Mountain Plains
Three and a half acres a lot on Pine Cone and Oak Ridge, built out through the nineties.
- Typical Lot
- 3.47 acres at the median. The middle half runs 2.69 to 4.79 acres.
- Build Era
- 1976 to 2019, median 1997
Facts checked August 2026
Pine Cone Avenue, Pine Needle Drive, Oak Ridge Road. Nobody had to work hard on the street names out here, and the names tell you what the tree cover is like before you ever drive out. Three and a half acres a lot, houses set well back off the road, and enough timber between them that you hear a neighbor start a chainsaw rather than see him do it. This is the established version of Spearfish acreage: platted in the seventies, filled in hardest through the nineties, and finished long enough ago that the trees people planted are taller than the houses. The part buyers get wrong most often is jurisdiction. This is not the City of Spearfish. It is unincorporated Lawrence County, which changes the tax bill, the permit office and who answers a call.
Every house is its own decision
Building ran from 1976 to 2019 with the heaviest stretch in the nineties, and nothing about the plat forced anybody to match. Two neighbors can be twenty years apart, one with a walkout and a metal roof and the next with original shingles and a 1980s well pump. Judge the house on its own systems rather than on the era of the subdivision, and expect to pay for a thorough inspection out here.
The largest lots go past eight acres, so what looks like one neighborhood on a map is more like a scatter of small holdings sharing a few road names.
The road you live on is a question, not a given
Sixty of the parcels sit in a road district rather than on county maintained roads. That is a separate assessment on your tax statement and a separate answer to who shows up when the road washes or needs gravel. Find out which side of that line an address is on before you write, and ask what the district has spent in the last five years.
Nobody plows this in the small hours the way a city does either. Timber on the shoulders holds snow and shade, and the pretty part of the driveway in July is the icy part in January.
Timber, and the insurance call
Three and a half acres of Black Hills pine is a wildfire question and an insurance question at once. Make the carrier call early rather than late, ask what defensible space work has already been done around the house, and walk the property line on foot rather than reading it off a plat, because timbered corners are where people discover the fence is not where the deed says.
How far to things
- Downtown Rapid City
- 53 min, 47.8 mi
- Nearest hospital
- In town
- Rapid City Regional Airport
- 71 min, 59.4 mi
Monument Health Spearfish Hospital
Typical driving time with clear roads.
Why buyers choose Mountain Plains
- Three and a half acres a lot on Pine Cone and Oak Ridge, with the middle half from 2.69 to 4.79 acres.
- Built 1976 to 2019 with a 1997 median, so the trees are grown and the plat is finished.
- Elevation and pine above Spearfish.
At a glance
- Typical Lot
- 3.47 acres at the median. The middle half runs 2.69 to 4.79 acres.
- Construction Era
- 1976 to 2019, median 1997
- New Construction
- Limited
Last verified August 2026. How these figures are calculated
What to check at this address
- Jurisdiction
- Unincorporated Lawrence County. Outside Spearfish city limits, which changes your taxes, your permits and who responds to a call.
- Streets and snow
- 60 of the 173 parcels are in a road district rather than on county-maintained roads. Find out which one an address falls in before you buy, because it is a separate assessment.
- School district
- Spearfish School District 40-2
- 60 of the 173 parcels sit in a road district rather than on county maintained roads, and that is a separate assessment.
- Unincorporated Lawrence County, outside Spearfish city limits, which changes taxes, permits and response.
- Fifty three minutes to Rapid City.
- Pine density on these lots changes what a carrier will write.
Open the ones that apply to the address you are looking at.
Radon
The Black Hills sit on granite and radon levels here run high, so test during the inspection period and price mitigation into your offer if the number comes back elevated.
Read the full guideHail and roof age
Hail season here runs from late May through August, so ask for the roof age, the last claim history and any impact-resistant rating before you write.
Property taxes
Look up the actual assessed value and the current levy for the parcel instead of trusting the listing figure, which is often a year or more behind.
Read the full guideWho maintains the road
Find out whether the last stretch to the house is a county road, a road district, a shared easement or your own responsibility, and get the answer in writing. Ask what the district assesses and what that assessment covers.
Special assessments
Ask the county and the city whether the parcel carries an assessment for paving, water, sewer or a sanitary district, how many years are left on it and whether it transfers to you at closing.
Homes for sale in Mountain Plains
Nothing of mine is listed in Mountain Plains today. This search is set for Mountain Plains and shows whatever is active there right now.
EvidenceThe county record, in detailParcel counts, recorded prices and what each figure comes from for Mountain Plains.
How far along it is
157 of the 173 parcels in the Mountain Plains plats carried a house as of the 2023 cutoff, leaving 16 without one.
- Platted Parcels
- 173
- Parcels With A House
- 157 (91%)
- Bare Lots
- 16
A bare lot is a lot with no house on it. It is not a listing. Most are owned by somebody who is not selling.
This one is finished, and no single owner holds a block of lots, so there is nothing left to be released. You buy an existing house on a built street.
Lawrence County parcel records, 2023 cutoff. Ask me for anything more current.
The parcel counts and build years here come from Lawrence County records with a 2023 cutoff. This subdivision was essentially finished well before then, with only 6 homes added between 2015 and 2019, so the cutoff changes little.
Common questions about Mountain Plains
How big are the lots in Mountain Plains?
3.47 acres at the median, with the middle half between 2.69 and 4.79 acres and the largest past eight. This is wooded acreage with a house set well back, not a subdivision of yards.
Is Mountain Plains inside Spearfish city limits?
No. All 173 parcels are unincorporated Lawrence County. That changes your taxes, your permits and who responds to a call, and it is the single most common thing people get wrong about this area.
When were the homes in Mountain Plains built?
Between 1976 and 2019, with the median at 1997 and the heaviest building through the 1990s. The stock is custom and varied, so judge each house on its own systems rather than on the era of the subdivision.
Who maintains the roads in Mountain Plains?
60 of the 173 parcels are in a road district rather than on county-maintained roads. That is a separate assessment and a separate answer to who comes when the road needs work. Find out which side of the line an address is on before you write an offer.
What school district serves Mountain Plains?
Spearfish School District 40-2, on every parcel. Confirm the assigned building with the district for a specific address.
Mountain Plains buyer resources
Mountain Plains 2 documents
- Association home page
- New resident and road information Applies to Mountain Plains 2. Verify road dues, well, septic and any current assessment for the exact property.
- Bylaws and recorded documents
What to check before you write an offer
On any address you are serious about, buyer due diligence should include the school assignment from the district, the water quality report from the utility that serves it, and the assessed value and levy from the county. Here are the sources for each one.
The sources, by category
Schools
Confirm the assigned school for a specific address with the district, because boundaries change and they change more often than people expect. Spearfish School District 40-2 · School and district profiles on GreatSchools · Preschools and private schools in the Black Hills
Drinking water
Every public water system publishes an annual water quality report. Read the one for the system that serves the address you are considering, not the one for the town next door. Rapid City water quality reports · City of Box Elder Water Division · City of Spearfish water · EPA drinking water lookup
Property taxes and assessed value
Lawrence County Equalization · Pennington County Equalization · Meade County Equalization
The county record, the plat and the recorded covenants are the three documents to read on any address here. I do not rate schools and I do not characterize neighborhoods as safe or unsafe. Those readings are yours to make from the sources above.
Also compare
See what's for sale now
These open my search site, where the listings update from the MLS through the day. This page is the background; that one is the inventory.
Keep reading on Spearfish
One of South Dakota's fastest growing towns, with a university, a canyon out the back door and a downtown you can walk across.
Five to ten acre lots south of Spearfish, platted around 2000 and still two thirds unbuilt.
A 1970s acreage pocket west of Spearfish, outside the city, with its own road district.
Native sandstone storefronts, an opera house that still books shows, and a campus at the middle of it.
A golf community on the old Frawley Ranch, inside city limits, with 82 lots still open.
My free buyer's guide, written for wells, septic, hail history and PCS timelines in this region.
Price, down payment, rate, taxes, insurance and HOA in one number.
New to the Black Hills? Start with the questions people ask.
Mountain Plains also turns up in Acreage and canyon.
Two things settle this one before the house does: which road arrangement the address falls under, and what a carrier will write on that much timber. Both answers are quick to get and worth having first.
Considering a home here?
Send the address and we can talk it through. The details that change from one property to the next are jurisdiction, water and sewer, the school the district assigns, covenants, road maintenance and the rest of what never shows up on a listing.
Talk to Henry
Call or text 605-490-2040 and we can talk through what is realistic in Mountain Plains right now, including what has closed nearby.
Last updated August 2026
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, lending or financial advice. Facts and figures are cited from public sources as of August 2026 and change over time. Henry Roy is a licensed real estate professional with Ascend Realty in South Dakota. Equal Housing Opportunity.