

2:45 – 3:45 pm

Tour Miller Cabin and Pe’Sla

3:45 – 4:30 pm

Hike back to parking lot

4:30 – 5:30 pm

Drive back to Rapid City

5:30 pm

Arrive back at hotel lobby and unload vehicles

Preconference Tour – Badlands and Pine Ridge Reservation

Wednesday October 18, 2023
7:00 am to 5:00 pm
Maximum of 15 people
$60/person (price includes small donation to OLC and Thunder Valley)

Description: Participants will travel through the Badlands and stop to take in some of the amazing views on their way to visit the archives at Oglala Lakota College and Thunder Valley Community Development Center, an organization that’s aiming to reincorporate traditional Lakota values and lifeways into their community. Both organizations are located on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In addition to these stops, the group will be joined by a tribal archaeologist, who will provide a tour of one or two unique sites on the Reservation.

This will be a full day tour that will require several hours of driving. Transportation will be in 12-passenger vans. Tour stops will be at both indoor and outdoor locations, so participants should dress appropriately. A brown-bag lunch and extra water will be provided.

Post-conference Tour – Historic Deadwood

Saturday October 21, 2023
1:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Maximum of 25 people
$30/person

Description: This afternoon tour will bring participants to historic Deadwood for a look inside the archives of the Deadwood Historic Preservation Office with Archivist Mike Runge as well as the unique opportunity to tour the Brothel Deadwood Museum on the site of the historic Shasta Rooms brothel, which operated from 1876 to 1980. To accommodate the small spaces, the tour will split into two groups and spend an hour at each location before switching with the other group. The brothel-portion of the tour contains adult content but is not graphic.

Transportation to and from Deadwood will be in 12-passanger vans. No meals are included with this tour. If participants have their own transportation, they are more than welcome to stay in Deadwood after the tours to explore and have fun.

General Timeline

1:00 - 2:00 pm  

Travel from Rapid City to Deadwood

2:00 - 3:00 pm 

First tour (either Deadwood HPO archives or Brothel Deadwood)

3:00 - 4:00 pm 

Second tour (groups switch)

4:00 - 4:45 pm 

Explore downtown Deadwood

4:45 - 5:30 pm 

Travel from Deadwood to Rapid City