This section of 16A is called Iron Mountain Road, which, together with the Needles Highway, encapsulates the spirit of Custer State Park. Note: The tour is over 66 miles long, with more than 65+ audio stories, and takes about 2-3 hours to complete. New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.
Next up is the second Pigtail Bridge, which is followed immediately by the first tunnel.
After booking, check your email and follow the instructions to set up the tour while you have Wi-Fi/data. Do NOT wait until you are onsite. If you have my Mount Rushmore walking tour, you should exit this tour now and switch to that one. To access the Mount Rushmore tour, first tap Home in the top left corner of your screen. Then press Yes to exit this tour. Once you’ve exited, launch the Mount Rushmore tour. It will start near the Information Centre at the Entrance.
Enjoy this last section of single lane roller coaster driving. As you wind through the forest here, you'll soon be cresting the ridge and leaving the Mount Rushmore area.
The highpoint of the Iron Mountain Road at 5400 ft. There's a big parking lot here, and I recommend taking the time to get out of the car to walk to the overlook.
The last tunnel on Iron Mountain Road is the Scovel Johnson Tunnel, named for the chief engineer and surveyor of the Black Hills Scenic drives.
You’re now driving through the heart of the Galena Fire from way back in 1988, one of largest wildfires in Custer State Park history.
“Jewel Cave”, The third largest cave system in the world, is probably already on your radar if you're at all fascinated with the subterranean world now.
In 1874, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer forever changed the fate of the Black Hills. In those days, the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux, as stated in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
If you want to visit cowboy poet Badger Clark's home, which will be on the left. You'll see a sign that says Badger's Hole.
You'll soon see a turnoff for the Black Hills Playhouse, possibly the single most obscure locations for drama in the world! Plays are staged between June and mid-August, a tradition that has been going strong since 1946. Vehicle Restrictions on the Black Hills Loop Drive - Height restrictions apply along the Black Hills Loop Drive, as large RVs cannot fit through the tunnels on Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road. If possible, drive a regular vehicle, or if towing, detach and leave your trailer behind. For full tunnel dimensions and detailed firsthand driving impressions, see The Narrow Tunnels of the Needles Highway.
Not too long from now, you'll be at Sylvan Lake. That marks the state park boundary. There are two particularly worthwhile places of interest here.
You'll soon pass the historic Sylvan Lake Lodge on the right, although you'll not be able to see much through the trees.
In just a few minutes, you're going to need to make a choice about whether you'd like to take the detour to the Crazy Horse Memorial, or continue following the tour loop around the Black Hills. Crazy horse is barely a ten minute drive from the junction.
The next few blocks are the town, and most things are pretty self-explanatory.
Just begin where it tells you and it automatically picks up during the tour when points need to be made. It was very informative and gave way to understanding what you were looking at.
Great way to tour with pets! Beautiful day… easy to stop and see other things or eat! Doing the same at our next stop!
A good tour, but getting the app installed and set up was a little difficult at first. Otherwise very good. Informative, GPS kept up well with narration and good directions and travel information.
Turn on your location so the app will work right. If you don’t go in order — the app will not work correctly if at all
I actually didn't lusten to the entire audio only the part that included Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. But, thst part was nice.
The audio and the gps feature was easy to follow, and we learned a lot of information we did not know prior to the tour.
Informative and very accurate in keeping you on track as you navigate these twisting roads. Spectacular views and well worth the spend!
So easy to follow, stories were fantastic. We did the Mt. Rushmore, Custer national park and the black hills tour it was great
Very detailed spot on for location. Loved the stories about Custer and actually who was the authors of the state park.
The system didn't keep track of us all the time. The audio guide would be silent from time to time... perhaps they should announce they'll speak again at the next turn or site.
On the presidential trail there's a lot of steps, like 450 actual steps. Wasn't as bad as it sounds. I would do it again.
This was very interesting and informative while driving through the Custer Park. It gave useful facts and was helpful navigating.
The information was great and the app was easy to use almost all of the time. We took the alternate route through Custer State Park on the wildlife loop and the app never picked us up when we got to the other side. So we had to try our best to figure things out which caused great frustration.
I enjoyed the self guided tour took me to some really great scenic views. I wish it had warned me there’s an 8’ wide tunnel before I bought it.
We couldn’t get it to work on the way Up and only got one Message while there. I read the same message on a plaque.
My Husband & I thoroughly enjoyed the audio. It was interesting & learned much more than driving the beautiful area without a ‘guide’. It works off-line as long as the app has been downloaded beforehand. It was easy to use & easy to find the starting point. Highly recommend!
This was great option to hear the history and point out sights along the way. Able to get out and it just picked up where you were using GPS. Didn't really work inside Custer State park for some reason.
Would recommend. I took it for Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills National forest. Lots of information.
Iron Mountain and the one way bridges were interesting. Enjoyed the ability to do the tour at my pace and it would kick in whenever I hit a spot where it had something to say.
Really enjoyed the history. Especially learning about the Galenta fire. I also enjoyed learning about Custer and the natives.
We saw so much more with this tour because we wouldn’t have known about the side trips. Plus, it was so informative.
The tour was a great way to explore, offering clear guidance and fascinating insights with beautiful scenery at every turn.
Based upon this tour, we truly got to experience everything and more in the Black Hills. I recommend this tour to everyone.
I loved the GPS-guided narration and the historical insights as we visited various sites. The directions were perfectly timed, and the history shared along the way made the experience even more enriching. Definitely worth the money!
I. Was not,able to download When I called for help I was.om n hold 35i minutes and I Jung up. That is my story.
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