The Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway is a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

in the

Black Hills National Forest Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km²) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are locate ...

in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. It is a loop which is composed of portions of U.S. Route 16A (US 16A),

South Dakota Highway 244 South Dakota Highway 244 (SD 244) is a short state highway located entirely within Pennington County, South Dakota which provides access to Mount Rushmore. Highway 244 runs generally east–west between its eastern terminus at US 16A n ...

(SD 244), SD 87, and SD 89. Parts of the byway enter

Custer State Park Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills, United States. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The park covers an area of over of v ...

, and the

Mount Rushmore National Memorial Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, ...

; the byway also travels within of the

Crazy Horse Memorial The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to hi ...

. The byway is named after

Peter Norbeck Peter Norbeck (August 27, 1870December 20, 1936) was an American politician from South Dakota. After serving two terms as the ninth Governor of South Dakota, Norbeck was elected to three consecutive terms as a United States Senator. Norbeck was ...

, who served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for South Dakota.

Route description

The Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway consists of a loop made up of four numbered highways. The byway is part of US 16A, the Iron Mountain Road, south of Keystone. This portion of the highway includes several tunnels and pigtail bridges. The byway enters Custer State Park along its eastern edge and turns west at its intersection with SD 36. In the western part of the state park, the byway splits into two highways, one which follows US 16A westward and one which follows SD 87 northward. The US 16A portion of the byway runs into

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

, where the byway becomes part of SD 89 and heads north. This portion of the byway meets the SD 87 portion in the northwest corner of Custer State Park. The byway then follows SD 87 to its intersection with

US 16 U.S. Route 16 (US 16) is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate 90/U.S. Route 14 (I-90/US 14), conc ...

and

US 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

, where it becomes part of the nearby SD 244. The byway follows SD 244 eastward into the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, where it meets up with US 16A.

History

Most of the roads which make up the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway were proposed by

when he was a U.S. Senator. Norbeck's first major proposal was the

Needles Highway South Dakota Highway 87 (SD 87) is a state highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It travels through the Black Hills region. The highway's southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 385 ( ...

, which comprises the SD 87 portion of the byway and cuts through the Needles. Though engineers of the time said a highway could not be built in the Needles,Peter Norbeck vs. the Diploma Boys: Building the Impossible Road
/ref> the highway still came into existence. Norbeck also proposed the Iron Mountain Road, the US 16A section of the byway. The byway was established on September 23, 1996, and named in honor of Norbeck.

References

External links

National Scenic Byway Program - Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway
{{Black Hills, South Dakota National Scenic Byways Roads in South Dakota Black Hills National Forest U.S. Route 16 1996 establishments in South Dakota Transportation in Custer County, South Dakota Transportation in Pennington County, South Dakota