Follow Up, Needles Highway Tunnels

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

MOC friend Wayne posted a link to this photo of a tour bus (2016, sorry, the link no longer works) driving through that small tunnel.  He was lucky enough to see three go through the tunnels while he visited.  How's that for a photo op???  He did mention that he heard the mirrors scraping on that bus as it went through the tunnel.   Ooops!

Another MOC contributor shared this YouTube video of a bus and the tunnel, sorry, this link also is no longer viable (June 2016).  And, I found another here, note quality of this one is not as clear as the first.  This one shows a bus entering the tunnel in 2007 in the first part of the video.


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THE Trip, Man and Big Butt Vs the Tunnel, Part 2

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July 2, 2011

So, we left off with Man breathing a sigh of relief, as we have cleared the first of the two narrow tunnels on the Needles Highway at Custer State Park, Custer South Dakota.

Between the two tunnels on this section of highway is some really pretty scenery.  I am not sure how much of it Man saw, between the obsessing about the tunnel to come and driving the narrow, curvy roads. There were some turns that went more than a hairpin, more than 180 degrees, and at least one of them had a speed limit of 5 MPH.  Here are a few of the photos Sony and I snapped off, noting, it is almost as hard to get a good photo at 20 MPH when the scenery is 12 foot away from the roadway as it is to get a good photo at 65 MPH when the scenery is one-half mile away.  Translated, that means, there were a number of really bad photos, out of focus, whew. But, here, are those that passed my muster:

Well, "T" time (tunnel time) has arrived, first we pass the "One Lane Tunnel" sign.  Then, the sign showing the width of the tunnel.  Remember my comment (see above) about it being hard to get an "in focus" photo at 20 MPH?  The photo showing the road sign with the width of this tunnel, is SOOOOO out of focus I cannot read it, and photo editing cannot fix it.  I have looked at this photo a lot the last week or so, and, I believe it says 8 foot X inches, my wild guess is 6 inches.  I have surfed the net looking for any reference to the width of the tunnel, the real width, eh??  Lots of sites tell of the "narrow" passage, however, the only one that stated an exact measurement was at Google Books, where I found  "Frommer's National Parks of the American West", page 63, publication date of May 3, 2010.  And, even that reference was not totally clear, as this quote shows:

"Tunnels on the Needles Highway/Sylvan Lake Road (S. Dak. 87) are as low as 10 feet, 7 inches and as narrow as 8 feet, 4 inches."

Nice, but, mmmm, what is not clear, is this the tunnel we have already driven through or the one we are approaching?
 
In any event, Man thinking that the tunnel is NINE foot, having successfully cleared the prior tunnel that was marked 10 foot 4 inches on our map, (forget that it is also marked 9 foot on the road sign, sighhh, color Carol confused by all these conflicting numbers) lines up and we drive through!

THE NINE FOOT TUNNEL (which is probably closer to 8 foot 6 inches, Big Butt is 8 foot wide):

And, below, this blur is inside the tunnel, the sides flashing by, with a bit of a hint of Big Butt's fenders, I know, ROTFLOL, HORRIBLE photo:

So, after we maneuver through the NINE foot tunnel that probably is not 9 foot, we find a place to pull over and park and get out and walk around.  The sport of the day is to stand and watch vehicles driving through this narrowest of narrow tunnels.  Lots of ooos, ahhhs, laughter, awe, snickering, giggling is going on by all the spectators as car after car, truck after truck bravely enter the tunnel.  Here is a pickup truck coming through, note, not a big butt truck, and this is not the most narrow spot of the tunnel:

And, a smaller SUV type:

Believe me, people were watching Man drive Big Butt through, you could see the amazement and amusement on their faces (well I could, Man was too busy watching his big butt fenders in the side view mirrors and, mmmm, sweating a bit).

My out of wack sense of humor got tickled when I saw cars, you know, regular sized cars, approach the narrow tunnel, line up, and then pull in their side view mirrors.  A regular sized car is about 6 foot wide, meaning they had more than 1 foot on each side of their vehicle.  After the shoehorning of Tana into our campsite and the squeaking of Big Butt through this narrow tunnel, I just giggled.  Also sighted, a automobile with a sun roof, roof open of course, someone standing up, their head and shoulders above the roof, camera in hand, let the photo op begin!

And, here is the Needle, which is just a few yards beyond the northern entrance/exit of this narrow tunnel:

Our last stop of the day was to drive around the Sylvan Lake Campground, it is a lovely area:

  

This day at the campground area there was a June wedding and sadly, several units from the Custer County Search and Rescue squad were there conducting a search.  We did not hear why they were there or the results of all that activity, but, it is always concerning to see all those resources on a scene.

Our ride around the Wildlife Loop and the Needles Highway to Sylvan Lake Campground took about 4 hours.  Man survived his "out of my comfort zone" tunnel drive and so did Big Butt, not a scratch to be found.  I got some great photos and a few stories to tell.  (OK, I will admit it, I was a bit gleefully overjoyed to watch Man obsessing over Big Butt's fenders, after his numerous teases about my fear on the Palm Springs Tram and my reluctance to go near the edges of 3,500 foot tall canyon walls. I know, my bad!  See me smirk??)

It was a lovely summer day in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Perfect for a ride through a tunnel or two.




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THE Trip, Man and Big Butt Vs the Tunnel, Part 1

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July 2, 2011.  After our enjoyable ride around the Wildlife Loop Road we decided to drive 87, the Needles Highway north and then northwest past the Needles and on to Sylvan Lake Campground.

Now, to understand someone's (ok, Man's) severe reaction to this little ride (snickering, Carol is already snickering) it is necessary to understand how we travel and do things.  For the most part, Man drives.  Carol is perfectly happy behind the wheel of Big Butt and has no fears of driving Big Butt with Tana in tow.  Now, backing up is another situation all together, a ugly situation, as I have not mastered backing Tana up, YET.  But, I digress, anyway, Man usually drives. Carol is co-pilot, with rights to scream loud and clear if I feel we are going too fast, or over the edge of some cliff or about to miss the exit and the next one is 35 miles down the road, you know, those kinds of screaming events.  I am the navigator.  I read the maps, and suggest routes based upon knowledge gained from our years of traveling together.  I help locate fuel stations and suggest campgrounds. I leave the final decision on campgrounds up to him, it is just less stressful that way, you don't want or need to know why, just trust me on that!  LOL

Now, because I do 99% of the navigation (picking campgrounds is not really navigation), Man rarely looks at a map.  I maintain he cannot read a map, but, I won't go into that fight, errr, discussion here, in public.  He depends on me to direct him in clear and concise language (not purple language) to get from point A to point B.  He also depends on me to suggest sightseeing opportunities as we travel.  Part of my navigator duties are to get him on new routes, he just HATES going the same way over and over again.  He wants to see new stuff!

SOOO, on July 2, 2011, I mentioned to him, that there was this section of road (Needles Highway) that we had not driven.  He said, lets go.  Below:  It is pretty isn't it??  Two lane highways winding their way through the lush green of the Black Hills.

Now, I knew that there was a little matter of 2 more of those small tunnels we had to pass through.  I believe I mentioned same to him. I know I mentioned them.  Of course, I did not mention that the last of these tunnels was the smallest, just 11 foot 9 inches tall and 9 foot wide (according to the map I have) OR 8 foot 4 inches wide (according to, Frommer's National Parks of the American West, page 63, publication date of May 3, 2010).

(A bit of a digression here, some of you may remember our passing through narrow places before, one was in Palm Springs, California.  I wrote about it here, and there are photos too!  If you have not read it or maybe don't remember it, go have a lookie see and then come on back, we will wait - -  singing, la la ta ta la la - - ohhh, you are back, good, let's continue our little story - - )

SOOO, Man and I are on the drive to Needles, and after a while I mention to him that the last tunnel is 9 foot wide, (remember that is what my map said, I did not have a copy of  Frommer's ).  Now, we are not driving a small car, or even a small truck, Big Butt has his name because he has 4 tires back there on the back axle, and that makes him more wide than a normal pickup truck, oh, and his side view mirrors are rather wide too.

(Note, this is the beginning of the Man turning white, green and white again, in case you could not guess that - - just sayin - - )

Next I hear from a BOOMING voice from the driver sitting next to me, "NINE FEET, are you sure, NINE FEET??"  Someone was getting a bit excited.  He continued his rant, errr questions, "How wide is Big Butt?" We had a discussion, he might have even had me start pulling out the owners manual (sorry memory a bit cloudy on this point, but I seem to remember pulling it out of the glove box).  I keep telling him, look, we drive up there, take a look at this tunnel and if you cannot or don't think you can fit through, we will turn around and come back.  We can backtrack, it will be fine, ya, I know, it is a long way, but, we can backtrack.

Bout now,  Man spies a picnic area, Hole in the Wall picnic area.  He pulls off.  Parked right beside us is another big butt truck, which appears to be driving south (we were going north).  I suggested that maybe Man could ask the other driver some questions, like, are you going north or south, did you drive your big butt truck through that tunnel, you know, stuff like that.  So, Man does just that.  Response from the other big butt truck, "I am going south, yes, I drove my big butt truck through the tunnel.  Fits, just go slow and down the center.  We watched a full size tourist bus go through there a bit ago.  That tour bus fit, honest!"

Now, even though this other big butt truck driver has just assured him that we could fit OUR Big Butt through that tunnel, Man was just not convinced.  He's funny like that, you would think he had been born in Missouri, the show me state.

There are restrooms, and a cute little cave at this picnic area.  I take advantage of the restrooms, walk the fur kids, and take a photo or two of the cave and stream (above) while Man measures Big Butt.  Yes, he really did, he got out his tape rule and measured Big Butt, more than once!  He was gonna be sure Big Butt fit through that NINE foot tunnel.

AND - - - -  ta da - - - - -  Big Butt is 8 foot wide, give or take a quarter of an inch.

Well, Big Butt would clear the tunnel, not by much, but we will clear.  Still, with just 4 to 6 inches on each side Man needs to drive RIGHT DOWN THE CENTER!  I figure we are golden, (don't laugh so hard dear readers), and I encourage Man, reassuring him that I have full faith in his ability to drive Big Butt right down the middle of that NINE foot tunnel.

Besides, we have another tunnel we must clear before the now infamous NINE foot tunnel.  According to the map, this other tunnel measures 10 foot 4 inches wide.  We both contemplate the situation and agree, we should try this, partially trusting the other big butt truck driver.  The least we should do is drive to the 10 foot 4 inch tunnel and see how that goes.

Man agrees to this plan.  And, we are off.

Like I said (more than once), the first tunnel, according to the map was 10 foot 4 inch wide, but, lookie at the sign:

I know, it is not in focus, but, correct me if I am wrong.  It says, 9 foot 0 inches wide.  Good thing we could not read it as we drove by.  Sony, caught the sign, but, Man did not see it, nor did I really either.  So we just went right on through the tunnel.  Actually, we had very little trouble with that tunnel.  We did pull in the side view mirrors, testing, to see if we could pull the mirrors in part of the way and still use them to see where Big Butt's fenders were in relationship to the walls of that tunnel.

Below:   the first tunnel, as we approach:

Below:  A out of focus horrible photo of Big Butt's fenders and the side of the tunnel.  I took this out of the side view mirror, seeing what Man saw when he looked in the mirrors, and yes, that dark stuff is the side of the tunnel, unforgiving granite.

So since we have managed to drive the first tunnel, which we thought was 10 foot 4 inches wide, we had more confidence that we could manage the second tunnel which according to the map was 9 foot.  Man is still a shade of green, and he is not totally convinced that we will be able to drive Big Butt through that second tunnel and not scratch those 8 foot wide fenders.  But, onward we go, did I mention that he was obsessing about that NINE foot tunnel??  The NINE foot tunnel just up the road apiece??

To be continued - - -



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THE Trip, Custer State Park, Wildlife Loop

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

It is July 2, 2011.  We return to Custer State Park, the weather is much more favorable, although this entire week will be filled with bouts of rain and thunder and even a horrific hail storm.  We were away during the hail storm, in fact by the time we returned to the park the icy evidence of the storm had melted away.  There were, however, some hints at the fierceness of the storm and the size of the hail.  One hint, there were a lot of pine needles and small branches on the ground, many more than when we left earlier in the day.  Seeing that the ground always has a lot of pine needles laying around, you can guess that if I could see that there were more deposited it must have been a significant amount, and, it was!  LOL  The next hint for us was the fact that our sewer hose was damaged, well, in fact, ruined.  The hail had left it full of holes.  I will leave it to your imagination as to how this was discovered and who had to deal with it, let's just say he did not enjoy the clean up.  EWWW.  He looked around at the roof and awnings and could not find any damage, which was amazing, as other vehicles in the park had lots of dent marks.  Those pines that made for our close parking and shoehorning of Tana into the campsite must have protected us from all that hail.

The thunder was rather amazing.  It would start and just go on for hours and hours.  It was what I call "rolling thunder".  It was almost as if you could hear it rolling across the skies, like bowling balls in heaven's bowling alley.  Rumble, roll, rumble, roll.  At our stick built in SE Michigan we don't have rolling thunder very often, we have crack, bang, boom thunder.  The lightening hits, crack, then we hear the thunder, boom, gone.  The next hit of lightening does the same, crack, then the thunder, boom, and it is over.  Usually there are a few minutes, or at least a few seconds between the sounds.  There must be something about the hills in and around Custer, the Black Hills, as we heard rolling thunder several different times.  It is rather amazing, for the first hour or so.  I have to say, after about 6 hours, though, it was getting rather old.  LOL

So, let's look at our map again:

We will start again from the west, at Custer and drive east.  However, today's ride will turn south near the Legion Lake Campground and we will drive the Wildlife Loop Road (not all of the road is shown on this map, trust me, it joins and it is a loop).  Another day we will actually drive the loop again (in search of prairie dogs, what else??) but, from the opposite direction.

The beginning of our drive shows off the beauty of the Black Hills:

And, the some of the stars of the Wildlife Loop are, prairie dogs:

Below:  Having seen the bison up close and personal,  with lots of babies, and walking the line, back in Yellowstone National Park, we were just as happy as could be to find this herd way off the road and resting, quietly.

Another beautiful view of the Black Hills, along the Wildlife Loop.

Below:  These guys were traffic stoppers, and if you want to really see what show stoppers they were, take a little side trip over to Reflection's Flora and Fauna, our RVer friends really like the last photo.

More beautiful rolling hills, it was such a peaceful drive:

We were in wildlife heaven, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep:

After leaving the Wildlife Loop, we would drive east on 16A till we came to the intersection of 87,  part of the Needles Highway.  Here we would turn north and Man would turn white and green and white again.  I'll show and tell you all about it real soon - -


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THE Trip, Custer State Park

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Our first visit to Custer State Park was on July 1, 2011, and before we even got into the park we were enjoying the beautiful scenery.

At the park entrance, stone and a artistic rendition of a bison.  The park is home to a herd of about 1,300 bison.

Let's take a glance at a map of the park and surrounding area first, this is from one of the signs at the park:

We entered the park from the west, at Custer, driving east on 16 to the area near Badger Hole, from thence continue west on 16A to the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center.  The center is our first stop.  After we leave the visitor center we will continue east and then north on 16A, our eventual goal will be Mount Rushmore.

At the visitor center we found some nice docents, and informative displays, including some examples of the local fauna (prairie dogs, but, of course, because I am over the top crazy about prairie dogs, go figure). There are several nice displays talking about the history of the park. I took this photo of the inside of the building, isn't it wonderful?  The building was built by the CCC (Civil Conservation Corps) in 1935 using the local rocks and logs.  Both are visible in this photo, the logs were massive.

It started raining while we were in the visitor center, but, we decided to continue our drive anyway.  It was pouring, really pouring.  And, look how green it is.

The rain continued, at times it slowed down a bit and we would stop at some of the pull off viewpoints.  Eventually we left Custer State Park and entered the section of the road that has 3 tunnels, narrow short tunnels.  We had been told when you exit one of these tunnels you will get a view of of Mount Rushmore that will take your breath away.  We had been given strict instructions on how to come from the south, driving north.  This next photo is of the first tunnel, it is 13 foot 4 inches wide and 12 foot 4 inches high.  The first sign gives the size of the tunnel, the next sign says, "Falling Rock", then the last sign says, "Sound Horn".  Big Butt fit through the tunnels just fine, Tana would not have, as she is 13 foot 1 inch tall.

Let get a bit closer:

And, while we are inside:

And, here it what we came for, our first look:

We were able to find a spot to pull off and take a few more photos, I liked this one, even with the heavy, rain laden skies:

This is the last of the 3 tunnels on this section of 16A, but, it is not the last tunnel we will drive during our visit in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  You know, not much fazes Man, the Palm Springs Tram, he loved it, standing on the edge of canyons in Arizona and Utah, not a problem.  But, I found something that made him blanch and maybe even turn green, a tunnel!  I'll tell you about it soon.  Oh, that pickup truck in the photo below, same size as Big Butt, a bit close, but, just you wait - -

From here we drove over to Mount Rushmore, but the rain was coming down in buckets, so, we did not stop.  From Mount Rushmore we drove about 14 miles west on 244 and then south on 16/385 towards Crazy Horse.  More on the rest of our day in a future post here on Reflections.


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