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Home , Charles Badger Clark, Custer State Park, Needles (Black Hills), Peter Norbeck

Welcome to the Scenic Byway PETER NORBECK pen your car window The Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway is a 66-mile Scenic O s you drive toward the center of the hills, the and breath in the perfume double loop that honors a A rocks get older (more than 2 billion years). In fact, Byway of a ponderosa pine forest. conservationist, Governor, and U.S. Senator. "An Ordinary Man with an Extraordinary Vision," they are some of the oldest in North America. Age Peter Norbeck is credited with an impressive list after age, these outcroppings have been sculpted by of conservation accomplishments. To the wind, water, and sun to create the monoliths and people of South Dakota and the nation, he spires that you see along the byway today. bequeathed an enduring legacy through the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Harney Peak The are the eroded remnants of a mountainous dome, formed when younger ear the geographic center of the continent, the eel the spiral of N sedimentary material was bowed upward by molten F Black Hills rise 4,000 feet above the high northern the pigtail bridges stone intruding from below. sometimes grasslands, like an "island in the plains." At 7,242 feet, pulling you closer refer to this igneous rock as "Inyan, the Stone Nation." Harney Peak is the highest point east of the Rocky into the hills. Inyan is prominent in their origin story, whereby the Mountain chain and west of the Spanish Pyrenees. Great Spirit gives movement to the inety percent of the N Stone Nation et your hands explore the area is cloaked in L People. coarse contours of a granite Ponderosa pine, decorated with Legend ribbons of aspen, birch, Much of what you see from the Scenic Byway is part of the 1.2 million-acre isten to the musical Black Hills National Forest. Not only does the national forest provide a scenic "You're not supposed L bur oak, spruce, and backdrop for the hills, it is also a working forest, providing timber, forage, water, rivulets of a creek wildlife habitat, minerals, and recreational opportunities. to drive here at 60 miles an hour. willow. The oldest and finding its way down The 13,426-acre Black Wilderness (Black Hills NF) is named for a famous To do the scenery half justice, people largest pines are called Oglala holy man. Wilderness is established to be as area a valley. "...where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" (1964 Wilderness Act). should drive 20 or under; to do it full "yellow barks," because Travel is by foot or horse only. of the tint they take on Congress established the 35,000-acre Norbeck Wildlife Preserve (Black Hills NF) justice, they should get out and walk." in 1920 for the "protection of game animals and birds and to be recognized as a iscover the amazing in maturity. Experts debate whether the ~ Peter Norbeck D "yellow barks" emanate a breeding place therefore." Here, the needs of wildlife come first. rock walled tunnels chocolate, vanilla, or butterscotch odor! Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, the "Shrine of Democracy" became a that perfectly frame he Lakota people called the reality when sculpted his vision, symoblizing the birth, growth, An Extraordinary Man's T preservation, and development of the United States. Mt. Rushmore. Black Hills "Paha Sapa" meaning "hills that are black" Masterpiece of which is how they appear from the plains. Established in 1919, Custer preserves the beauty of its landscapes Mt. Rushmore To while providing activities for all. Whether you're seeking solitude or an exciting National 16A Rapid City adventure, this 71,000-acre park is the place to go. Art & Engineering Breezy Point Memorial Overlook and 13.8 Picnic Area Campground KEYSTONE To 244 Willow Creek SCENIC WANDERS Hill Horse Camp & Picnic Area For More Information City Trailhead Horsethief Lake Washington Profile Campground Tunnel Black Hills National Forest Just to the west of the main entrance to Mt. & Trailhead Grizzly 25041 North Highway 16 Rushmore, this wayside provides a stunning view 87 Campground Vista Point of Washington's face. Custer, SD 57730 Miles between (605) 673-9200 Bridges, 3 10 junctions Pigtail tunnels, www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills Iron Mountain Road Oreville Harney Bridges hair-pin turns; Scenic Byway The road they said "couldn't be built" spirals up Camground 9' 7" high by 12' wide Peak Washington (no bypass) the mountains via three pigtail-shaped bridges. Busses, RVs, and trailers may Mt. Rushmore National Memorial Profile Overlook Norbeck find it difficult or impossible to Overlook 13000 Hwy. 244 NATIONAL Three tunnels perfectly frame Mt. Rushmore in negotiate the hairpin turns and PARK SER VICE the distance. 8 tunnels of the byway. Contact Building 31, Suite 1 for more

Black Elk D e p a r t m e n t Iron information. Keystone, SD 57752 of the Interior Highway Wilderness Mountain (605) 574-2523 Hairpin turns and narrow tunnels make this more Picnic Area Lakota Lake Sylvan Lake 11' 9" high www.nps.gov/moru than your average "drive in the park!" The 14-mile Campground by 9' wide Picnic Area 10' 4" high (no bypass) drive winds through a maze of granite formations, 10 by 11' 4" wide Custer State Park (no bypass) Iron reminiscent of needles, organ pipes, and spires. HC 83, Box 70 Watch for the Needle's Eye and Cathedral Spires. Mountain Custer, SD 57730 Iron Creek Road (605) 255-4515 Golden Valley Horse Camp & (Portions are closed Carving Trailhead in the winter.) www.custerstatepark.info Lieutenant Colonel George Custer used this area 14 in 1874 as the base camp for the Custer Expedition Norbeck Custer Chamber of Commerce that explored the Black Hills. More important to 16 Wildlife 16A 615 Washington St. the future of the area, Golden Valley was also Preserve 385 where gold was first discovered. 12' high by Custer, SD 57730 10' 4" wide (605) 673-2244 (no bypass) Center Lake Gordon Stockade 8 Campground Custer (800) 992-9818 The Gordon Party came to the Black Hills in 1874 Needles State 16.1 www.custersd.com in search of gold. Although illegal, they built a Black Hills Highway Park base camp on French Creek. Today, a replica (Closed in the winter.) Hill City Chamber of Commerce stands as a reminder of those Gold Rush days. National 89 Forest 324 Main St. Hill City, SD 57745 Wildlife Loop Road Peter Norbeck 87 To This 18-mile loop passes through grasslands and Visitor Center (605) 574-2368 Hermosa (800) 888-1798 rolling hills that harbor bison (buffalo), Bismark Lake 8.4 antelope, elk, , and an abundance of other Campground & www.hillcitysd.com Picnic Area wildlife. Golden 6.9 Legion Lake 16A Valley Campground Keystone Chamber of Commerce The Badger Hole 110 Swanzey St. Gordon Badger , South Dakota's first Poet Stockade Grace Coolidge Keystone, SD 57745 Hole Campground Laureate, lived for 30 years in his cabin deep inside Stockade Lake 1.4 (605) 666-4896 16 Campground Game Lodge Custer State Park. Clark embodied the spirit of CUSTER (800) 456-3345 the West, inspired by the sights, sounds, and Campground smells of his own front yard. [email protected] South Dakota Office of Tourism Peter Norbeck Visitor Center Wildlife Wildlife (800) S-DAKOTA Stop here to learn more about Custer State Park Loop Road and the park's founder - Peter Norbeck. Loop Road www.travelsd.com

Funded in part by the These organizations are equal opportunity providers. Federal Highway Administration. Photos provided by Black Hills National Forest, Custer State Park, and South Dakota Dept. of Tourism Printed on recycled paper Ordinary Man ~ Extraodinary Vision

any of the outstanding features of the Black HillsM have a common thread ~ they are the legacy of Peter Norbeck. A Masterpiece of Art & Engineering

urly and unpretentious, Norbeck was a "I would rather be remembered as an artist than as a United States Senator." B man of common origin but uncommon destiny. Born in 1870 in a tiny dugout shelter in eastern South Dakota, Norbeck eventually moved to the Black Hills, where he would become a steward of the land and a nationally prominent THE NEEDLES HIGHWAY conservationist legislator. orbeck was guided by a persistent desire to espite having the worst attendance Npreserve natural beauty while making special areas Drecord at his one-room schoolhouse, accessible to as many people as possible. To that end, Norbeck eventually made it to the Norbeck assembled teams of engineers who would University of South Dakota. His three become leaders in a new form of road building ~ terms cost him $25 and helped guide where the road itself was a work of art. his future in business and politics.

Governor Peter Norbeck orbeck searched through the Harney Range for orbeck's successful well-drilling N business eventuallyN gave way to his interest in routes that would provide "the grandest views" ~ politics. Beginning in 1908 as a State Senator, routes that would bring the visitor in intimate contact with the forest, the rocks, and the streams. Civilian Conservation Corps crews Norbeck went on to become Lieutenant began road building in the 1930s. Governor and then Governor. In 1920, the road His road would engage the senses, in a masterpiece led him to a U.S. Senate seat in Washington, D.C. where he served three terms.

n 1919, the route that Custer State Park, Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, and Mt. NorbeckI mapped out Rushmore exist today because of Norbeck's tireless was, to conventional efforts. He also helped establish Badlands National engineering standards, Monument and Grand Teton Nation al Park. impossible to build. But National Park Service Director Horace Albright Norbeck was an Two years and 150,000 said: unconventional man, and pounds of dynamite later, the

"We are not likely to see another leader arise who will was not deterred by the result was a winding road have such a broad knowledge of the conservation "diploma boys" who said it around and through the upthrust problems of the country and the courage, power, and couldn't be done. When he sentinels of stone ~ The Needles the legislative skill in guiding through Congress the Highway. The new signs directing laws necessary to provide permanent solutions to asked his engineer, Scovell these problems." Johnson, if it would be possible visitors to this work of art read to build, Scovell replied, "If you "Needless Highway." Johnson can supply me with enough wasted no time in scraping off the eter Norbeck continued to be dynamite!" Norbeck did. offending last "s" with his Norbeck with Mt. Rushmore architect, politicallyP active until he died quietly at pocketknife. Gutzom Borghlum. his home in 1936. Early motorists on the Needles Highway. Wildlife yway Al e B ong th THE IRON MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY Washington's face emerges at Keep your eyes open for he Needles Highway was good training Mt. Rushmore marmots, antelope, coyotes, mule groundT for Norbeck's next venture ~ the Iron through the and white-tailed deer. If you are Mountain Road. Norbeck mapped out a route newly observant (and maybe a bit that required three tunnels to be blasted constructed lucky) you may see bobcats, through the mountains. In addition, the tunnel. mountain lions, bald eagles, tunnels were to frame the four faces emerging badgers, and porcupines. from Mt. Rushmore in the distance. But that was the easy part. lthough not native to the area,A Rocky Mountain elk, , and mountain goats now make their home here. Watch Norbeck asked the Superintendant of Custer for shy rattlesnakes on your walks ~ State park, C.C. Gideon, to design the road that they don't like to be startled. would connect the tunnels. Gideon devised a remarkable corkscrew spiral road connecting the Today's view tunnels to lift the traveler from one level to through a another without adding miles of road. Gideon tunnel. Along the Peter Norbeck (who quit school at age 13) referred to them as Scenic Byway, our traffic jams "spiral-jumpoffs." Norbeck call them "whirly jigs." are a little different. Because of the abundance and visibility of wildlife, you An Iron Mountain bridge may occasionally find disappears into a tunnel. yourself in a "Goat Jam, a "Bison Jam," or a "Tourist Jam." uster State Park Superintendent Owen MannC built the road in about a year and a half se drive carefu with the help of 16 men, finishing in 1933. Plea lly!

"He found great pictures in nature and gave them

Pigtail bridge to the world."

Funded in part by the Federal Highway Administration.