Hisega Lodge

What was originally known as the Pierre Lodge was built in 1909 on the banks of Rapid Creek in the Black Hills, today about 12 miles west of Rapid City on State Highway 44. The two-story structure, with a two-story wraparound porch and a raised basement, is surrounded by pine and spruce forest. In 1908, state historian Doane Robinson organized a camping trip for young adults, who traveled the Black Hills and Western Railroad (Crouch Line) out of Rapid City and made camp in a narrow canyon. They named the area Hisega after the first initials of six of the young women on the trip—Helen, Ida, Sade, Ethel, Grace, and Ada. The following year, Robinson convinced a group of investors to build a vacation lodge in that location. Railroad tracks originally brought travelers directly to the front of the building, and the lodge became a popular stop on the train that ran between Rapid City and Mystic.

The lodge is built into a slight slope, with a stone-clad basement, clapboarded upper stories, and cedar-shingled gables. The porch posts and railings are peeled log. Most of the original two-over-two windows are intact. In keeping with the rustic design, much of the interior is clad in knotty pine wood, and a large stone fireplace is located in the lobby. Breakfast is served in the large dining room on the main level. Since its construction, the lodge has been expanded with a cement-block addition on the rear (west) facade, and an addition on the north end that continues the lodge’s clapboarded exterior.

The Pierre group owned the lodge until 1929, when Carl and Jessie Sanders leased and later purchased the property, renaming it Triangle Inn. In 1960, Black Hills promoter Hoadley Dean purchased the lodge to operate it as a private resort named the H-Bar-D Lodge; Dean’s son, Kip, then operated it as a bed-and-breakfast. When Cheryl Rudel bought the lodge, she named it Hisega Lodge. Still operating under the same name, new owners continue to operate the lodge as a bed-and-breakfast. The railroad tracks in front of the lodge are long gone, and visitors now access it via automobile.