Step Back in Time in the Black Hills Hynes Cabin

In the early 1920’s, the young Hynes Family followed a friend’s enthusiastic recommendation to drive to Black Hills of South Dakota, to see the “most beautiful valley in the world”. It was a long drive from their home in Evanston, Wyoming and they had to camp along the way. cooking their food over a primitive fire, but the one trip changed everything.

In the early 1920’s, the young Hynes family followed a friend’s enthusiastic recommendation to drive to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to see the “most beautiful valley in the world.” It was a long drive from their home in Evanston, Wyoming and they had to camp along the way, cooking their food over a primitive fire, but that one trip changed everything. After seeing the beautiful valley themselves, they knew they had to have a piece of it to call their own. Gathering their friends, each family purchased an acre apiece and began building log and split log cabins. There was no electricity in the valley, and the nearest phone was a half mile away, but it was paradise.

Located at the foot of Harney Peak their simple cabin has become a haven for generations. Every summer since its construction in 1925, families have gathered here to experience life as it used to be: simple, carefree, and undisturbed. The Hynes cabin is full of memories. Other cabins work hard to achieve the rustic authenticity that
comes naturally here.

As the land and the property has passed ownership through the generations, the Hynes family has devotedly maintained and updated it in keeping with its historical significance. Now it has all the modern comforts of home with a fully stocked kitchen, two bathrooms, and room to sleep seven guests. In 2010 it was entirely renovated using local materials and environmentally-conscious methods, to preserve as much as possible the original look and feel of the cabin.

The best feature of the home is a wide sleeping porch looking over the horse pastures, ponds, and up to Harney Peak. The view from this porch is serene at every moment of the day, and most visitors to the cabin find that they spend most of their time here eating meals together, making crafts, or reading. The walls are decorated with hundreds of hand-colored paper plates, created in love by the cabin’s many visitors over the years. It’s the perfect summer camp experience to wake up with the morning sun on the peak and watch dozens of horses make their way passed the cabin from the pastures above down the hill to the stables of the KOA resort nearby.

The horses and the other KOA amenities are available to guests of the cabin, including a pool with a water slide and splash park, a climbing wall, bike and UTV rentals, and a Chuck Wagon Supper Show. Other nearby activities include visits to Mount Rushmore (just a 20-minute drive away) and hikes along the many trails through the surrounding Black Hills National Forest. Children especially will love riding a genuine 1880’s steam train from Hill City to Keystone at the South Dakota State Railroad Museum just a few minutes from the cabin.

Guests who wish to eat out will love a steak dinner from Hill City at Desperados Cowboy Kitchen or the Alpine Inn. Hynes Cabin really does provide a home in the most beautiful valley in the world, and in the past 90 years, not much has changed.