You’ll drive 25 mph through the Black Hills and feel like you’re threading a needle in stone

It’s the Black Hills’ wildest drive

Needles Highway runs 14 miles through Custer State Park in southwestern South Dakota, and the whole thing takes about an hour at 25 mph. That sounds slow until you see why.

The road follows SD Highway 87 through ponderosa pine and spruce forests, open meadows, and granite mountains that look like they were dropped from somewhere else.

The needle-like granite formations along the route rise like pillars and seem to pierce the sky. Millions of years of erosion carved them, and a governor on horseback figured out how to thread a road between them.

A governor on horseback planned every mile

Engineers told Peter Norbeck it couldn’t be done. The former South Dakota governor ignored them, mapped the entire route on foot and horseback, and finished the road in 1922.

The price tag made locals so mad they called it “Needless Highway.” Norbeck didn’t care.

He was the conservationist behind Custer State Park and helped get Mount Rushmore off the ground.

Today his road is part of the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway, named one of the 10 most outstanding byways in North America.

Two tunnels carved straight through solid rock

The Needles Eye Tunnel measures 8 feet wide and 9 feet 9 inches tall, making it the narrowest tunnel in all of Custer State Park.

The Iron Creek Tunnel is only slightly bigger at 8 feet 9 inches wide and 10 feet 10 inches tall. If you’re driving anything bigger than a standard SUV, check those dimensions before you go.

At the pullouts near each tunnel, you’ll find people just standing there watching other vehicles inch through. It’s half the entertainment on the road.

The Needle’s Eye looks exactly like its name

One granite spire along the highway stands tall and thin with a narrow slot cut right through it. That’s the Needle’s Eye, and wind, rain, freezing, and thawing carved that opening over thousands of years.

You can pull off the road and walk right up to it.

The formation draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and you’ll understand why when you see how clean that slot is. It looks like someone threaded it on purpose.

Sylvan Lake sits 6,145 feet up with boulders in the water

At the top of Needles Highway, you hit Sylvan Lake. Theodore Reder created it in 1881 by damming Sunday Gulch, and today it covers about 17 acres.

Massive granite boulders rise straight out of the water, and a one-mile shoreline trail loops the whole lake, ducking behind rocks and crossing small bridges. You can swim, kayak, canoe, or fish here.

People call it the “crown jewel” of Custer State Park, but the boulders alone make it worth the climb.

Frank Lloyd Wright got fired from the lodge project

The original Sylvan Lake Hotel opened in the 1890s and burned down on June 30, 1935.

The park hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design the replacement, but his delays and demands got him removed from the project. Wright did pick the hillside location, set among pine and spruce above the lake.

Sioux Falls architect Harold Spitznagel took over and designed a stone and timber building that opened in 1937. You can still walk on the original oak floors and sit by the native stone fireplace.

200 rare pines grow among six granite ridges

About 2.5 miles east of Sylvan Lake, the Cathedral Spires rise in a cluster of granite pillars across 637 acres and six separate ridges. The area earned National Natural Landmark status in 1976, and for good reason.

Roughly 200 limber pine trees grow here, the only stand of their kind in the Black Hills and the farthest east in the entire country.

The Cathedral Spires Trail runs about 2.2 miles round trip, and you’ll share it with hikers and rock climbers working the pillars above.

Mount Rushmore almost ended up right here

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum looked at the Needles first.

He wanted to carve the presidential faces into these granite spires, but the rock was too thin and too soft for sculptures that size.

So Borglum moved the project about 3.7 miles from Black Elk Peak to the site you know today. The Needles kept their original shape, and climbers now scale formations like the Totem Pole and Khayyam Spire.

If you’ve never climbed before, guided routes are available for beginners.

The highest peak east of the Rockies starts at the lake

Black Elk Peak tops out at 7,242 feet, the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The most popular trail starts right at Sylvan Lake and covers about 7 miles round trip.

At the summit, a stone fire lookout tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939 still stands. From up there, you can see into four states: South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana.

The peak was renamed in 2016 to honor Nicholas Black Elk, a revered Oglala Lakota holy man.

1,400 bison roam 71,000 acres with no fences in sight

Custer State Park covers 71,000 acres and holds nearly 1,400 free-roaming bison, one of the largest publicly owned herds in the world.

You’ll also spot elk, pronghorn, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and feral burros. Mountain goats and deer show up regularly along Needles Highway and near the Cathedral Spires.

For your best shot at bison, drive the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road at dawn or dusk. South Dakota’s first and largest state park doesn’t disappoint on animals.

Cowboys on horseback drive the herd every September

Every last Friday in September, cowboys and cowgirls ride out on horseback and drive the entire bison herd across the prairie into corrals.

Thousands of spectators line the hillsides to watch, and the event is free with a park entrance fee.

The roundup is how the park brands and vaccinates calves, checks the herd’s health, and keeps the population in balance. A three-day Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival runs alongside it with Western art, food, and live music.

Several hundred bison go to auction each November.

The road opens in April and closes at first snow

Needles Highway runs seasonally from early April through the first snowfall, usually around mid-October. You’ll pay $20 per vehicle for a seven-day pass or $30 for an annual pass to all South Dakota state parks.

June through August is peak season, and traffic near the tunnels can back up for a while. If you want the road quieter, come in September.

In winter, the highway closes to vehicles but opens for hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. You can also book a guided open-air Jeep tour that covers the highway in about three hours.

Explore Custer State Park in South Dakota

You’ll find Custer State Park in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, about an hour from Rapid City.

Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument all sit nearby.

Beyond Needles Highway, the park runs the Wildlife Loop Road and Iron Mountain Road, which frames Mount Rushmore through its tunnels.

Nine campgrounds, four historic lodges, dozens of hiking trails, and lakeside activities fill the park. Custer State Park stays open year-round, though many facilities and roads are seasonal.

Check the official website for current hours and conditions before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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