Needles Highway

Shortly after leaving Mount Rushmore, we decided since we had already eaten and it was close to Amaya's nap time, we'd take the scenic route back to our cabin and take Needles Highway. This was Steve's FAVORITE part of the vacation. We even did it twice (on separate days) - going both ways! Steve especially enjoyed the pigtail wooden bridges through Iron Mountain Road. We enjoyed taking the drive through Custer State Park - the scenery was awesome! Steve and I both kept saying, "Wow!" and Amaya would mimic us. We were really hoping to see at least one buffalo and we we in for a treat! There was a picnic area shortly after the entrance to Custer State Park and there were tons of buffalo everywhere! Amaya can now say "buffalo" very well and likes to look for them in Rochester.




I'm glad Steve was comfortable driving because there were many sharp curves, steep drop-offs, and very few guard rails. It wasn't the scariest driving Steve has done - the Smokies were a lot worse, but I was hanging on pretty tight. There were times Steve could only drive 5 miles per hour because the curves were so sharp. We snapped several pictures at the scenic overlooks and were absolutely astounded by God's creations! These next two pictures are taken in front of the Cathedral Spires.

These pictures were taken right by the "Needle" Rock Formation.

Very impressive scenery!

This tunnel was about 8 1/2 feet wide!