Black Hills, SD ~ Needles Hwy ~ Sylvan Lake, SD

The Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota has many very unique places to visit and one incredible area is along Hwy 87. This one 14 mile stretch of road is called the Needles Highway that takes you through a region of eroded granite, spires, towers and pillars like you have never seen before.

 

The Cathedral Spires

This area was first considered for Mt Rushmore but was rejected by the sculpture for being a poor quality of granite and the pillars were too thin to support the planned sculptures.

 

The Needles Highway

The Needles Highway is part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, which also passes through the Custer State Park. You will need your State Park Pass to travel this road.

 

Climbers at the top of a Needle

There are climbers on several of the peaks, it just makes me cringe to see them up on top but I also envy the view they must be enjoying. There is a school that will teach you, the Sylvan Rocks Climbing School. If you’re going to do it, learn to do it safely.

 

Close-up of the Needles

This close-up shows the balancing that some of these formations are doing, it makes us wonder how it could have stayed up there for zillions of years like that.

                                 

 More beautiful Needles

We had the most incredible weather while we visited the area and there was not one cloud in the sky. It makes the pillars stand up tall with no clouds for them to disappear into.

 

A most scenic drive on the Needles Highway

Every corner we turned on that windy road, we’d see another incredible sight! The size of these needles were something and all so close to the road, it was impossible to drive and enjoy the view at the same time. We would have to pull over at every pullout to get a better look at them.

 

Amidst the Needles

We were right in the middle of this group of pillars, but it gave us no temptations to climb! We were just there to enjoy the needles, the incredible forms that make up this part of the Black Hills.

 

Cycling the Needles Highway

This area is very accessible for the tourists by vehicle, motorcycle or bikes. Hikers would love this area, too.

 

Narrow tunnels on Needles Highway

There are signs that will warn you the size of the tunnel and we did decide not to go through one of them, it didn’t give us enough room to feel safe for trying. At least without pulling the RV, we had room to turn around. We weren’t going to experience another tight fit going thru a tunnel, once was enough.  Tourist information can tell you the size of each tunnel so you would know before you drive this way.

 

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake was formed from damming at the rivers end. There is swimming and fishing in the lake, although in separate areas, and there are usually many people in the park.

Rock formations at Sylvan Lake

The rocks are a great place for the visitors to climb, and while we were there we saw several people soaking up the sunshine on the rocks over the lake. This is also a place to begin your hike in one of many directions. There are so many places to visit in the Black Hills National Forest that it would be impossible to name only one favorite. You must make sure you have enough time to enjoy all of it and I do believe you would agree with me when you visit this incredible area that you wish you had time to see more.

Devil's Tower, WY to Keystone, SD - the detour continues

We Love RV'ing but we finally had “one of those days” ! We started out from Devil’s Tower on a bright sunny day and headed towards Keystone, SD, USA. The GPS system hasn’t been used much because we’ve been following the road. Now we have an RV park as a destination so Keith has entered the town of Keystone.

                                                      Devil's Tower KOA grounds

I know that GPS can be a wonderful thing but there are exceptions ! We are following the shortest route and even though I feel very competent at reading the map and navigating our trips, I have conceded to allowing Miss GPS to know what she is doing and following her directions. Let me tell you, it was not a good idea.

We followed Hwy 85 to Deadwood, SD and it is a busy little tourist town. It has a great city center and we stopped at the tourist center to get a map and some information. Then we’re back in the truck to follow the rest of the GPS directions. We head south on Hwy 385 looking to turn at Hwy 16. Miss GPS tells us to turn, which we do, and although there was no sign saying it was Hwy 16, we followed her directions of following this road for 3 miles, there was no turnout in the road for us to change our minds now. It was a single lane dirt road !! I don’t know what she was thinking ! I suggest at this point that until she is updated, we do not trust Miss GPS.

LESSON #1 – Do not always take the shortest route, it may not be the best one !
Miss GPS may have been doing as instructed, but that isn’t my department so I cannot say for sure !

Main street thru Keystone, SD, USA

We found our way out to the road, joining onto Hwy 16A getting us into downtown Keystone, SD, USA ! Woohoo, we made it. Now the key was to find the RV park.
There are directions in the book, but none of them include Hwy 16A from Keystone, so Miss GPS goes to work and gives us the directions. All other directions in our book are coming from different locations. Ok, away we go. Turns out there was a reason why Hwy 16A was not included in the book.

We wind our way thru town to follow Hwy 16A to Spokane Creek RV park. What a pretty drive, although a very narrow road, we carry on slowly with so many tight curves to navigate. There are hairpin turns, which are so narrow that we have to drive into the oncoming lane, thankfully there is not too much traffic. Even when we were on our own side of the road, it was rather amusing to see the looks on the face of the white-knuckled drivers that we did meet, but I was the only one laughing at this point.

We were crossing bridges that were built on curves, this was one windy road, but the best was yet to come.

                                                             Small tunnel opening

We found some single lane tunnels on the road, three all together, with no way around shown, we were at the point of no return and had to go through. The sign gave the size of the openings, we’re pretty sure we can fit. One tunnel was 12’ 2” high and our 5th wheel is 11’8”.

                                                              Tunnel vision
Whew, not much room to spare, we were video’d by tourists as we were going thru that one. Looking thru the end of this tunnel was framing the face of Washington on Mt. Rushmore……. That was pretty exciting, but Keith didn’t get a chance to look at that, he was busy getting us thru the tunnel ! Too bad, it was an incredible sight !

We did manage to get thru all the tunnels and made it to the RV park. I never had any doubts that Keith would get us there safe and sound, he’s driven some pretty rough roads back home without problems, but apparently there is nothing like those tunnels! Boy, was it time for Happy Hour when we got parked!

LESSON #2 - ….. update your GPS before leaving home.
Now for more fun, check out our visit to Mt. Rushmore.

http://we-love-rv-ing.blogspot.com/2009/08/we-love-rving-to-mt-rushmore-sd-usa.html

Driving the Fraser Canyon Highway

Driving the Fraser Canyon Highway

While driving the Fraser Canyon, one cannot help but be impressed by the beautiful views, whether the trip is made in Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall.

We chose to drive home from the coast via the Fraser Canyon on our most recent trip back from our winter holiday in Southern California. The roads had been closed briefly due to severe winter snow conditions and this is something one needs to be aware of when winter driving thru the Fraser Canyon. It doesn’t happen often, but can happen. As it was, the roads were great and the traffic fairly light and we were lucky enough to have some blue skies and sunshine.

One of many majestic mountains in the Fraser Canyon

Hope is at the junction of Hwys 1, 5 and 7, 150 km (94 mi) east of Vancouver, B.C.
It is nestled at the base of the Cascade Mountains and sits at the entrance of the Fraser River Canyon. This pretty little town of 6667 people is considered the Chainsaw Capital of Canada but there was a time it was the Hudson Bay Company fur trading fort as well as a Gold Rush town and with so much history is worth a stop at the Hope Museum.

Our next stop on Hwy 1 is 24 km (16 mi) to Yale, which has quite a history, as well.
The museum is housed in an1868 heritage home and is open for travellers to hear all about the past and what Yale means to the Fraser Canyon. It is one of the oldest and most historic communities in British Columbia. The Gold Fever in 1858 brought 20,000 people to live in Yale, today there are 200.

                                         The light at the end of one of 8 tunnels

Once you leave Yale you will pass thru a total of 8 tunnels on your drive of the Fraser Canyon Highway. We pass by Spuzzum, which you will miss if you blink since the old store burned down a few years ago.

Then onto Boston Bar, 42 km (26 mi) north of Yale, with a population of 890 people. You will find food, gas and lodgings as well as many outdoor activities to enjoy. There is river rafting, gold panning, rock hounding, fishing and hiking throughout most of the year, and snowmobiling and snowboarding during the winter months.

Kanaka Bar is along this part of the road and has been a truck stop for as long as I can remember and likely has it’s own stories to tell, if only walls could talk !!

The Fraser Canyon Highway was completed in 1962. That may seem like a long time ago to the ‘young ones’ but it really wasn’t that long ago that the trip from the Interior to the Coast thru the Fraser Canyon was a long day trip. I remember travelling on this road during construction. I was still pretty young and it was scary to us kids looking over the edge of the road into the deep canyon. We’d have to use the pull outs carved into the banks to allow traffic and the big trucks to go by. It took several years to complete and was quite a feat when one considers the obstacles that had to be overcome.

Another fact that might age me, too, is remembering the walk down to Hell’s Gate before the current tram was there. It took awhile on that hot summer day, but we did it and without the help of a burro or camel, now that would make me really old!!

There are camping facilities scattered along the Fraser Canyon Highway. If you have time to stop and enjoy the wonderful scenery and history of the Canyon, try to get your campsite early and they fill up during the summer months.

There is a day use park at Alexandra Bridge with picnic area, some wheelchair access and hiking trails.

Between Hope and Yale there is Emory Creek Provincial Park with 34 campsites to stop and enjoy the great fishing in the area as well as the hiking trails.

There are four roadside rest areas with toilet facilities between Hope and Lytton, which is 105 km (63 miles) apart.

At Lytton, there is Skihist campground with 56 campsites and some wheelchair access, picnicking and hiking.

Once you reach Lytton, you can follow Hwy 12 up to Lillooet following the Fraser River that will take you for more beautiful mountain scenery and if you wish to complete the Circle Tour, follow Hwy 99 and it will bring you around to Whistler, Squamish and onto the Sea to Sky Hwy to Vancouver.

Or you can stay on Hwy.1 that follows the Thompson River and takes you into semi-arrid country with different vistas. I hope you’re able to take all roads and see all that British Columbia has to offer.

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