Needles Highway Ride

Let me just start by saying the Needles Highway was hands down my favorite ride of the trip.  Mike echoes the same sentiment saying of all the riding we did (which was A LOT), Needles Highway was the by far the coolest.

After our visit to Mount Rushmore on Tuesday, August 9th, we stopped for lunch in a tiny town called Keystone and then headed to nearby Custer State Park to the Needles Highway.  Needles Highway only spans 14 miles, but it is an impressive 14 miles so get ready for a lot of photos.

I had no idea what to expect from the ride, except that it was recommended by multiple people that we go.  The ride starts on Iron Mountain Road and crosses over to Needles Highway.  It takes you through multiple tunnels, a number of hairpin turns (180 degree turns) and a few pig tail turns (a new term to me...it's like a corkscrew turning 360 degrees).  Basically, a very windy mountain road.

Iron Mountain Road begins with beautiful greenery and tall pine trees flanking the road and providing nice shade. 

As the road continues you cross under a wood bridge...

...and ride through several short rugged one lane tunnels chiseled through the mountain. 



The back of Mike and I, photo courtesy of Cari

We were among dozens of other motorcycles on the ride and there were nearly no cars, which was a cool sight to see. 

We stopped at a lookout point where we could see Mount Rushmore, where we had just visited a couple of hours earlier.



See that lighter gray mountain range in the distance on the right side?



Let's zoon in a little...if you look really, really close you can see Mount Rushmore



The post wouldn't be complete without an obligatory selfie

As the road ascends, rock formations start popping up interspersed with the pine trees. 

The rock formations begin to take over and suddenly the landscape looks like something out of Lord of the Rings.  The awe inspiring views were completely unexpected and took my breath away. 

Pretty cool, huh?

The Needles Highway gets it's name from a spot near the top of the mountain where an opening in the rock resembles the eye of a needle.



The eye of the needle, photo courtesy of Cari

At the top we rode through this cool, narrow gap in between the mountains.  Riding through kind of felt like one of those moments where the angels were singing from the heavens, "Ahhhhhhh".  Definitely a wow moment!



Mike and I riding through



The backside of us, picture courtesy of Cari

The top also provided beautiful panorama views of the valley below.



This is not any of us...just took this photo riding by

The whole ride was incredible.  It was one of those things where your eyes almost can't believe what you are seeing.  I felt like a kid seeing Disneyland for the first time. 

Mother Nature is truly amazing.

Tomorrow we'll do a detour from Mother Nature and visit the famous Full Throttle Saloon...