Meet your hosts Tally, Rita and Autumn Chapman.  

We have owned and operated Happy Trails Cabins since 1995.  We own 5 cabins.  The Signature Cabin, Tree Cabin and Cottage are on the same property as our house.  We also own the Log Cabin and Boxcar Cabin, these 2 properties do not adjoin our commercial property therefore, according to the county we cannot use them commercially.  We discovered this after 10 years of being in service. We decided to continue making these cabins available so guests can stay in the Log Cabin and Boxcar Cabin for a donation.  We also manage the Bullion Cabin which was once part of the historic Silver Mountain Lodge .  

Happy Trails Cabins first started in 1956 as Silver City Motel.   In 1976 the Silver City Motel was purchased by Tallys folks and renamed Wagon Wheel lodge,.  When we bought the place we again renamed it, Happy Trails Cabins, in tribute to our love of hiking and mountain biking and the wonderful trails that surround Silver City.

Happy Trails Cabins and Silver City have a long history of accommodating summer guests in the Black Hills.  The Tree Cabin and Signature Cabin were built in 1928 as dormitory cabins for a Baptist Church Camp.  Young adults called these cabins home during their summer retreats.  This camp was named Bear Gulch, as the name was somewhat scary it was renamed Camp Judson.  Camp Judson was located in what is now Pactola Reservoir, the cabins were moved out of the flooding lake to their present location in the 50’s.  The Cottage has a similar history  and came from a different church camp.  We haven’t tracked that down yet.

Our Log Cabin was built in 1946.  We are the 3rd owners in it’s history.  We bought it in 1999 and did a major renovation in 2001.  

We were given first refusal on our Boxcar Cabin and we are sure glad we did not refuse.  This cabin started in 1933 as a boxcar moved onto the site.  It has had lots of additions.  The roof was always flat and always leaked.  We took on the task of putting a gabled roof on, to stop the leaks once and for all.   It was a hard job but we are sure glad it is done.

Both of us have lived in South Dakota since we were 12 and our daughter has lived here all her life.  There are unlimited activities available in the Black Hills from kayaking, rock climbing, cross country or downhill skiing, hunting, running, geocaching, fishing, the opportunities are endless.

We love being outdoors.  Mountain biking, running and hiking are our favorite activities in Silver City.  Tally is the mountain biking trail expert and Rita has the running trails dialed in.  Ask for information anytime.  If you are not too fast we may even join you.

We would love to share our little slice of heaven with anyone in need of a place to “get away from it all”.