Looking at the stately image of an Egyptian royal—or
at least what looked like a very tall King Tut stationed along South Dakota’s
Needles Highway—drove home the value of talking with locals and taking their
advice when it comes to finding the best things to do, see and experience on
their home turf.
“What are you doing today?”
The question, posed to us over a beyond bountiful
morning meal by one of the fellows working at the fabulous French Creek Ranch bed
& breakfast didn’t have an exact answer.
We’d stopped in Custer, South Dakota for a couple of
days at the end of a trip out to Wyoming and Montana. We didn’t have any
concrete plans for that time beyond checking out the area as a possible
destination for a longer stay in the future.
Our tentative answer?
“Oh, we’ll probably go on out to Mount Rushmore and
over to Custer State Park to take a few pictures.”
Our ranch host quickly insisted that we needed to
drive the Needles Highway to take photographs. He assured us that we needed to drive this stretch of road,
and that we’d find plenty of use for our cameras during the drive.
We’re always open to a good suggestion, so driving
the Needles Highway hopped to the top of our day’s agenda.
The Needles Highway is a particularly scenic part of
South Dakota State Highway 87 running through Custer State Park.
During the early 1900s, South Dakota’s then-governor
Peter Norbeck envisioned passage through seemingly impassable terrain and saw
to the provision of 150,000 pounds of dynamite and unlimited drive to create
the Needles Highway in 1919.
The 14-mile stretch of winding road snakes through
rock tunnels and past impressive granite pinnacles (or “needles”) like the
kingly Tut-like formation. The forces of erosion sculpting the granite peaks of
the Harney Range into the needle-like spires and the pine forests create
beautiful scenes around every hairpin curve of this road. The highway, a
seasonal road open during warmer months, has a suggested speed limit of 20
miles per hour—or less. Especially hardy explorers can take to their
cross-country skis during the winter months to visit the Needles.
Norbeck himself, a noted conservationist, U.S.
Senator and moving force behind Mount Rushmore in addition to his tenure as
governor, suggested that getting out and exploring the area on foot was an even
better way to see his beloved Black Hills of South Dakota. Norbeck stressed
preserving nature, while endeavoring to share his beautiful country by making
it more easily accessible for others to enjoy.
The Needles Highway is part of the larger Peter
Norbeck Scene Byway, which includes 68 miles of roads passing by other
highlights like Mount Rushmore and great hiking and horseback riding trails.
The National Scenic Byways program is part of the U.S. Department of
Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, aiming aims to draw
attention and allot funds to preserve roads with unique archeological,
cultural, historic, natural, recreational or scenic features.
At the end of the day, we’d done well by taking our
host’s advice about making time for slowly threading our way through the
Needles, with frequent stops to take photos. Our only regret was that we didn’t
have more time to spend in the area.
Related
Stories
Begging for attention – wildlife at South Dakota’s
Custer State Park
© Dominique King 2009
I'll definitely check that out. Can't believe I haven't been to SD yet!
Posted by: Kim@Galavanting | February 10, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Thanks for another great post. I'm always learning new things when I stop by your blog. And *love* the photos.
Posted by: gypsyscarlett | February 11, 2009 at 02:34 AM
Kim-SD and ND were the real surprises of the trip for us. We're hoping to do a trip of just those two states in the next couple of years as there was so much we didn't get to see in the few days we were there.
Gypsy-One of the great things about doing this blog is that -I- learn a lot of new things while doing it!
Posted by: Dominique | February 11, 2009 at 06:28 PM
More places to visit. Thanks for the introduction via your informative post.
Posted by: Donna Hull | February 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Donna-Thanks for stopping by. My list of places to visit is growing every longer, too!
Posted by: Dominique | February 17, 2009 at 03:13 PM