Needles Highway, Custer State Park

About this drive

Needles Highway — SD-87 between Custer and Hill City in the Black Hills — covers 14 miles through a landscape of eroded granite spires, including two tunnels blasted through solid rock so narrow that a truck side mirror would scrape the walls. The road was completed in 1922 under the direction of South Dakota governor Peter Norbeck, who wanted visitors to experience the Black Hills at a pace where they could appreciate the geology rather than pass through it. The tightest, the Needles Eye Tunnel, is just 8 feet 4 inches wide and under 10 feet high — measure anything larger than a car, mirrors included, before committing. The pinnacles that give the highway its name rise from the forest like the spines of something buried in the hillside, rising as much as 100 feet above the surrounding pines. The Cathedral Spires viewpoint gives the best concentrated view of the formations. Sylvan Lake, at the northern end of the highway, is a granite-rimmed reservoir popular for swimming and short hikes, and one of the most photographed lakes in South Dakota. The highway connects directly to Iron Mountain Road to the north and to the southern entrance of Wind Cave National Park to the south, making it the central piece of a full Black Hills circuit. Allow at least two hours for the 14 miles — the tunnels, the stops, and the general pace of driving something this involved cannot be rushed.

Stops along the way

• 📸 Sylvan Lake · Scenic Viewpoint

  A granite-rimmed lake at one end of the highway, popular for a short walk after the drive.

Featured in

• Best Mountain Scenic Drives in the USA