Needles Highway: what to know before you drive it
The Needles Highway is a 14-mile stretch of South Dakota Highway 87 through Custer State Park in the Black Hills, named for the granite spires it threads between. It has tight switchbacks and narrow one-lane tunnels, it closes in winter, and you need a Custer State Park entrance license to drive it.
Updated
What it's like
Slow and spectacular rather than fast: hairpins, rock walls a foot from the mirror, and tunnels blasted through the granite that are barely wider than a car. The Needles Eye Tunnel is the famous one. Large vehicles and RVs should check the posted tunnel dimensions before setting off.
Sylvan Lake sits at the top of the road and is the usual stop.
The Black Hills loop
Combine it with Iron Mountain Road (US 16A), whose pigtail bridges and tunnels frame Mount Rushmore, and the Wildlife Loop Road through Custer State Park, where bison have the right of way. Custer and Hill City are the bases.
When to go
Late spring to fall. Summer weekends and the week of the Sturgis motorcycle rally in August are very busy; early mornings are quietest.
Black Hills routes near the Needles
Curated drives first, then by how much they bend.
- SD-87 + Needles HighwayNear Hot Springs39 mi375 corners9.7 / mi
- Iron Creek TwistysNear Custer9.4 mi123 corners13.1 / mi
- US-16A - Iron Mountain RoadNear Custer35 mi357 corners10.2 / mi
- Stockade Lake PlaygroundNear Custer19 mi197 corners10.4 / mi
- Custer Limestone RoadNear Custer28 mi280 corners10.2 / mi
- Medicine Mountain RoadNear Custer24 mi253 corners10.5 / mi
- Playhouse RoadNear Rapid City14 mi157 corners11 / mi
- SD-40 + Old Hill City RoadNear Hermosa26 mi220 corners8.5 / mi
- Ditch Creek RoadNear Custer77 mi657 corners8.5 / mi
Questions
- Do you have to pay to drive the Needles Highway?
- Yes. It is inside Custer State Park, which requires an entrance license.
- Can an RV drive the Needles Highway?
- Only small ones. The tunnels are narrow and low; check the posted dimensions against your vehicle before you go.
- Is the Needles Highway open in winter?
- No. It closes for the winter season and reopens in spring.
Keep reading
- How do I find twisty roads near me?How to find the best curvy driving roads near you: what makes a road good to drive, how to measure it, and how Road Finder scores every road in an area on curvature and flow.
- What is the best app for driving enthusiasts?What a driving enthusiast app should do — find great roads, navigate them with pace notes, record drives and run group drives — and how Road & Rally covers each.