U.S. Highway 16A (US 16A) is a scenic
United States Numbered Highway. It is an
alternate route for
US 16. It splits from US 16 in the
Black Hills of the southwestern part of the U.S. state of
South Dakota. The highway's western terminus is an
intersection
In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...
with US 16,
US 385, and
South Dakota Highway 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 is ...
(SD 89) in
Custer. The eastern terminus is at an
interchange with US 16 called
Keystone Wye
Keystone Wye is an interchange of U.S. Route 16 (US 16) and US 16A located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, featuring two unique structural glued laminated timber bridges. The Keystone Wye is a three-level Directional T inte ...
south of
Rapid City. Portions of US 16A are known as the Iron Mountain Road, named after
the peak it summits.
Route description
left, Mount Rushmore seen from a tunnel on US 16A
The route passes through
Keystone, the
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the Norbeck Wildlife Management Area and
Black Elk Wilderness
The Black Elk Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The wilderness was designated by an act of Congress in 1980. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Black Elk Wilderness is part of Black Hills National Forest. This 13,426 acre ...
within
Black Hills National Forest, and
Custer State Park (including
State Game Lodge and
Legion Lake), before rejoining the parent highway.
US 16A is famous for its scenic, one-lane tunnels aligned to frame the faces on Mount Rushmore, its "
pigtail bridge
A spiral bridge, loop bridge, helix bridge, or pigtail bridge is a road bridge which loops over its own road, allowing the road to climb rapidly. This is useful in steep terrain, or where the approach road to a bridge would terminate too far from ...
s", and its sections of divided highway but with single (and narrow) lanes on each roadway. It is the only route which can be used to drive through Custer State Park without having to pay an entrance fee for the park, provided the traveler does not stop in the park.
The route includes most of the tunnels on the South Dakota state highway system, including the only three-lane tunnel in the state, just north of Keystone. Part of the highway is also a boundary of the
Black Elk Wilderness
The Black Elk Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The wilderness was designated by an act of Congress in 1980. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Black Elk Wilderness is part of Black Hills National Forest. This 13,426 acre ...
. The Iron Mountain portion of the road is not maintained in the winter. The road, like several other
scenic roads in the Black Hills
Scenic may refer to:
* Scenic design
* Scenic painting
* Scenic overlook
* Scenic railroad (disambiguation)
* Scenic route
* Scenic, South Dakota, United States
* Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse
Aviation
*Airwave Scenic, an Austrian pa ...
, was originally laid out by Governor
Peter Norbeck, specifically to create a very scenic, slow-speed road for tourists. The section of US 16A from
SD 89 to
SD 244 is known as the Peter Norbeck Memorial Byway in honor of the governor.
At the highest point of the byway, on the summit of
Iron Mountain, there is a small memorial to Governor Norbeck.
History
An older road through the
Badlands of
South Dakota (currently designated as
SD 240) was designated
US 16A between 1944 and 1980.
Major intersections
References
External links
The South Dakota Highways Page: Highways 1 to 30{{Black Hills, South Dakota
16A (South Dakota)
16A
Black Hills
A (South Dakota)
Transportation in Custer County, South Dakota
Transportation in Pennington County, South Dakota
Mount Rushmore
