Day-6 Jul-13-09

Today we headed out to see Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and the Crazy Horse Monument. We also rode Needles Highway, and Iron Mountain Road.

We covered about 160 miles in about 8.5 hours of time.

Needles Highway runs for about 14 miles through Custer State Park in the Black Hills. Along the road are large granite spires/needles. Along the way, the road includes a few tunnels through the granite mountain that are very narrow and short. Each tunnel is roughly 12 feet wide, and 12 feet high. Needless to say, there are no RVs, or large trucks with trailers allowed.

Below, is an example of one of the wider tunnels.

Below is another tunnel near the peak of the pass. This one is surrounded by large granite sides and spires.

This tunnel is much narrower and also longer than the last one. This truck ended up folding in his mirrors for a better fit :)

Here are some of the granite spires that can be seen along Needles Highway.

Next, we drive through the southern area of Custer State Park. This area is home to a large amount of wildlife. There is a large herd of wild burros that live in this area of the park. They stand in the roadway blocking cars to get food from the tourists. They will stick their heads right into your car if you roll your window down. We stopped and fed them a box of crackers. They will take the food right out of your hand. So much for "wild" burros. These guys are affectionately know as the "begging burros of Custer State Park".

We also saw a large herd of buffalo in the park, this one was right along the roadside eating some grass.

After the park, we rode up Iron Mountain road on the way to Mount Rushmore. Like Needles, Iron Mountain road has a number of rock tunnels, as well as 3 pigtail bridges. The pigtail bridges were very neat. They are essentially a road that curves around and passes over itself. These bridges are used to cover sharp elevation changes in a limited amount of space. Here is one of the pigtail bridges on Iron Mountain road.

Below is the obligatory shot of Mount Rushmore.

After Rushmore, we headed over to the Crazy Horse Monument. From the photos below, you can see that it is a "work in progress." Matter of fact, the progress started in 1948, and is far from completion. If it is ever finished, it will be the world's largest statue.

The final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high.

The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high. For comparison, the heads of the four Presidents at Rushmore are each 60 feet high.

The memorial is a non-profit undertaking, and receives no federal or state funding. The US government offered to help support the effort on two different occasions, but were turned down each time.

Below is a photo comparing a model of the final sculpture to the actual mountain as it is today.

With that, South Dakota is a wrap !!!! Tomorrow, we leave and head down to Estes Park Colorado. Estes Park is at the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park and Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge Road is the highest "continuous" highway in the US, and reaches over 12,000 ft in elevation. Pike's Peak and Mt. Evans are higher (over 14,000 ft), but the road up those two mountains are dead end roads and you have to come back down the way you went up.