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

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

. It is a loop which is composed of portions of U.S. Route 16A (US 16A), South Dakota Highway 244 (SD 244), SD 87, and SD 89. Parts of the byway enter Black Hills National Forest,

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 ...

, 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 Dakot ...

; 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 his ...

. The byway is named after Peter Norbeck, 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, where the byway becomes part of

SD 89 South Dakota Highway 89 (SD 89) is a state highway in Fall River and Custer counties in South Dakota, United States, that travels from U.S. Route 18 (US 18) near Minnekahta to SD 87 in Custer State Park. 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 and US 385, 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 Peter Norbeck when he was a U.S. Senator. Norbeck's first major proposal was the Needles Highway, 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