Sep 25, 2012 — Custer State Park is located in the southern region of Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. The Cathedral Spires Trail within the Needles is great to just play around in the spires. The trail is short, but there are so many little nooks to scramble around to get nice views of the surrounding forest. I occasionally hit dead-ends within the maze-like landscape, where I was met with 20+ foot cliffs between the spire saddles.
Peter Norbeck National Byway heading toward The Needles was an unbelievable drive: there were tunnels, roads that circled over each other, huge cliffs overlooking the Black Hills, and all the while the roadsides were overrun with golden foliage. I even got to see Mount Rushmore from a distance, which was otherwise definitely a missable destination.
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