Deerfield to Mystic (6 miles)
Kinney Canyon below Deerfield Dam is a walk-in trout fishery on Castle Creek. Staying on the main trail, you'll reach Kinney Canyon trailhead in about a mile. East of there the trail reaches its high point of 6200 feet in Slate Prairie, before dropping down Crooked Creek and Whitetail Gulch to Mystic Trailhead. Here you'll connect with the George S. Mickelson Trail, now under construction by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Just north are the Castleton dredge mining sites and Mystic, a mining camp turned railroad town. The old Mystic CCC Camp is just south. This part of the Deerfield Trail is suitable for all non-motorized trail uses.

Mystic to Slate Creek (6 miles)
East from Mystic trailhead, you'll follow the old Grand Island & Wyoming Central Railroad (later Burlington Northern, and now the George S. Mickelson Trail). The trail passes through dense hardwoods including aspen, birch and alder before making a fairly steep climb up Lind Gulch to the south. Crossing into the Slate Creek drainage, you'll pass close to Slate Creek Dam, another good fishing spot. The country changes dramatically now, as the trail turns north and enters the sheer walls of Slate Creek Canyon for the next three miles. You'll pass Black Tom Mine, Flannigan Cabin and the Warren-Lamb flume, which carried logs to the railhead near Canyon City in the 1920s. Hikers will cross Slate Creek 34 times on slab-sawn log bridges; horses can cross almost anywhere. This section of trail isn't recommended for cross-country skiing because of the numerous stream crossings.

Rapid Creek (3 miles)
This level section, at an elevation of just over 4600 feet, is the easiest part of the trail. White spruce and ponderosa pine tower over the now-quiet Rapid City, Black Hills & Western rail line. You'll follow this easy route, also called the Crouch Line, from west of Canyon City downstream to Silver City. This roadless stretch of Rapid Creek is a popular walk-in fishery known for its brown trout. Whether or not you fish, you'll enjoy the natural beauty of this deep, rocky canyon. Silver City trailhead is at the end of the road, just west of the town of Silver City. This section of trail is suited to hikers, bikers and horses, plus older walkers and families with young children. Wide wooden bridges cross the creek several times. Cross-country skiing is possible when snow conditions permit.

Silver City to Deer Creek Trailhead (3 miles)
Below Silver City the canyon widens and Rapid Creek empties into Pactola Reservoir. The trail passes near Jenney Gulch Picnic Area and then makes a long, gradual climb through the pines to Deer Creek trailhead on the Silver City road just off US 385. At Deer Creek, you'll connect with the 111-mile Centennial Trail. This east end of Deerfield Trail is open to all non-motorized travel, though cross-country skiing is often marginal.

Trailheads are available at the following locations:

Kinney Canyon trailhead on the Rochford Road (Forest Road 188), three miles north of Deerfield Highway (Forest Highway 17).
Mystic trailhead on the Mystic Road (Forest Road 231).

The trail passes through dense hardwoods including aspen, birch and alder before making a fairly steep climb up Lind Gulch to the south.