Mount Moriah Cemetery
4.6(268)google
4.4(11)yelp
HistoryNature
Overview
Perched on a scenic, heavily forested hillside overlooking Deadwood, Mount Moriah Cemetery is the historic, final resting place of several of the American West's most legendary wild frontier figures. Visitors walk paved mountain paths to pay respects at the famous graves of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Potato Creek Johnny, marked by historic bronze monuments. The cemetery offers a somber, deeply historic atmosphere paired with sweeping, panoramic views of the historic gold mining gulch below.
Practical Info
Every day8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Suggested Duration1-1.5 hours
Best TimePerched dramatically on a steep mountain ridge overlooking the gulch, this historic late 1800s cemetery is open daily. An early morning visit between 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM on a clear day is highly advised; bright morning rays pierce through the pine forest canopy to cast dramatic long silhouettes, illuminating the legendary bronze gravesites of frontier icons Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane in quiet serenity.
Getting TherePerched atop the steep mountain slopes overlooking downtown Deadwood at 10 Mt Moriah Drive. Driving directions: from the main retail core, head uphill via Sherman Street, turn onto Mount Moriah Drive, and follow this narrow, incredibly steep paved single-lane mountain road for half a mile straight to the ridge; a small free municipal parking lot fronts the stone kiosk (large RVs are strictly banned). The local Deadwood Trolley stops nearby.
Travel Tips
- The cemetery ascends a steep mountain topography marked by raw gravel and historic slate steps. In freezing cycles, upper-tier access networks leading to Wild Bill Hickok’s plot close structurally due to high-angle slip hazards.
- The cemetery entrance uses a mechanical token turnstile requiring a exact $2 maintenance toll per pedestrian. The hardware accepts precise dollar coins or local contactless cards with zero cash change machines on-site; pre-source denominations.
- Strict civilian curfews apply post-sunset; climbing boundary perimeter fencing yields automatic local police arrest. To prevent limestone degradation, physical charcoal or wax marker tombstone rubbing is a statutory offense.
Reviews
Positive
- Resting place of Western legends like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, this hillside cemetery offers genuine historical depth and striking overlooks of Deadwood.
- The trails to key graves feature freshly upkept flat wooden boardwalks and clear multilingual historical markers, backed by clean restrooms at the entrance hub.
- The staff maintain excellent order, strictly enforcing respect for the gravesites while offering clear directional maps that ensure a safe, guided tour.
- Admission is just a token few dollars for historic preservation, representing an impeccably high value-for-money stop for Old West history buffs.
Heads up
- The site is strictly an old hillside cemetery; with nothing but gravestones and old trees, tourists lacking historical interest find it short and boring.
- Built on a rugged hillside, upper dirt trails are intensely steep, making them a complete no-go zone for strollers or wheelchairs and limiting accessibility.
- The mountain lanes are narrow and the main entrance lot has scarce parking; it chokes easily during peak travel rushes, and public transit misses it entirely.
- During peak tour bus waves, the tight paths around famous graves suffer heavy visitor density; loud photo-snapping groups disrupt the solemn quiet.