Black Hills Scenic Drive

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A crescent-shaped drive around the famous Black Hills of western South Dakota, this route connects five different highways in two states. Highlights include natural landmarks, historic mining towns, and views varying from immense rolling ranches to the pine-covered mountains and upthrust granite of the Black Hills. Devil’s Tower National Monument, about 25 miles [40 kilometers] north of I-90 on US 14, then 6 miles [9.7 kilometers] north on Wyoming. 24 to Wyoming 110, follow signs CONTINUED

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From Devils Tower Junction, Wyoming, travel north on Rte. 24 through rugged rangeland toward Devils Tower National Monument (+1 307 467 5283. $8 per vehicle). Winding through this first section of the drive, you see big red capstones and beautifully exposed red clay hills. After about 3 miles [5 kilometers] you also glimpse Devils Tower sprouting from the landscape. This stone monolith, a 60-million-year-old fountain of magma that cooled and fractured into long columns, rises 867 feet [264.3 meters] from its base. Indian legend maintains the tower was the stump of a great tree clawed by a bear.
The entrance to the monument lies 6 miles [9.7 kilometers] from U.S. 14. A road through the monument grounds passes a prairie dog community and ends at the Visitor Center, where a 1.3-mile [2.1-kilometer] trail circles the tower and provides great views of rock climbers scaling the heights. Bring binoculars.
Continue north on Rte. 24 past ranchlands that open out to a backdrop of rocky hills stippled with pines. Sheep and cattle graze the abundant grasslands. In 10 miles [16.1 kilometers] you go through the cowboy and logging town of Hulett, where the road begins to climb to an upland forest of tall pines and hardwoods. The signature dark green ponderosa pines cover the landscape so thickly that from a distance the hills look black—hence the area’s name. The jagged schist and granite outcroppings that punctuate the hills were exposed millions of years ago when overlying sedimentary layers began eroding away.
The whole Black Hills area roughly describes an oval—120 miles [193.1 kilometers] north to south and 50 miles [80.5 kilometers] west to east—with the highest, and oldest, rocks in the center. To the Indians the Paha Sapa, or Black Hills, were a sacred place. By the 1840s trappers and traders had infiltrated the region, and the discovery of gold brought a wave of white settlers. Today, though altered, the Bl ack Hills continue to give of their richness and beauty.
After Hulett, Rte. 24 veers east through forests and meadows. In about 20 miles [32 kilometers] watch for a sign that marks Lt. Col. George A. Custer’s 1874 expedition into the Black Hills. With 1,000 men, 110 wagons, and 200 animals, Custer’s survey team marched through here to verify rumors of gold. Ruts from the expedition remain just off the highway.
Not much remains of Aladdin, 4 miles [6.4 kilometers] farther on, other than a saloon and a century-old general store. Just east of town, the Aladdin Tipple Historical Park (Info at Aladdin Store +1 307 896 2226) recounts the coal-mining heyday of the area, which at its peak supported 500 people. The site preserves a turn-of-the-century mine shaft and wooden coal chute.

Crossing the South Dakota state line, Rte. 24 becomes Rte. 34. In 10 miles [16.1 kilometers] you’ll be near Belle Fourche, a sheep and cattle shipping center. The fertile valley of the Belle Fourche (“beautiful fork”) River, named by French trappers, has long supported the area’s large farms.
Head 10 miles [16.1 kilometers] south on U.S. 85 to Spearfish, home of the popular Black Hills Passion Play. While in town, visit the High Plains Heritage Center Museum (825 Heritage Dr. +1 605 642 WEST. $4 adult, $1 child over 6), with Western art and artifacts. The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway (U.S. 14A) leads you southward out of town, following lovely Spearfish Creek, which flows north. Modern fishermen, though not equipped with spears, find this stream burgeoning with trout. Waterfalls and high rock walls make this a picturesque drive. The Homestake Natural History and Cultural Center (+1 605 584 333), 13 miles [20.9 kilometers] south of town, has a pleasant restaurant with views of the canyon. On the walls hang stills from Dances With Wolves, partly filmed nearby.
At Cheyenne Crossing take U.S. 85 north up out of the canyon to the little mining town of Lead (Leed). Perched on a steep hill, Lead owes its existence to the 1876 gold rush. The Homestake Gold Mine ((+1 605 584 3110. $4.25 adults, $3.25 children), still in operation after some 120 years, yields more than 350,000 ounces [9,922,333 grams] of gold a year. Lead’s steep slopes and 5,400-foot [1,645.9-meter] elevation also attract skiers and other winter sports enthusiasts.
The road now descends precipitously 4 miles [6.4 kilometers] down into shadowy Deadwood Gulch. The town of Deadwood sprang to life soon after the discovery of gold nearby, when hundreds of people flooded into the area and began panning and sluicing the creek and then dynamiting the hills. By 1 877 the government had imposed a treaty that forced the Sioux to sell the Black Hills.
Deadwood’s downtown buildings of brick and stone maintain a solidly Western flavor with their flat facades and ornate rooflines. Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead in a saloon here in 1876. The History and Information Center (3 Siever St. +1 605 578 2507), in the old railroad depot, has exhibits and a brochure for a walking tour that takes you along three blocks of Main Street, where the clinks and beeps of more than 40 casinos keep Deadwood alive at all hours. Legalized in 1989, gambling has turned the town again into a frenzy of small-time speculation.
Backtrack on U.S. 85 up the forested hills from Deadwood and veer south on U.S. 385. After about 30 miles [48 kilometers], just after the turnoff for Rte. 44, you’ll see Pactola Reservoir, created by a dam on Rapid Creek. The Black Hills National Forest (+1 605 673 2251) maintains a Visitor Center here.
Back on the road, travel southward through a long stretch of dips and rises offering yet more beautiful views of the pine-covered hills and the exposed peaks looking like whitecaps on a dark sea. The highway passes towering stone cliffs near the small town of Hill City (4,980 feet [1,517.9 meters]), which has camping areas, motels, and a menu of trailheads.
About 8 miles [13 kilometers] later you pass Crazy Horse Memorial (+1 605 673 4681. $7 per person, $17 per vehicle), where the sculpture of the Sioux leader on horseback continues to emerge. For the best views of the Crazy Horse project, you must pay to enter the grounds. Ambitious work remains to be done. Begun in 1948 by the late Korczak Ziolkowski, the monumental tribute is being chiseled from the mountain under the direction of Ziolkowski’s family.
Continue south about 6 miles [10 kilometers] to the town of Custer, where George Custer’s 1874 expedit ion found gold nearby and precipitated a rush. The population quickly rose, then plunged as more gold was discovered in the northern Black Hills. But enough people stayed to establish a town. Today tourism, lumbering, ranching, and mining support the economy.