Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway, Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park

We enjoyed a super scenic drive though Custer State Park, along Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway, with multiple narrow tunnels, fun twisty roads, and impressive views. Then went along the Wildlife Loop.

The map from their website; click or tap to see larger:

An interactive map of our route; we started at the Legion Lake Campground, heading northeast towards the Norbeck Overlook waypoint along the Iron Mountain Road, continuing anti-clockwise to Sylvan Lake, where we had lunch and a walk, then through the middle and clockwise around the Wildlife Loop, back to the campground:

A narrow and low tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

Two narrow and low tunnels:

Two narrow and short tunnels

The second tunnel emerges to a bridge and corkscrew:

Tunnel to bridge and corkscrew

Another narrow tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

This one has a peek of Mount Rushmore:

Mount Rushmore

We went past Mount Rushmore on the route (been there before; not worth stopping again):

Mount Rushmore

The first tunnel on the Needles Highway:

Narrow and short tunnel

A selfie at Sylvan Lake:

Selfie at Sylvan Lake

We strolled along the lakeside after lunch; one of our favorite places:

Sylvan Lake

Needle’s Eye:

Needle's Eye

Needle’s Eye tunnel:

Narrow and short tunnel

More interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Narrow and short tunnel

Wildlife:

Deer

Turkeys

Deer

Prairie Dogs

Bison

Sunset

Bison

Legion Lake in Custer State Park

While staying at the Legion Lake Campground in Custer State Park, we wandered across the road to the Legion Lake Lodge and the Dockside Grill for dinner, followed by a stroll along the lakeside.

A view of our coach from the lake parking lot:

View of our coach from the lake parking lot

Lake and lodge:

Lake and lodge

Turtle:

Turtle

Legion Lake Lodge

Gift store:

Gift store

Dockside Grill:

Dockside Grill

Dinner

A stroll along the lakeside:

Boats

Lake

A nice lake.

Legion Lake Campground in Custer State Park

We stayed at Legion Lake Campground in Custer State Park, South Dakota. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Custer State Park is perhaps our all-time favorite state park. We enjoyed staying in the park, though the lack of water and sewer was inconvenient. Especially since we hadn’t noticed that it didn’t have water, and only arrived with a half-full tank.

We do have a water bladder to fetch water, and a tote to dump waste, but coped without using them, since only three nights. The lack of a dump station in the campground would be very inconvenient for a longer stay, though.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-07-28
Check out: 2024-07-31
3 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, a little drizzle
High temps 82-92°F, lows 59-64°F
Little wind, gusts to 16 MPH

Noise:

Nearby road noise
No train horn noise
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#01E, back-in, asphalt
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Unlevel site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Asphalt driveway about 70 feet long by 14 feet wide
12-50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
110 feet to footpath on driver side
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
No water; water spigot at bathhouse
No sewer; no dump station in this campground

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 22 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
AT&T: 160 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 90-110 ms ping
Verizon: 26 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 75 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Nearby lodge restaurant

Our review on Campground Reviews:

In the middle of everything

Custer State Park is one of our favorite places. The scenery, wildlife, and general ambiance are magical, and staying inside the park makes it even more special. All the sites are electric-only, and that’s okay as it’s the hookup we rely on most (especially when it’s warm). There is a water spigot by the bathrooms if you need to fill up, but the nearest dump station inside the park is in a different campground halfway across the park. The site was a bit unlevel, but not so much that our hydraulic levelers couldn’t cope. A nice view of the lake across the road and a tree-filled hillside behind our site made for a picturesque stay. We camped at Custer State Park – Legion Lake Campground in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Legion Lake map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Only an electrical hookup:

Only electrical hookup

Our coach from across the road:

Our coach from across the road

Elevation 5,010 feet:

Elevation 5,010 feet

Paladin was most fascinated by a taunty chipmunk that hung out around our site:

Paladin

Chipmunk

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Path to the lake area:

Path to lake area

Other sites:

Other sites

(We wondered how they got the left-hand trailer into that position.)

Bathroom:

Bathroom

Info sign:

Info sign

Campground map

We are currently planning to visit this area again next year. But we’ll probably stay outside the park, so we can have full hookups, and explore other areas.

Video

Video: Mitchell to Custer, South Dakota motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 313 miles from Mitchell, South Dakota to Custer, South Dakota.

Travel from Mitchell to Custer, South Dakota

We drove our coach 313 miles, about five hours of driving, from Mitchell, South Dakota to Custer, South Dakota.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Route map

An interactive map:

Heading west of I-90:

I-90 West

Rest area stop:

Rest area

Sunflower field:

Sunflowers

The Dignity of Earth and Sky sculpture:

Sculpture

A Tiffin Allegro Red motorhome passing us:

Tiffin Allegro Red motorhome

Lunch stop at Hutch’s Cafe:

Hutch's Cafe

Menu:

Hutch's Cafe

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Entering Mountain Time Zone:

Entering Mountain Time Zone

Passing Badlands National Park:

Badlands National Park

Another rest area:

Rest area

Paladin sat in his dash bed for a while:

Paladin sat in his dash bed for a while

Firehouse Brewery & Winery had several fire trucks along the freeway:

Firehouse Brewery & Winery had several fire trucks along the freeway

Paladin asleep on the floor:

Paladin asleep on the floor

Busts:

Busts

Entering Custer State Park, our favorite state park:

Custer State Park

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Whatever we do, don’t turn onto Needles Highway with our coach! Very narrow and short tunnels:

Needles Highway intersection

Legion Lake campground entrance:

Campground entrance

Our site, with a glimpse of the lake in the background:

Our site

RV podcast: RV Miles Podcast

I thought I’d do occasional posts about podcasts, YouTube channels, etc that I enjoy.

First up: RV Miles Podcast.

The RV Miles Podcast is hosted by Abby and Jason Epperson, and has over 300 episodes, each typically about an hour long, with varied topics related to the RV industry. A fun segment is Fresh Tank / Black Tank, where the two hosts each talk about something that makes them happy and something that they don’t like.

I’ve listened to the podcast for years, and recommend it to all RVers. Listen via your preferred podcast app. (For iOS, I highly recommend Overcast.)

If you prefer a visual medium, they also have a YouTube edition of the podcast.

Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village National Historic Landmark

We visited the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village in Mitchell, South Dakota, which includes a museum and a covered archeological dig site.

Exhibits in the museum:

Exhibits

Sculpture:

Sculpture

The “Archeodome” covers an archeological dig site:

Archeodome

Interesting stuff.

Mitchell Corn Palace

We stopped by the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota (Wikipedia info). It’s a multi-use arena decorated in corn and other grains, with the decorations changing each year:

Corn Palace

Inside continues the corn theme:

Corn Palace

Sheets for coloring:

Corn Palace

The arena was set up with swag for sale, with more corn art around the walls:

Corn Palace

We bought some interesting popcorn:

Popcorn

An interesting place.

Mitchell KOA Journey

We stayed at Mitchell KOA Journey in Mitchell, South Dakota. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another KOA Journey, with an interesting (and easy to navigate) layout.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-07-26
Check out: 2024-07-29
2 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps 91-95°F, lows 71-72°F
A bunch of wind, gusts to 32 MPH

Noise:

Some freeway noise
Very occasional distant train horn noise
Some neighbor noise

Site:

#C-19, back-in/pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
A little unlevel site, high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 110 feet long by 15 feet wide
10 feet to neighbor on driver side
75 feet to dump station on passenger side
Two picnic tables
Fire pit
A couple of tall trees
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
40 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
Loose sewer connection, inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 11-14 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
AT&T: 29-32 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 120-160 ms ping
Verizon: 27 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Mini golf

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A nice oasis along I-90

This was a convenient place to stop along I-90 through South Dakota and to check out the Corn Palace and the Prehistoric Indian Village. There’s not much else to do in Mitchell, but this was a lovely shady place to camp to check them out. It’s reassuring/concerning that they have storm shelters scattered around the campground in case of emergency, but I’m just as glad we didn’t need them during our stay. Our site was very long and had a big grassy area on one side, but it was very close to the neighbors on the other. We camped at Mitchell KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Spacious on the passenger side, a bit too close on the driver side:

Our site

(I typically prefer more space on the driver side, since that means other campers aren’t hanging out right next to our coach. We tend not to sit outside much, so space on the passenger side isn’t as important to me.)

The utilities; a loose sewer connection, requiring three 10-foot hoses:

Utilities