Custer South Dakota - Part 2 - Our Epic RV Journey

Our week long stay in Custer just did not seem long enough to be able to see all of the major attractions and as a result we were quite busy. I would have liked to get back to the Custer State Park a few more times for some of their great hikes. Overall, it was a great week and we will probably return one of these years.

Custer Studebaker Car Show

We just lucked into this car show on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Sponsored by the 5-state Studebaker club they had some nicely restored autos on display. Studebaker was far ahead of the pack in design and technology. It would have been great to have had them survive and see what models they have today. I love the old classic cars as you can tell by the number of photos.

The media was there, but I kept a low profile.
I think we had these folks for neighbors one time.
The oldest vehicle at show, think it was a ’29

Custer State Park/Needles Loop, Wildlife Loop, & the Famous Iron Mountain Highway

Wow! This is the premier state park in the country. Encompassing 71,000 acres in the Black Hills, this park has four lakes, several lodges, and some crazy, twisting, and steep scenic roads.

They have three must-do drives in the park. 1) Needles Highway – 14 miles, about an hour and two tunnels (one is 8’4″ wide!), 2) Iron Mountain Road – 17 miles, an hour, and three tunnels, 3) Wildlife Loop Road – 18 miles and 1.5 hours, and home to many wildlife jams.

The Needles
Guess who?
The Needles Eye Tunnel – 8’4″ wide!! Happy to be driving the little Honda and not the big red dually.

We drove all of these roads in the little Honda. The Iron Mountain Road has been called a work of art. It is also known as 16A, and is an incredible journey, an unforgettable experience. I believe that it is the most unusual and captivating road in America. Or at close to the Wyoming’s Chief Joseph and the Beartooth!

One crazy road! We did it! Could have bought the T-shirt too, but saved that one.
We saw a couple herd of bison from the car.
Wild burros begging for food.
Lodge built by the CCC and visited by Calvin Coolidge in 1927. Summer White House.

The Needles Highway winds its way through a maze of vertical, spindle type rocks that you can almost touch outside the car window. Yes, they are that close. And then you make a very tight turn on a narrow road as you twist your way through hoping another car does not come from the other direction.

The park is also home to a famous herd of 1,500 free roaming bison. Elk, coyotes, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, river otters, pronghorn, cougars, and feral burros also inhabit the park. The park is famous for its scenery, its scenic drives (Needles Highway and the wildlife loop), with views of the bison herd and prairie dog towns.

Once a year, the park will round up all of the bison using cowboys on horseback. They pin up the bison, count em, give em their shots, and sell off a few to keep the herd at no more than 1,500. Now that would be cool to see!

Pat’s Birthday at the Powder House Lodge

My sweetie had her Medicare qualifying birthday, so we booked reservations at one of the nicer places that we could find. The Powder House Lodge is located over in Keystone, about 30 minutes from Custer.

This is exactly my kind of restaurant. Kind of like stepping back into the 1950’s. A log cabin exterior and knotty pine interior with some subdued lighting and Frank Sinatra playing somewhere in the background. Both the service and the food were top notch. I think Pat had a good time. I had the walleye special and she had a bacon-wrapped filet.