US Route 16A, South Dakota - a great motorcycle road

US Route 16A - South Dakota

AKA: Iron Mountain Road, Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway

Custer - Keystone

Distance/Driving time: 37 miles/1h, 6m

County(ies): Pennington, Custer

Submit your on this road.

Rider Comments:

We went up this road and got great shots of Mt. Rushmore thru the single lane tunnels. The week before Labor Day is the time to go. The kiddies are back in school and very little traffic. Did see a herd of buffalo on the Lower Wild Life Loop of 16 in Custer park. Great area to ride in. The Custer park fee is now $10 for 5 days, worth every penny. - Malcolm Duke (9/8/11)
US 16A (16 alternate) is extremely twisty road that makes its way up and down a couple of mountains, and even has some 360 degree curves, one lane tunnels, and amazingly tight corners (15 max on a sportbike!). - Peter Schultz (6/20/08)
Riding Iron Mountain Road, a narrow, beautiful 17-mile section of 16A, is truly a unique experience. Three pigtails-- road, bridge and tunnel configurations, form 360-degree helical loops. Traveling north, riders exiting the three tunnels are rewarded with splendid views of Mt. Rushmore, each view framed in stone and each view closer than the last. Even though the road utilizes switchbacks elsewhere, the pigtails allowed engineers another design alternative at the time of construction. (Traveling south on Iron Mountain Road, the views of Mt. Rushmore are seen only through a rear view mirror.) Motorcyclists need to be aware of the large wildlife population in this isolated, forested mountain area. - Charles Peterson (3/9/08)

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