SD 87 · USA
Needles Highway
A 14-mile road through the granite spires of the Black Hills in South Dakota, part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway in Custer State Park.
Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.
Where is the Needles Highway?
The Needles Highway is in the USA, on SD 87. The route on this page: Sylvan Lake to the US 16A junction near Legion Lake, Custer State Park, 15.1 miles.
Why the Needles Highway is famous
Finished in 1922, it winds among the granite “needles” it is named after and squeezes through tunnels blasted in the rock, the narrowest of them the Needles Eye Tunnel. Sylvan Lake sits at its top end.
Needles Highway hairpins
Over 24.3 km Turini calls 12 hairpins, 2 square corners and 133 corners graded 1 to 6, plus 2 crests. That is 154 calls in all, one every 158 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes). On Turini’s ranking of the twistiest famous roads it comes 29th of 61.
Needles Highway elevation profile
From 1,930 m at the start to 1,529 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 1,960 m. Red marks are the hairpins.
Needles Highway pace notes, first few miles
The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.
Left 1Right 2Hairpin leftRight 6Right 3 tightensLeft 2 longRight 3Hairpin leftRight 3 very longRight 6Hairpin leftRight 2 tightensLeft 5Left 5Right 2Left 4 long over crestHairpin rightLeft 3Right 3Left 1 very long opensTunnelNarrowsRight 3Left 6Right 1That takes you to 3.45 km. 129 more calls follow over the remaining 20.8 km.
Before you drive the Needles Highway
Usually closed in winter, from late autumn until spring.
It runs through Custer State Park, so you need a park entrance licence. The tunnels are single-lane and only about 8 ft wide: measure a big vehicle before you go. Expect bison and other wildlife on the road.
How to drive the Needles Highway with Turini
Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It plays through the phone or the car speakers. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.
Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.
The Needles Highway: questions
When is the Needles Highway open?
Usually closed in winter, from late autumn until spring.
Where is the Needles Highway?
The Needles Highway is in the USA, on SD 87. The route on this page: Sylvan Lake to the US 16A junction near Legion Lake, Custer State Park, 15.1 miles.
How long is the Needles Highway?
The route on this page, Sylvan Lake to the US 16A junction near Legion Lake, Custer State Park, is 15.1 miles (24.3 km) long, with about 690 ft (210 m) of climbing.
How many hairpins does the Needles Highway have?
On this route Turini calls 12 hairpins and 133 corners graded 1 to 6, plus 2 square corners: 154 pace-note calls in all, about 9.7 corners a mile. Signposted counts can differ, since Turini only calls a hairpin where the road really doubles back.
How high does the Needles Highway go?
The highest point on this route is about 6,430 ft (1,960 m), from terrain data, so it can differ from the signposted height by a few tens of metres. It starts at 6,330 ft and finishes at 5,020 ft.
More roads like the Needles Highway
Best driving roads in the USA · The twistiest famous roads, ranked · All famous roads · How to read pace notes · Best driving apps for twisty roads
Sources: Wikipedia: South Dakota Highway 87.
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