Painted scene of a paved road curving through pine forest below tall gray granite spires, with one distant motorcycle.
Touring

Needles Highway by Motorcycle: Granite Spires, Tight Tunnels

An older rider tackles the Needles Highway in Custer State Park by motorcycle. Sourced facts on length, tunnel width, licenses and closures.

By Walt Dunmore

This story is not medical advice. The facts about the road (length, tunnel sizes, seasons, services) come from the official sources linked in the post.

Yes, you can ride a motorcycle on the Needles Highway in Custer State Park, and Travel South Dakota lists it among its Black Hills motorcycle rides. I did it at seventy, on a Gold Wing, at my own speed. Game, Fish, and Parks lists the road as 14 miles of Highway 87, and its narrowest tunnel is about eight feet wide.

I rode it alone on a weekday in early June. I'm a retired county road surveyor, forty-one years of it, so I read the numbers before I read the scenery. Then the road got its turn.

It was a better day than I'd earned. A pack of younger riders went past me, a tunnel made me laugh at myself, and I ate lunch beside a lake with nobody wanting a thing from me. The road facts are linked as I go. The grinning is mine.

Key Takeaways

  • The Needles Highway is 14 miles of SD 87 through Custer State Park, and the park lists the drive at 60-plus minutes.
  • The Needles Eye Tunnel is one lane and about 8 feet wide: the park lists 8 feet 0 inches, the state truck-information site 8 feet 4 inches. Measure your bike across the mirrors and bags.
  • Motorized vehicles need a park entrance license, and the Custer temporary license lasts seven days.
  • The road closes to vehicles with the first snow and reopens April 1 or later, so check SD 511 before you go.
  • What I took from it: let faster riders pass, wait your turn at the tunnel, and give 14 miles an afternoon.

Reading the numbers before I rolled out

I did my homework the night before, because a surveyor can't help it. Game, Fish, and Parks says the highway closes to vehicles with the first snow and stays shut until April 1 or later. I checked the state's 511 road page in the morning anyway, because the park's own page tells visitors to.

The tunnel numbers gave me my first laugh. The park lists the Needles Eye Tunnel at 8 feet 0 inches wide. The state's truck information page says 8 feet 4 inches. Forty-one years of surveying taught me that two honest offices rarely agree on one hole in a rock. I called it eight feet, give or take, and planned around the smaller number.

The Wing is wide, mirrors and bags and all, and I wanted to know what I was asking of it.

At the park entrance I bought a license, and the state's license page says the Custer temporary one lasts seven days. Then I took the advice of the resort that runs the park's lodges: start at the southern end, ride north on Highway 87, and save the tunnels for the second half.

Letting a pack of younger riders go by

The road got better once the younger riders were ahead of me instead of behind me. Six of them came up on a long climb and sat on my mirrors, polite about it, the way young men are when they want past. The resort page advises 25 miles per hour or slower in general, which suits a loaded Wing on a road like this.

I found a turnout and let them go. Nobody needed me to prove anything, least of all me. One of them lifted two fingers off the grip in thanks, and within two bends I couldn't hear them. The quiet came back like water into a ditch.

Then I could look at the road. Former Governor Peter Norbeck marked the whole route on foot and by horseback, and the road was finished in 1922. You can tell. The pavement follows the ground instead of arguing with it. A surveyor reads that kind of work like a letter from a careful man.

The first tunnel came in the second half of the ride, as the resort had promised. The park lists the Iron Creek Tunnel at 8 feet 9 inches wide, wider than the one waiting up the road. I took it at walking pace, with my heart going a little faster than that. I told myself this was the roomy one.

The Needles Eye: eight feet, give or take

The Needles Eye Tunnel is where the Wing and I had our disagreement. It sits about two miles southeast of Sylvan Lake, and Travel South Dakota calls it a one-lane tunnel through granite. One lane means somebody waits. That day it was me.

A pickup came out of the far end, then a car, and then the opening was mine. I sat at the mouth with the engine ticking and looked at the rock. It was gray, close, and not one bit sorry. I had measured that tunnel in my head a dozen times, and the Wing was a good deal narrower. Nobody had told my body.

I rolled in. My elbows came in against my ribs and my chin came up. I sat as straight as a fence post and breathed through my nose, like a man trying not to wake a baby. For a few seconds the world was granite on both sides and a small bright door ahead.

Then I was out in the light, laughing inside my helmet. Forty-one years of reading plans, and I had tucked my elbows in for a tunnel with room to spare. The younger riders were pulled over past the portal, taking pictures of each other. One of them asked if I'd gone through slow. I said I'd gone through honest.

Illustration of a touring motorcycle seen from behind, approaching a narrow one-lane tunnel cut through pale granite.

Lunch beside Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake is the finish line, and I took it slowly. The resort lists the lodge there at 6,145 feet. A surveyor wants a benchmark before he trusts that, but I was too hungry to hunt for one.

I found a flat granite ledge facing the water and ate the sandwich I'd packed that morning. The state's trail guide calls the Sylvan Lake Shore Trail a one-mile loop, easy to moderate, and warns that parking is limited at a popular trailhead. On a weekday in early June I found a spot without circling. Nobody said a word to me for forty minutes.

My back had stiffened around the second hour, the way it does, and my right hand had gone a little numb from the throttle. I stood, stretched against the rock and walked a slow piece of the shoreline. I didn't do the whole loop. I did enough.

The water was green and still. I thought about nothing for a good while, which at my age is a skill.

Illustration of a still mountain lake ringed by granite boulders and pines, with a motorcycle parked far off by a bench.

Riding back down, and the spires I skipped

The ride down was easier than the ride up, and it gave me a second look at the spires. Going back through the Needles Eye, I kept my elbows where they belonged. The tunnel hadn't changed. I had.

On the way down I also stopped at the Cathedral Spires trailhead, to look and not to climb. The state's trail guide lists the Cathedral Spires Trail at 2.3 miles out and back, strenuous, with limited parking. It calls the spires a registered National Natural Landmark and says they are named for their resemblance to organ pipes in a cathedral. My knees had a vote, and it was unanimous. I stood at the edge of the lot with my helmet in my hand and looked up instead.

Clouds were stacking up in the west. The same guide says thunderstorms with hail, strong winds and lightning are frequent in summer, so I put my rain jacket on early.

Fourteen miles took me most of an afternoon. I'd do it again: a weekday, a full tank, a wave for anyone who wants to go faster, and a patient wait at the tunnel.

Ride facts: Needles Highway (SD 87), Custer State Park

These are the official numbers, and where two pages differ, both are shown. GFP is South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks; Truck Info is the state's South Dakota Truck Information site.

Fact Detail Source
Road and length SD 87 North in Custer State Park, 14 miles. Time estimates: 60+ minutes (park), 45 to 60 minutes (resort), 1 to 2 hours (tourism board). GFP scenic drives, Resort drive page, Travel SD rides
Direction The resort suggests starting at the south end by Legion Lake Lodge, riding north and finishing at Sylvan Lake. It says either direction is scenic. Resort drive page
Needles Eye Tunnel One lane. GFP: 8 ft 0 in wide, 9 ft 9 in high. Truck Info: 8 ft 4 in wide, 11 ft 3 in high; milepost 71.97, about 2 miles southeast of Sylvan Lake. GFP scenic drives, Truck Info tunnel table, Travel SD rides
Iron Creek Tunnel GFP: 8 ft 9 in wide, 10 ft 10 in high. Truck Info: 9 ft 0 in wide, 11 ft 4 in high; milepost 66.85. GFP scenic drives, Truck Info tunnel table
Season Closed to vehicles from the first snow. Reopens April 1 or later, depending on conditions. GFP scenic drives
Road status Check SD 511. The park says scenic drives can close for weather and other hazards. SD 511, GFP park page
Entrance license Required of motorized vehicles in designated state parks. The Custer temporary license lasts seven days, to 6 p.m. on the last day. Sold online or at an entrance. Amounts are on the license page. GFP license page, Travel SD planning
Pace and difficulty The resort advises 25 mph or slower in general. Travel SD gives the road a skill level of medium to difficult (A.B.A.T.E. level 5 of 5). Resort drive page, Travel SD rides
Fuel and food The resort's store page lists gas at the Coolidge General Store and the Blue Bell Store. Sylvan Lake has a seasonal counter-service store. Resort stores page
Named stops Sylvan Lake Shore Trail: 1-mile loop, limited parking. Cathedral Spires Trail: 2.3 miles out and back, strenuous, limited parking; the spires are a National Natural Landmark. GFP trail guide

Practical advice for riders:

  • Check SD 511 before you leave.
  • Measure your bike at its widest point, mirrors and bags included, and compare it with the smaller tunnel width.
  • Fill the tank before you start; the sources below list no fuel stop on the highway itself.
  • Give the road an hour or two plus stops, and use turnouts to let faster riders pass.
  • Carry rain gear, and keep at least 100 yards from bison, elk and other wildlife, as the park asks.

Questions riders ask about Needles Highway (SD 87), Custer State Park

Can you ride a motorcycle through Custer State Park?

Yes. The state sells entrance licenses for motorcycles, including an annual wristband that fits around the handlebars (Park Entrance License). Travel South Dakota says vehicles traveling non-stop through the park on US 16A and south Highway 87 do not need one (planning page). The park lists the Needles Highway as SD 87 North, so plan on buying a license.

Where does Needles Highway start and end?

The park lists it as SD Highway 87 North, 14 miles long (Scenic Drives). The resort suggests starting at the southern entrance by Legion Lake Lodge and finishing at Sylvan Lake (Needles Highway page). The official pages linked here do not give junction-by-junction directions, and the park warns that GPS can be unreliable in the area (Custer State Park page).

How wide is the Needles Eye Tunnel?

About 8 feet. Game, Fish, and Parks lists 8 feet 0 inches wide and 9 feet 9 inches high (Scenic Drives). The state's truck information site lists 8 feet 4 inches wide and 11 feet 3 inches high (Routes with Special Restrictions). Use the smaller width and measure across your mirrors and bags.

From the Hexrider team

Hexrider sells the Hexcushion, so read this section with that in mind. This story does not involve any product, and Hexrider makes the Hexcushion seat pad for riders who put in long days. If you want to know more, read the Hexcushion product page, the rider reviews and the refund policy.

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