Needles Highway

Before our first visit to South Dakota, all I knew of the state was Mount Rushmore. There is so much more.

On our recent visit, our generous hosts took the lovely Robin and me to see the Needles Highway in the Black Hills, named after the striking granite "needles" it winds among. Wow. How beautiful.

The highway passes through Custer State Park, which contains the beautiful Sylvan Lake (above). 

I thought when we got to "the needle's eye," that the name was a reference to the narrow passage through which vehicles (of all sizes, amazingly) must pass...and the traffic is two-way! But I was wrong.

The Needle's Eye is a rock formation (above) facing the rock tunnel through the road, stretching to the sky.

It is all so beautiful. No photo can do it justice.

Needles Highway is also known as South Dakota Highway 87, just south of Hill City.