On day two of our Custer State Park exploring we piled in the Solis and set off for the northern part of the park. Tucked in the upper left corner of the park, almost all by itself, is a unique landscape of rock mountains eroded into tall towers. In order to get there, you have to navigate Needles Highway.
Much like the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park (anyone else still have stressful flashbacks?), Needles Highway is a narrow two lane road that winds up and down the Black Hills. To paint a picture for you, the white line on the edge of the road is the edge of the road. There is no shoulder. While the edges aren’t steep drop offs or rock walls like at Glacier, it’s still unnerving. And exhilarating.
The road turns sharply several times as it climbs upward. Best to honk as you round those hairpin turns! Eventually you come to a tunnel. It gets even more exciting – it’s a one lane tunnel that has been carved through the mountain rock. Oh, and it’s barely wide and tall enough for the van. So, hold your breath and suck it in, through we go! It’s pretty awesome, once you are on the other side and no traffic is coming at you. Haha
After one of such tunnels, we arrived at our parking spot for the hike to the Cathedral Spires and Little Devils Tower. The parking lot is also above and below a hairpin turn. They like to test our stress resiliency here on the Needles Highway.
After a few deep breaths, we did set off down the trail and were immediately rewarded. Before even arriving at the Cathedral Spires, in front of and above you are tall rock towers jutted up from the dry earth below. It’s a climbers dream playground.
When we finally did reach the end of the trail, we were down at the base of the tallest spires. Looking up in amazement, I felt like a tiny ant. The dark gray “needles” spike up in all sizes, shapes, and forms. Deep crevasses separate one from another. The glowing sun bounced off their tops and showered down on us. It did feel a little like being in a cathedral.
Hungry for more amazing sights that nature had to offer, we continued hiking on the Little Devils Tower trail to the next view. While the big landforms were spectacular, so were the small rocks that dotted our path. Vibrant veins of reds, oranges, pinks, and grays ran through the rocks. Many sparkled in the sunshine like a fairy had sprinkled dust all around us. When hiking, don’t forget to look in all directions for beauty.
Towards the end of the trail, to get to the top, you needed to squeeze through two boulders and climb over the rock face. It was at this point that my mom said, “Have fun!” and went to find a sunny spot to rest while my dad and I continued on. Up the opening we went, following blue arrows over the mountain top, looking for the next best hand grab spot or foothold. I’m always up for a challenge.
At the top, though extremely windy, we were rewarded with a splendid view of the landscape surrounding us. Mountains, trees, and open land for as far as you could see. I will certainly miss this.
When the wind became too much (you can see it’s force in my flying hair!), we scrambled down and joined my mom for lunch before the walk back to the car. Then it was down the Needles Highway we went through, surprise, another narrow tunnel, and finally out onto the highway. That day I treated myself to ice cream in town, I think I earned it!
Dinner at the campground and our best fire yet was the wrap up to our time at Custer State Park. I would definitely come back.
Tonelli's Travels 