Two Great Roads for the Price of One

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.com

There's a reason the Sturgis Bike Rally is such a big event, and it's not because Sturgis is such a cool, unique place to go. What has made the rally so big is that the Black Hills are home to some of the best motorcycle roads in the country. Rally goers generally drop in to Sturgis for a few hours and then spend most of their time out riding this gorgeous country.

At the very peak of all these roads are the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road. If you start in Keystone, the little town down the hill from Mount Rushmore, you can do a loop that includes them both. And if you're up for a bit more riding you can add in the Wildlife Loop that is part of Custer State Park, which you will be passing through on this ride.

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.comStarting off from Keystone, you come up the hill on SD 244 and see Rushmore up ahead. Pull-offs along the road let you stop and get pictures and see the mountain. If you want to see it up close you have to pay to park up ahead.

Having passed Rushmore you next come on a pull-off where you can see just the bust of George Washington, in profile. It's another obligatory stop.

The road winds away from Rushmore and then meets U.S. 385. A left and then another quick left puts you on SD 87, which leads into the park and onto the Needles Highway.

The Needles Highway first climbs, presenting terrific views of the bare rock outcroppings that make up most of these hills in this vicinity. One-lane tunnels have been blasted through the rock to create the road, and the tunnels are as picturesque as the hills. Finally you find yourself winding among the towering rock needles that give the road its name, and then you start the descent toward lower elevations.

When you come out of the park at the southern terminus of the Needles Highway, a right turn, staying with SD 87, will take you to the Wildlife Loop and a right turn will take you to Iron Mountain Road on U.S. 16A.

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.comThe Wildlife Loop reconnects with 16A several miles to the east, before you turn north on Iron Mountain Road. As the name suggests, it is a good road to ride if you want to see wildlife, primarily buffalo and wild burros.

Iron Mountain Road winds north over some rolling hills and then climbs to the top of a mountain that faces Mount Rushmore. Coming up you have expansive views to the east and as you swing around the top the view is of Rushmore. On this road there are two main attractions. Iron Mountain Road also has one-lane tunnels, but all of these were bored in such a way that you look directly through them and see the presidents on Mount Rushmore.

The other attraction is the pig-tail bridges that were designed specifically in order to be able to build this road down the steep mountain side. Slopes would have been too steep, but the pigtail bridges circle back underneath themselves and keep the decline manageable. Along the way, in a couple spots, the two lanes of traffic diverge and you wind through the forest on narrow one-lane stretches of pavement.

And then the road dumps you right back into Keystone and your loop is complete.