Day 9 Tuesday September 10, 2013

Today we had a relaxing morning and then visited Mount Rushmore, drove the Iron Mountain Road, visited Custer State Park and saw Bison and then drove the Needles Highway back to our hotel.

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After our first cooked breakfast since the cruise we had a relaxing morning reading and catching up on emails before setting off on our tour of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Our first stop was Mt. Rushmore and it's iconic representation of the first 150 years of the American dream with the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. The work on the sculptures stared in 1927 and was left unfinished in 1941 with the death of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum.

Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln

After Mt. Rushmore we drove the Iron Mountain Road towards Custer State Park. The road was built during the depression and features some amazing spiral bridges and tunnels that were located to give amazing views of the Mt. Rushmore sculpture.

A Double Spiral Bridge

Mt. Rushmore framed by Iron Mountain Road tunnel

Long distance view of Mt. Rushmore

Custer State Park is the home to a herd of bison that we were fortunate enough to see as we drove the wildlife loop in the park.

After leaving the park we drove the Needles Highway, another amazing road that winds through the pinnacles that are evident in the Black Hills. The road gets its name from a rock formation that looks like a needle. On the road we were attacked by a Turkey that stood its ground in front of the car until I blew the horn repeatedly!

Pronghorn

Turkey attack!

Needles Hwy disappears into the mountain!

Mountain Goats

Tunnel on Needles Hwy

Needles Rock, how the hwy got its name.