Needles Highway

This narrow rock tunnel, carved directly through granite along South Dakota’s Needles Highway in Custer State Park, is one of several hand-cut passages built in the 1920s to showcase the Black Hills’ rugged terrain. Measuring only about 8 feet wide and 12 feet high, it forces drivers to slow to a crawl as they pass through the ancient stone. The route—part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway—winds past towering spires, sharp switchbacks, and overlooks that frame Mount Rushmore in the distance, making it one of the most iconic drives in the American West.