Iron Mountain Road and Mount Rushmore Views

Completing on our Tuesday trip, we were on the Iron Mountain Road. We had traveled this route on Monday morning on our way to Wind Cave, but in the opposite direction. Going north on the highway gives views of Mount Rushmore from an interesting perspective...

Coming to one of the tunnels...

There's something through there...

Oh!

It's a motorcycle coming, and Mount Rushmore!

On the other side (not zoomed in).

Later, the third tunnel...

Also has a view of Mount Rushmore as you travel through the tunnel.

View from the far side of the third tunnel.

Beyond the tunnels...

In addition to the stone tunnels, there are also pigtail bridges.

Coming up to the bridge (which we had already crossed over).

They are really beautiful wooden structures.

Finishing up our day... a deer alongside the road...

She was near the location where we had seen the group of deer in the morning on Monday (with the fawn that was galloping around) (http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2018/08/wildlife-and-custer-state-park.html)

We finished up the day going out for dinner with John and Aleda. Keystone is a great base from which to visit the sites around the Black Hills.

Needles Highway

On Tuesday, we decided to drive Needles Highway (in the Jeep!) and see the sites along that route - it is so beautiful! This post is about the middle part of the drive - Needles itself!

The highway is named for the rock formation that looks like a needle's eye

Impressive curb to park up against.

Hmmm... that looks like a narrow tunnel!

We walked into a slit next to the tunnel...

Dwayne's feet show how narrow the path was

Looking back out...

As we came out, a group of unique-looking (and sounding) cars came up that appeared to be traveling together...

On Thursday when we visited the South Dakota Tourism Rest Area near Chamberlain, SD, we saw this sign - maybe the cars were part of the Mustang Rally in Sturgis? (though they were not all Mustangs)

Our turn to go through...

On the far side...

Interesting rock formations

Beautiful views

But where was the needle?

We must have missed it... so back through to the other side.

There it is!

Right above the information board that we took pictures of... why didn't we see it then?

Continuing onward...

Still beautiful views...

Rock outcroppings right beside the road.

And all around...

This is called "Cathedral Spires".

A beautiful drive - in a Jeep - NOT in Miss Doozie.

Other people drive buses through there though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBcsQcOyuIo
They evidently do this regularly: https://www.blackhillsvacations.com/things-to-do/scenic-guided-tours/supplier/655196-Mount-Rushmore-Tours-/-Stagecoach-West

Our friend, John, said that the mirrors are well scraped on the bus...

Sylvan Lake

On Tuesday, we decided to drive the Needles Highway - several things we wanted to see along the way... the first was Sylvan Lake. Our friend John had told us (and shown us pictures) of how beautiful Sylvan Lake was...

On the way, we saw Washington's profile...

There are many places along the roads and in the town of Keystone from which you can see Mount Rushmore.

Beautiful rock formations all around...

And warnings about low and tight clearances upcoming...

Well... that one doesn't look so bad!

We came to Sylvan Lake - we had not visited it on our previous trip to this area.

The map on the information board showed a walking path all the way around it.

The lake was formed by man-made a dam on the creek at the end of the lake.

Looking back across at the day use area.

It was so beautiful how the huge rocks came right down into the lake.

I was enjoying the beauty!

Gorgeous

There was a bridge over the area where the dam was at the end.

It was cloudy and appeared that rain might come, but we didn't get rained on.

The bridge across the dam area

Beyond the dam area

Looking back at the path that we had taken around that side of the lake

We went around the side of the rocks next to the dam and bridge and found a passage through the rock...

There's Dwayne at the other end!

The dam and bridge over it from the creek area below.

Steps were carved into the rock in some places

Looking through the rocks toward the lake

So peaceful

It looked like this area at the other end of the lake from the dam may have hosted a wedding recently.

It would be a beautiful location for a wedding!

Sylvan Lake was just our first stop on the day... more later on our other views for the day!