Rochford, South Dakota · Building: documented by a 1910 photograph
A working Rochford saloon in a building documented by 1910, with unresolved Black Hills origin stories and a disputed Big & Rich connection.
Moonshine Gulch Saloon is an operating bar in Rochford, South Dakota, an unincorporated Black Hills community of about ten people. A photograph from 1910 is the best evidence located for the building's age, though its original purpose and whether it was moved remain unsettled. The saloon is a food-and-drink stop for hikers, cyclists, motorcyclists, ATV riders, and other travelers using the Mickelson Trail and Black Hills back roads.
Mining activity helped establish the settlement that became Rochford; a mining district was organized in the area in March 1877.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
M. D. Rochford and R. B. Hughes laid out the town of Rochford in May 1878. This is town history, not a construction or operating date for the present saloon building.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
A photograph from 1910 is the earliest evidence located for the building that now houses Moonshine Gulch Saloon.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024; Moonshine Gulch Saloon, “About”
The venue's official history says photographs from the 1960s show one side of the building higher, with a dirt floor; the observation is part of an unresolved local story that the structure may once have been a horse stable.
Source: Moonshine Gulch Saloon, “About”
Amanda Olson began serving as general manager of Moonshine Gulch Saloon in April 2022, according to later local reporting.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
Local reporting described building-sustainability and business improvements at the saloon, which seats about 30 people and hosts Sunday live music.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
A 1910 photograph is the strongest evidence located for the structure's age, and the venue's official history says its first known building record is from 1910. That establishes a building on record by 1910, but it does not prove the exact construction year, original use, or a continuous bar business from that year.
The official venue history identifies horse-stable use as one of several stories about the building's origin and notes that 1960s photos show one side higher with a dirt floor. No deed, permit, tax assessment, business directory, or contemporaneous record was located to establish the stable story as fact.
The venue's official history repeats a local story that the building stood in Mystic, about seven miles away, before being moved to Rochford. Other local recollections suggest it may instead have been built only about a quarter-mile away. Neither theory was confirmed by building records in this review.
Local promotion has associated the saloon with Big & Rich's “Big Time” video, but the official video result identifies Deadwood, South Dakota, as the filming location. This review did not locate a production record, credited location list, or contemporaneous report confirming that any interior or exterior footage was shot at Moonshine Gulch Saloon.
South Dakota Tourism describes the saloon as a stop for motorcyclists, bicyclists, ATV riders, and hikers, while the Mickelson Trail directory lists the venue with its address, phone number, and official website.
Moonshine Gulch Saloon has operated continuously as a saloon since 1910.
A 1910 photograph is the earliest evidence located for the building, not proof that the present saloon business began or operated continuously that year. The early use, ownership, and business chronology remain unresolved.
Source: Moonshine Gulch Saloon, “About”; Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
The current saloon building dates from Rochford's 1878 gold-rush founding.
Rochford was laid out in 1878, but the strongest evidence located for the present building is a photograph from 1910. The town's mining-era chronology and the building's own history must remain separate.
Source: Pigeon605, “Historic Black Hills saloon brings new additions for season ahead,” June 12, 2024
Big & Rich filmed the “Big Time” video inside Moonshine Gulch Saloon.
The official Big & Rich video result identifies Deadwood, South Dakota, as the filming location. Local association with Moonshine Gulch does not establish that the venue appeared in the production.
Source: Big & Rich, “Big Time” official music-video listing
Moonshine Gulch Saloon is located at 22650 Rochford Road and can be reached at (605) 584-2970.
Current trail and venue listings identify the saloon at 22635 N Rochford Rd, Rochford, SD 57745, with telephone number (605) 584-2743.
Source: Mickelson Trail, “Moonshine Gulch Saloon”; current venue listing
Moonshine Gulch survives because Rochford's old mining-country setting has become a destination in its own right. The saloon offers a practical stopping point along a recreation corridor while preserving a deliberately rough-edged atmosphere that visitors seek out. Its endurance should be understood as a current hospitality story in an old building, not as proof of uninterrupted saloon operation since 1910.
Moonshine Gulch Saloon is an operating bar in Rochford, South Dakota, in a building documented by a 1910 photograph. Rochford itself grew from Black Hills mining activity in 1877 and was laid out as a town in 1878, but those dates do not prove the saloon's founding. The building's original use and early business history remain uncertain: local stories describe a former horse stable and a possible relocation from Mystic, neither of which has been confirmed by records reviewed for this entry.
No South Dakota oldest-bar title has been established for Moonshine Gulch Saloon in this review. The building is documented by a photograph from 1910, but the saloon's exact founding date and continuous business lineage have not been verified. The venue should be understood as a historic Black Hills saloon, not as a proven statewide-oldest bar.
It is possible, but not proven. Moonshine Gulch Saloon's own history page repeats a local story that the building was moved from Mystic, about seven miles away. A separate local account says some residents believe it may instead have stood only about a quarter-mile from its current site. No deed, permit, photograph sequence, or other primary building record was located to resolve the competing stories.
The connection is unconfirmed. Local promotions associate Moonshine Gulch Saloon with Big & Rich’s “Big Time” video, but the official video listing says it was filmed in Deadwood, South Dakota. This review found no production-location record establishing that Moonshine Gulch Saloon appeared in the video, so the claim should be treated as unresolved.
22635 N Rochford Rd, Rochford, SD 57745
(605) 584-2743
Moonshine Gulch is a remote Black Hills stop associated with the Mickelson Trail. Current hours can vary by season, so verify them directly with the saloon before traveling.