Needles Highway, Black Hills

by Catherine Sherman

Title

Needles Highway, Black Hills

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Needles Highway, Black Hills, South Dakota" by Catherine Sherman.

The Needles Highway was one of the sights we enjoyed when my family visited the Black Hills, where my father grew up and my mother attended high school and college. You can see one of the straighter runs of the road in this photograph. The distinctive tall granite needle-like peaks; narrow, twisting roads, and single-lane tunnels created an exciting adventure. I've visited the Needles Highway several times as an adult since. I'm glad I wasn't the driver.

The Needles Highway is fourteen miles long, part of the South Dakota 87 highway, and is inside Custer State Park. It's about 30 miles from Rapid City and 35 minutes from Mount Rushmore.

The road was marked by foot and horseback by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who initiated the project despite being told it would be impossible. The highway was completed in 1922. My paternal grandfather John V. Sherman surveyed roads in the Black Hills in the 1920s, and I've wondered which roads he laid out.

Needles Highway is one of three scenic routes along Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway.

On a recent trip we were lucky to avoid the traffic jams at the one-lane tunnels, as drivers waited their turn. Drivers in RVs and other large vehicles might want to avoid this narrow highway. The difficult road didn't deter a white limousine with California license plates we saw parked at one of the scenic stops.

Featured in "Images That Excite You" group (09/20/2019); "Travel Art" group (09/28/2019); "Go Take a Hike" group (10/12/2020); "1000 to 1999 Views" group (08/19/2023)

Uploaded

September 10th, 2019

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Viewed 1,750 Times  -  Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/19/2024 at 4:38 AM

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