Custer State Park, Iron Mountain Loop, Needles Highway

August 14, 2013

A VERY full day today, but we really enjoyed it.  There were still some scenic drives we wanted to take in the Black Hills, and it was our last chance to see Mount Rushmore's nighttime lighting ceremony, so we started out in the morning on the Iron Mountain Loop.  It was scenic alright, and scary too.  Really narrow roads with lots of sharp corners, drop offs, and very very narrow tunnels, but Mike came through, as always. We had talked about renting a car for the day, but it didn't work out time-wise, so we took the truck, knowing we had a least a couple of inches on each side (usually).

 At one point, we pulled off the road, thinking it was going to be a scenic overlook, but it turned out we could see Mount Rushmore even from that distance.

Finally got to see some buffalo (or"buffal-overs" as Dori used to call them), and it was worth the wait.

Rounded the corner, and they were everywhere!

Honcho

Smile!

When this guy ran, it was scary - and noisy.  Can't imagine a whole herd of them running!











Down the road, we spotted an antelope.  As I took her picture, a young one joined her.

 We didn't want to scare them, so we walked away.  When we got back to the truck, Mike saw them in the rear view mirror, running toward us.









Then we moved on to Custer State Park and Needles Highway.

Another fun tunnel.

Beautiful rock formations.  

Gotta love those tight corners in a dually!

Our favorite tunnel - the narrowest and longest. We almost made it. Ouch!

Custer State Park

The last tunnel of the day!